OPINION:
They say all politics is local. Well, I think the best, most effective politics is much more intimate than that. I believe the ultimate American politics begins and ends with oneself: All of us “we the people” maintaining control of things as a united voice of reason, goodwill and decency. I happen to know that’s how it all began with some tough, defiant anti-big-government leaders known as our Founding Fathers.
I don’t know about French politics or British politics, and I can’t imagine you could call what goes on in the hellhole worlds of tyranny, dictatorships and Third World slave nations like Mexico, Iran and, for that matter, all of Africa and beyond. But here in this magnificent experiment in self-government, I am convinced that politics was supposed to be “we the people” raising nonstop hell with our elected officials as the driving force for all policy and decision-making from the grass roots up, not from the wannabe tyrant Nancy Pelosis down.
The embarrassing disconnect of an increasingly spoiled nation of freedom abusers has created a serious anti-American mess here, and I just thought the old guitar player could shine the spotlight of common sense on some ridiculously simple basics for y’all.
I couldn’t sleep last night, though thoroughly exhausted from another day paying tribute to and raising money for my heroes: our courageous wounded warriors of the U.S. military and their families. It truly whoops my 61-year-old butt, but when I returned home from Sugarland, Texas, tonight, I felt incredibly fortified and satisfied that a huge “thank you” was delivered to the most deserving among us. Americans, especially Texans, continue to be generous to a fault when it comes time to provide all we can for those who sacrifice so much to provide the freedom fuel for our American dream. “We the people” will indeed take care of our own.
But the real thrust behind this column is that, again, at 61 years of age, following double knee surgery, I am so insanely giddy to kick off my 2010 Trample the Weak Hurdle the Dead Tour that my mind races with outrageously intense musical excitement. I cannot help myself.
Propelled by the incredible talents and energy of Mick Brown on drums and Greg Smith on bass guitar, my good old-fashioned American rhythm and blues/rock ’n’ roll is more ferocious and fun than it has ever been, and that’s really saying something. But let me share why.
When my early musical heroes offered me drugs and alcohol when I was a teenage musician, the discipline and guidance of my loving mom and dad fortified me to make the right choices, and I remained clean and sober through it all. No drugs, no alcohol, no tobacco, healthy food, mostly wild game in responsible quantities, and a thoughtful regimen of care for my sacred temple, mind, body, spirit and soul.
I can still dance and whoop it up better than anybody, jam on my guitars like an animal possessed and am more energized than ever before. It appears to be unnatural, but in fact, it is perfectly natural, considering the intelligent choices I have always made.
I could be hobbled and goofy from substance abuse, but I am not. I could be fat, soft and slow thanks to the new American sport of gluttony, but I am not. I rock off royally at this age because I chose to take care of myself and laugh in the face of the sheep who so foolishly bought into the lie of peer pressure.
My name is Ted Nugent, and I have no peers, thank you. And even if I did, I assure you that they would be incapable of putting any pressure on me. I supply all the pressure on myself that I need and can handle. Like me, my priorities rock.
My politics are about personal policymaking. Pragmatism drives my every day, and I vote for smart choices, logic, self-evident truth, accountability and simply doing the right thing. It used to be called “the American Way,” and I will be damned if political correctness or the sheeping of America is going to knock me off my game. The throttling defiance of the original Americans is pounding through my veins 24/7/365, and it feels really good. Plus, it makes for some brutal rock ’n’ roll, and real music lovers crave it like I do.
So as I write these columns for The Washington Times and various other publications and websites, I use the same logic that virtually guarantees me and my family, friends, band mates, crew, employees and pretty much everybody I know to demand of ourselves to be the very best that we can be. It is nothing new; it is nothing all that clever. But it is brutally honest, forthright and positive and creates an unstoppable force of good, and in my gravity-defying careers of choice, indescribable fun.
It is all there for the taking. But it must be earned, and sacrifices must be made. If America operated like this old, maniac guitar player, America would not be in debt; America would not be fat and soft; America would not be unemployed and dependent on foreign energy; and America wouldn’t have allowed the Mao Zedong fan club into the White House. There would be no welfare, and I assure you, the Ted Nugent America would not have a border-invasion problem or still be looking for Osama bin Laden. The Ted Nugent America wouldn’t let some Japanese guitar player kick her butt.
I met a fine, rock-solid, honor-student football jock in Illinois last hunting season. We talked about hunting and the great outdoors, killer rock ’n’ roll and the American dream of being the best that you can be. When I told him my new tour was called Trample the Weak Hurdle the Dead, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed that his football team had the same theme. We knew what it meant. We knew it wasn’t violent. We both instinctively knew it meant refusing to hang around and wait for spineless wimps to try to make a decision and that we already had made our decision. We know that it is right, and we are trampling and hurdling to get the job done and win. Much like the world’s bravest men when they charged up those inflamed stairways on Sept. 11, 2001, to try to save as many innocent lives as they could. There is no time to guess and procrastinate. There is only time to trample and hurdle.
If you think you can handle the soundtrack to the 2010 American battle cry, Mick, Greg and I will be attacking a stage somewhere in America all summer long. Come on, feel the noise, come celebrate outlandishly dangerous levels of positive energy. Come dance, America - like you mean it. No more pussyfooting, do you hear me? Trample and hurdle, for God’s sake. Literally.
Ted Nugent is an unstoppable American rock ’n’ roll, sporting and political activist icon. He is author of “Ted, White & Blue: The Nugent Manifesto” and “God, Guns and Rock ’N’ Roll” (Regnery Publishing).
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