Culture Clash

Nothing misogynistic- or crude- here. From Metro Lyrics, the words to "Cat Scratch Fever" by one-hit-wonder Ted Nugent:


Well I don't know where they come from
But they sure do come
I hope they comin' for me
And I don't know how they do it
But they sure do it good
I hope they doin' it for free

They give me cat scratch fever
Cat scratch fever

The first time that I got it
I was just ten years old
I got it from some kitty next door
I went and see the Dr. and
He gave me the cure
I think I got it some more

They give me cat scratch fever
Cat scratch fever

It's nothin dangerous
I feel no pain
I've got to ch-ch-change
You know you got it when you're going insane
It makes a grown man cryin' cryin'
Won't you make my bed

I make the pussy purr with
The stroke of my hand
They know they gettin' it from me
They know just where to go
When they need their lovin man
They know I do it for free

They give me cat scratch fever
Cat scratch fever


Right Wing Watch points out

After Mike Huckabee criticized Beyonce's music as "obnoxious and toxic mental poison" unfit for children and compared the singer to a prostitute, it didn't take long for people to point out that he himself had once joined with Ted Nugent to perform a sexually explicit song on his national television program.

Huckabee is, predictably, reacting by pretending that what happened didn't actually happen, telling the Christian Post today that Nugent "changed the lyrics pretty dramatically" when he sang the song "Cat Scratch Fever" on Hucabee's Fox News show.

In fact, anyone who watches a video of the performance can see that Nugent didn't change any of the song's explicit lyrics as Huckabee accompanied him, 5:25 in.











Sarah Palin, who says "You can absolutely say that I am seriously interested in running for President" (not a clear statement of intent, but we can only hope for the entertainment)  is somewhat similar. Roger Simon observed at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines on Sunday the former governor exclaiming "coronation, rinse, repeat," "the man can only ride you when your back is bent," and Obama "is so over it, America, he's just not that into you."

Simon reported that there was no context for the remarks. And if you think "the man can only ride you when your back is bent" makes little sense, this- considering the source- from Palin on Saturday made even less sense: "screw the left and Hollywood."

Not screw the left, of course, but "screw Hollywood" is at best insincere coming from Palin, who recently appeared with Tara Pyle at a charity event

thrown in honor of special ops veterans at the Vegas Show Show on Thursday (January 22) in Las Vegas.

If you don’t know yet, Taya is the widow of Chris Kyle, the late Navy SEAL that the movie American Sniper is based on.

“Taya is carrying on her husband Chris’ legacy boldly – spending hours visiting with all the heroes there and sharing Chris’ book, inspiration, and story through American Sniper,” Sarah wrote in a Facebook post.

If Sarah wanted merely to raise money for the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation and further to honor his life and legacy, she could have done so without the shout-out to American Sniper which, as a movie, is part of Hollywood culture (and nominated for six Oscars). But she didn't. Instead, she lauded a film which, arguably is not true to the real-life Kyle and his book, "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History."  In The New Republic, Dennis Jett writes

Bradley Cooper, who plays Kyle, seems beset by uncertainty and moral anxiety in the above scene. But anyone who has read Kyle’s autobiography of the same title knows that his bravado left no room for doubt. For him, the enemy are savages and despicably evil. His only regret is that he didn’t kill more. He laments that there were rules of engagement, or ROE, which he describes as being drafted by lawyers to protect generals from politicians. He argues instead for letting warriors loose to fight wars without their hands tied behind their backs. At another point, he boasts that the unofficial ROE were pretty simple: “If you see anyone from about sixteen to sixty-five and they’re male, shoot ‘em. Kill every male you see.” 

Notwithstanding the differences between Chris Kyle and the portrayal by Bradley Cooper, Palin chose to identify herself in part with the biopic- and with the Hollywood she claims to want screwed.

No one should doubt Mike Huckabee's sincerity, while Palin sometimes infers she has a direct pipeline to God, though given her sometimes bizarre behavior (photo below via TPM) it's hard to believe she would be the one the Almighty would decide to communicate with.   But both of them at least appear not to have come to terms with modern culture, say, post 1990.

There are undeniable advantages for Republicans to fight the culture war as they contemplate GOP primaries.  But the slight scent of hypocrisy hovers.  By contrast, potential GOP presidential candidates could sidestep cultural issues, as has Chris Christie, whom Bill Clinton has termed "probably just a sideshow" or John Ellis Bush, a likely flame-out.  The prospective field is not, so it seems, all that far from the "clown car" Roger Simon observes..

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