by VVN MusicVVN Music has a policy of covering ALL artists who have been recording for twenty years or more from the worlds of pop, rock, soul, country, folk and blues. That pledge runs from the heaviest of death metal rockers to classic hip hop artists to Justin Timberlake and Donny and Marie Osmond. We don't make quality, genre or value judgement.
Until today.
Musicians are well known for occasionally being outspoken about politics from the far left to the far right and we report what they say, when we feel it is newsworthy. The First Amendment guarantees their right to express their views and we support that.
However, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1919, the power of free speech does come with some responsibility. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."
Ted Nugent has been ramping up the hateful rhetoric for years against the left. He was even visited by the FBI after one improper comment about President Obama.
On Friday, Nugent appeared on Alex Jones' Info Wars and said words that are clearly a threat:
Just know that evil, dishonesty, and scam artists have always been around and that right now they’re liberal, they’re Democrat, they’re RINOs, they’re Hollywood, they’re fake news, they’re media, they’re academia, and they’re half of our government, at least. So come to that realization. There are rabid coyotes running around. You don’t wait till you see one to go get your gun. Keep your gun handy, and every time you see one, you shoot one.
Some will say he wasn't serious or was using exaggeration to make his point. That may be true but it doesn't mean that, to some on the extreme right, it won't be interpreted as a call to arms. Yelling "fire" in a theater, even if it was a joke, still means that you are responsible when people get hurt because they are gullible, uninformed or unaware.
This time around, Nugent took it too far. His hateful rhetoric, which is escalating on a regular basis, will no longer be part of this site nor will we promote his music activity and fame which is his megaphone for his words.
VVN Music is not a huge site. Our move probably won't be a blip on the radar of Ted Nugent's support but we must, in our own small way, fight back against a "Motor City madman" who could be influencing radical or less-than-firm members of our society.
Comments
I have tossed all my Nugent CDs and will never listen to anything he has to say ever again, whether it be music or his hate-filled ramblings.
I applaud your courage and wholeheartedly agree. Rock on VVN!
Here is the truth about freedom of speech: I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it.
You blew it. You are promoting censorship.
As was pointed out in the article, freedom of speech is not a total freedom to say anything you want according to the Supreme Court. Their famous example is that you do not have the right to yell fire in a crowded theater when there is, in fact, no fire.
The same goes for Mr. Nugent. He has the right to responsible free speech but calling for the shooting of about 50% of the American people by his followers falls well within the "fire in a theater" construct.
Our choice is, in no way, censorship. Mr. Nugent still has the ability to express his opinions in the way he sees fit. The American people also retain the right to respond to those opinions in the way that they feel is appropriate. For VVN Music, we have chosen not to report on or pass along Mr. Nugent's misguided and possibly dangerous rhetoric.
This is not a liberal or a conservative agenda. The only agenda is one of decency and not spreading his hateful, violent words.