No, the Other Less-interesting Ted

So, I see in the news today that former rock star Ted Nugent said...well, I don't know.  I generally gave up reading Ted Nugent comments.  I see the headline, and unless it offers a hint of something that might get him thrown in jail (like an earlier rant about the president that brought about a visit from the FBI, after which his sashaying ego collapsed faster than a card table in a hurricane), I now move on.  And on this, all I saw what that Mr. Nugent was calling someone "psychotic," and that just doesn't make the cut.  All I could think was, "Well, at least this time he's talking about something he's acquainted with.  Even if he doesn't understand it."

(Actually, when I first saw the headline, I was hoping that the "Ted" it was referring to was the recent movie character from Seth MacFarlane.  At least then there was a chance that the thought process was used.  You know Ted Nugent is in trouble when things he says are profoundly less interesting than a talking teddy bear.)

My bigger issue with Ted Nugent Rant News Stories, though, is not what he says -- hey, he's entitled to whatever attention-drawing spew he wants to make -- but rather that what he says is covered by the national news.  Ted Nugent wasn't particularly insightful when he had his hey-day, and that was 40 years ago.  Not that opinions don't have worth whenever they're offered, and not that someone can't suddenly have an intelligent epiphany four decades later.  But that's true for anybody.  So, why in the world Ted Nugent?  I can go to the nearby 7-11 and hear someone make the same alcohol-induced rant.

I feel the same when I see Victoria Jackson.getting national coverage for some harried screed about the President of the United States.  Victoria Jackson?  Seriously? 

I guess this is one of the by-products of a 24-hour news cycle, when you have to fill it in with anything.  (I get the concept of "filling it with anything" when it comes to yammering on blogs.  But national news bureaus have actual access to actual reporters sending them actual news...)  And honestly, I really do grasp why celebrities make the news for political statements they make.  As big-name celebrities, they draw big-time interest and attention.  But Victoria Jackson and Ted Nugent? 

On the positive side, I take comfort that when the best celebrity criticism of President Obama the radical far right can come up with to promote is Ted Nugent and Victoria Jackson, then things must be okay.

There's a certain whimsy to all this.  If someone like Bruce Springsteen, Matt Damon, or Barbara Streisand makes a liberal political statement, the far right news media tends to trash them for just being Hollywood or pop airheads, and asks why should we listen to their ego-maniacal emptiness.  But these same people are okay with Victoria Jackson and Ted Nugent,  At least when a Ben Affleck sits down for a long, thoughtful interview, he's someone whose done something culturally in the national public eye the past half-century.  Not that that makes his opinion valid or more valuable, but it does at least show he has a touchstone of some awareness for current reality.  Or reality, period.