REFLECTIONS ON TED'S RANT

If you call it political commentary, it's delivered in a way that
only a Madman would dare.

For 59 seconds, Ted Nugent, known as the Motor City Madman, assaults
a howling rock audience and YouTube viewers with a nasty and
dangerous diatribe against Democratic presidential candidates Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Holding up what appears to be two semi-automatic weapons on stage,
Nugent unleashes first on Obama, saying, "You might want to suck on
these, you punk." Then he goes after Clinton, holding up a weapon and
saying, "Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the
sunset, you worthless b--."

The tirade is ugly and unconscionable. That applies even if one could
portray it as a commentary aimed at people who, like Nugent, place
themselves in the public eye.

The irony is that this rant took place within weeks of Nugent's
denunciation of a "nut job," a liberal blogger who wrote, "I've got
dibs on Rush (Limbaugh) as soon as it's legal and lawful to shoot
him. Whoever wants Ted Nugent is welcome to him."

"The hate speech that this guy spews is of grave concern to my
family," Nugent said at the time. We share Ted's concern. Which makes
his recent concert rant equally offensive and troubling. It's
irresponsible. And, unfortunately, it probably gave Ted's new rock CD
great publicity.

So, why am I adding to this publicity?

Because the Trib plays a unique role in giving Nugent a forum for his
political views. For the better part of a year, Nugent has written a
weekly Sunday column for this paper. We recognized that this
celebrity who moved to Waco might have some interesting things to
say. We were right. He has things to say about hunting and firearms
rights, about the courts, about the war in Iraq. He's anti-drug,
pro-military and vehemently opposed to government assistance programs.

He's also a presence in the Waco community, participating in various
worthy causes. By all accounts he's a good citizen and neighbor.

Interestingly, our interest in having him write for the Trib began
with another concert controversy. Nugent had been at the receiving
end of a media dust-up for comments made while performing for Gov.
Rick Perry's inauguration.

We asked Nugent if he wanted to weigh in on the controversy. We were
suitably impressed when he turned in a well-written column in a
matter of hours.

When we asked if he was interested in making the arrangement more
permanent, he immediately agreed.

Immediately his column became one of the most highly read
commentaries that we offered. He routinely generates discussion and
provokes debate. That's what good opinion pages do.

Sure, people write to tell us that they hate Ted and his views, and
urge that we pull his column immediately. That's not going to happen.

Ted the columnist has been called an embarrassment to Waco and to the
Trib. We have heard comparable appeals with the same remedy suggested
about any number of contributors to this page, including the one who
edits it, John Young.

So, now, what to do about the YouTube flare-up and Ted the act?

No one can be shocked that Nugent doesn't support Clinton or Obama.
But I was shocked and offended by the venomous attack unleashed
on-stage. He went way too far.

There is simply no room for talk of violence against political
leaders in today's society, not even in jest.

Am I being hypocritical for allowing his views to be espoused in more
shrouded language in our newspaper, then denouncing his YouTube
performance? Perhaps.

But this public discourse thing is not an exact science.

So I'm left to aim for some lofty goals, balance and civility chief among them.

The safety net beneath these goals is the assurance to Trib readers
that what might seem fair game at a rock concert has no place on the
opinion page of the Trib.