The guitar playing half of rightwing country superduo Montgomery Gentry went hunting.
As you might expect from a man who would proudly jam on such anthems as 'You Do Your Thing, I'll Do Mine", (a song whose video features a good ole boy driving around "exposing" liberal meat-eating city dwellers as hypocrites by sickening them with a big floppy deer carcass tied across his old American beater truck) he seeks out especially dangerous prey; a bear.
Only.... well, you gotta read this cowardly shit.
It's pretty bad.
Montgomery Gentry Country Music Superstar Charged with Killing a Tame Bear
According to an indictment unsealed this week, in October 2004 Gentry paid $4,650 to shoot the "trophy-caliber" bear named "Cubby" at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection in northern Minnesota, which advertises itself as a place where animals can be photographed in the wild.
After using a bow and arrow to kill the animal inside its pen, Gentry and the owner of the preserve tagged the bear and registered it with the state as if it had been killed in the wild. A videotape was edited to make it appear that Gentry had hunted down the bear.
Attempts to reach Gentry, who was freed on bond, were unsuccessful.
You see, he's not out hunting bear with a measly old gun.
Oh, no.
As a real God, Guts, and Glory type, this macho Ted Nugent wannabe goes looking for danger with a man's man weapon: he uses a bow and arrow instead of a bullet, risking his life out in the wilderness for the 'thrill of the kill' up close.
If by 'out in the wilderness' and 'up close' you mean 'helpless and trapped inside a cage like a calf in a vealpen'.
This is about as image shattering as it gets.... especially if you happen to believe all of that rightwing mythology about what makes a man a real man. I have to wonder how much of a scratching and clawing fit his big dollar legal team from the record label must have put up to get this delayed for almost two years.
I doubt he gets the sticking he deserves for this, but if you want to know the type of drivel he makes his living off of... go find the 'You Do Your Thing, I'll Do Mine' video on You Tube and listen to the lyrics. Then, think about what this absolutely cowardly piece of shit did to get his 'trophy'.
The mythology and politics of this duo is classic Bush Republican. About as real, rugged, and fearlessly American as George W. Bush is a true two-fisted cowboy from deep in the heart of Texas. If 'by Texas' you mean 'from the wild frontier of the Nutmeg State up in New England' part of Texas.
I posted this story because... well... it pissed me off, first, and I am not going to be ashamed to come out swinging when I see this sort of shit. Second, I think its time for unabashed pushback against the rightwing and their message machine. Including their pampered and well-paid superstars. GOP events have been blaring this pairs music at fundraisers and events for years with their blessing. The song I highlight was blasting nightly at the Republican National Convention as the Rovians were gleefully plastering purple band-aids across their cheeks to mock John Kerry's war wounds, for example.
Think about that for a second, this duo wrote a redmeat anthem, filled with derogatory smears and stereotypes about people who are beneath them because they disagree with them, and gave it not-so-freely to wingnuttia to make a buck.
I say, you live by the Jingo, you die by the Jingo.
I think its entirely fairgame to highlight these kinds of image blowing gaffes if the rightwing made that the rules, especially if the wingnut in question is going to run and hide from the press with his coat over his head on tv.
The CMA's should offer a 'Lee Greenwood Award' for this kind of plastic flag waving horseflop revealed to be performed by a total wuss. Given to 'the most panderingly jingoistic nonsense performed by the biggest realworld frauds in country music' every year.
UPDATED: Ha. The syndicate took the word 'Tame' out of the title at some point during the day, but left the word in the same part of the report as it was earlier. Classic.