Ted Nugent: What About Lion-On-Lion Crime?

Oh, thank goodness, Ted Nugent has finally seen fit to weigh in on that dentist who killed that lion. We'd been hoping the great white skidmarked hunter would have some insights on the matter, and he came through in a big way, explaining that people who are outraged by a little bit of illegal big-game hunting are pretty much all Nazis because really, who isn't a Nazi these days? 

[contextly_sidebar id="uYlIdf8ve8NxPTILfXPlXE57PX54dyWL"]

On an Aug. 4 radio show with rightwing gabber Michael Berry, Nugent first explained that you have to hunt endangered predators a whole lot, otherwise before you know it, you'll be up to your elbows in endangered species who are being poached like crazy as their habitats are disappearing. Apparently Nugent is unfamiliar with the differences, not unsubtle, between Africa's Panthera leo and 'Merican deer. And then it was time for some important clarifications about how Africans use every part of the lion that hunters leave behind after taking the skin and the head, and there are 100-year-old African ladies in perfect health because they make medicine out of lion parts :

Nugent Envirosplained:

Every word uttered by the "Propaganda Ministry" about this lion kill is a lie. Every word is a lie, and I can take it lick-for-lick. "Lured from a game preserve?" Hello, that's why they have game preserves.

Ha! Take that, liberal lion-huggers, you are just like the Third Reich's Propaganda Ministry, whatJoseph Goebbels ran! Except that Cecil was actually inside Hwange National Park, which is not a game preserve but a wildlife refuge, and also, there's the inconvenient fact that hunting is not allowed inside the park. Cecil was illegally lured outside the grounds with a dead animal tied to a car. But otherwise, Nugent nailed that point with a single shot ... and then it limped around for over a day until he beheaded and skinned it. He further explained that you have to cull the endangered lions -- especially the protected ones in national parks, with radio collars -- so they won't kill people, it's simple logic.

And then Nugent was on to another thing he thinks is the very same kind of lie:

The entire episode is such a lie. It's like "Black Lives Matter" ... I suppose those who claim "Black Lives Matter" don't believe that that the black lives in Chicago matter or Baltimore or Detroit or New Orleans or Washington, D.C., because as black lives are slaughtered by the hour, not a peep. Same with lions. Thousands and thousands of lions were killed in the exact same legal manner, and not a peep for one reason and one reason only, because they didn't have names.

This would be where we raise our hands and note that black people tend to have names, and families too, and that in fact even when a black person is murdered by another black person, that matters. Seriously, they have funerals and weeping mothers and everything, exactly like real people. Ted could look it up.

Otherwise, excellent logic there. We're not certain if we missed something in the comparison, however. Is Nugent suggesting it would be OK for cops to shoot black people if they ate their kills and used their bone marrow for folk remedies?

He might be too deep for us.

Finally, a word to commenters: Yes, Ted Nugent is a vile racist. Nevertheless, the Rules still apply. Don't make us hunt you down and tap you with the Mallet of Loving Correction (™ and ® John Scalzi ) .

[ Media Matters ]