Rock Star Politics

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Joe Lapointe

Joe Lapointe has worked as a sports reporter with the New York Times and a segment producer for "Countdown With Keith Olbermann'' on Current TV

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August 19th, 2012 8:36 PM

By Joe Lapointe

One of Homer Simpson's best lines came in an episode with Paul McCartney as the guest star.

"Rock stars," Homer said, awe in his voice. "Is there anything they don't know?"

The joke was on those of us who too seriously cherish the opinions of people who sing and play instruments.

The problem seems to be getting worse this campaign season.

First it was Ted Nugent but now it includes Tom Morello and Hank Williams, Jr., again

Williams, according to the Des Moines Register, told a crowd at the Iowa State Fair Friday that he does not like President Barack Obama.

"We've got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him!" Williams said, to the cheers of his fans.

A few days before, it was reported that Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan was a fan of "Rage Against the Machine." The band's leader, Tom Morello, is a liberal activist, hardly in tune with Ryan's harsh right-wing philosophy.

So Morello wrote in Rolling Stone: "I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lot of 'rage' in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions."

Another top Republican, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, often brags about how many Bruce Springsteen concerts he's attended and how he knows the words to most of the songs. But Springsteen, an icon in New Jersey, has pointedly ignored the jumbo governor. Perhaps Springsteen is still sore about how President Ronald Reagan took his song "Born in the USA" out of context and used it at campaign rallies in 1984.

Christie will be the keynote speaker at the Republican convention next week. Perhaps the show should open with Nugent playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his American flag guitar. Nugent, according to MSNBC's Martin Bashir, has not only endorsed Mitt Romney for President but did so after Romney personally called him on his phone while Nugent was shopping for guns in Michigan.

Nugent is politically opinionated. He has called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a "toxic c---" and added: "This bitch is nothing but a two-bit whore for Fidel Castro."

Nugent was visited by the Secret Service last spring after saying an Obama reelection would mean "I will either be dead or in jail." He also called the Obama White House "a vile, evil, America-hating administration.

"We need to ride into that battle field and chop their heads off," Nugent told a rally at the National Rifle Association. "Any questions?"

Uh, no sir. No questions. Considering all the guns you own, not to mention chopping tools, it's probably better for everyone that you keep your guitar in your hands.