Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 09:32 pm
Only in the Republican Party could a draft dodging pedophile like Ted Nugent be held up as a patriot by one of their candidates for the United States Senate.
Here is the video from Huff Post Politics:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
West Virginia Republican Senate John Raese said of Nugent, “Government can’t control the economy without controlling the people, can it? And that’s what’s going on in this administration. How many of you remember Ted Nugent? I do. Ted Nugent came to West Virginia to help me in 2010. He came along with Sarah Palin and we had a wonderful event.”
He continued on with his theme of government controlling the people and carried it out to the logical right wing conclusion that Ted Nugent is a patriot, “If Bob Huggins came in and told you that we are in a vicious game against Penn State and we’re gonna go right on that court and we’re gonna kill ’em, would the FBI want to investigate Bob Huggins? I don’t think so. That’s called a figure of speech. Controlling the people — remember that — controlling the people. Ted Nugent is a patriot. Ted Nugent is somebody that is firm in this country and when you see scenarios that break down like that scenario, it’s a concern, isn’t it? It’s a concern.”
Raese isn’t the only Republican to come to Nugent’s defense. Right wing heavyweight intellectuals like Rep. Allen West, who recently claimed the Democratic caucus is full of commies, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, who is one of the biggest climate change deniers in Congress, have also offered up full throated defenses of Nugent.
Do these Republicans realize that they are holding up a self-admitted pedophile as a patriot? Does candidate Raese understand that this man whom he defended and labeled a patriot has also admitted to being draft dodger? But as we know, the Republican Party has no problem with elevating draft dodgers to heroic status. Heck, it elected two of them president and vice president twice in the last decade. Of course Mitt Romney could have served in Vietnam too, but instead he spent his time as a pro-war protesting draft dodger.
It is widely expected that wildly popular former governor and current incumbent senator Joe Manchin will defeat Raese, so the Republican’s defense of Nugent is unlikely to have any impact on the outcome of the race.
However, Raese’s comments do illustrate how loosely Republicans define their patriots. Currently, anyone who hates President Obama and publicly says so no matter what their draft dodging underage girl abusing past may be qualifies in the eyes of the right as a patriot.
Raese’s comments are indicative of the fact that the Republican Party is the pro-war, but anti-self-sacrifice, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-any minority home of hate and intolerance. An unintended consequence of their blindingly irrational contempt for this president is that they are holding up an adult who had sex with underage girls as a patriot.
A man who thinks he belongs in the US Senate has defended a self-admitted pedophile as a patriot because he made threats against the president. This fact neatly sums all you really need to know about the state of the Republican Party in 2012.
Image: Sodahead
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
