http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16524877.htm
Posted on Tue, Jan. 23, 2007


Rocker cites Perry in deriding critics
By JAY ROOT
STAR-TELEGRAM AUSTIN BUREAU



AUSTIN -- Rocker Ted Nugent said Monday that Gov. Rick Perry wants him to deliver this blunt message to anyone who didn't like the Confederate flag T-shirt the performer wore at the Republican inaugural ball in Austin last week: "Drop dead."

Perry aides gave a slightly different account, but agreed that the two talked and said the governor defended Nugent's right to wave the Confederate flag and to be controversial.

In an extended interview with the Star-Telegram, Nugent said Perry called him over the weekend to express his support for the guitarist and the Confederate symbol emblazoned on a T-shirt that he wore at the Jan. 16 event.

Perry "called me to tell me, when they attack me for wearing the rebel flag, 'be sure you tell them that I, as governor, support the waving of the rebel flag at the Laredo airport, alongside with the American, Texas and Mexican flags, and tell them to drop dead.'"

The iconic Confederate battle flag, which some view as a symbol of Southern racism, is represented in the City of Laredo logo. A city official could not say whether one flies in front of the airport.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor told Nugent "he had a right to wear whatever he wanted, just like the Laredo airport had the right to fly whatever flag it wanted." Black denied that Perry told Nugent the detractors could "drop dead."

Nugent's attire sparked controversy after some complained that it did not befit attendance at a gubernatorial gala. One report also said the famed Motor City Madman made remarks disparaging non-English speakers, but no witness has made a specific complaint to that effect, and Nugent said it never happened.

He said he has clear audio from the entire show demonstrating no such comments in the performance. Vaudeville it was not. But Nugent rated it as "PG-13" and said he purposely toned down the language and political content.

"No, I wouldn't be the traditional status quo choice of a Republican event, which is exactly why they need me, because my music is just over-the-top intense," Nugent said. "The good governor, nor his staff, never suggested one control factor. ... I censored myself at the inaugural bash because, indeed, it was an inaugural bash."

After the performance, Perry aides said there was no desire or attempt to alter the content of the Nugent show.

Black said the governor is aware that some people are offended by the Confederate flag. He also said Perry thought it "fine" that officials removed plaques carrying an image of the flag from the Texas Supreme Court building, under then-Gov. George W. Bush, in 2000.

"You're not going to see Rick Perry on the jogging trail in a Confederate T-shirt," Black said. "He would consider that in poor taste."

Gary Bledsoe, head of the Texas branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said use of the flag on stage at a state event "clearly was inappropriate and offensive to many Texans."

Nugent fired back a double-barreled blast at his critics, saying he is under fire from liberals because he has become an effective spokesman for causes they abhor -- particularly the promotion of gun rights and hunting. He invited them to visit his Web site, www.tednugent.com, and to come find him and confront him in person.

"I cannot be destroyed. I cannot be silenced. I cannot be compromised," Nugent said. "And if you desire to do so, by all means examine my schedule and let's get it on. And here's the bottom line: They have to call me a racist in the convenient insulation of distance from their putridity of abuse of the First Amendment."

Nugent, 58, picked up the guitar as a youth and in the mid-1960s began a long career in rock 'n' roll. He had a series of successful albums in the 1970s, including Free-For-All, Cat Scratch Fever and Double Live Gonzo! Besides being a hit with the heavy metal crowd, Nugent, who stalks wild game with a bow and arrow, has in recent years become an outspoken proponent of gun rights, hunting and trapping, calling those activities key components of environmental conservation and stewardship.

The owner of a ranch near Waco, Nugent struck up a friendship with Perry several years ago after having brunch with him at the Governor's Mansion in Austin. He said Perry was drawn to his militant stance against drug and alcohol use, his music and the political views he expressed in media appearances, and that they have a mutual appreciation for the outdoors.

"He loved that during all my interviews, that I celebrate the importance of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, and yet I still play flame-throwing rock and roll of total, uninhibited defiance," Nugent said. "He likes all that s---."
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Perry "called me to tell me, when they attack me for wearing the rebel flag, 'be sure you tell them that I, as governor, support the waving of the rebel flag at the Laredo airport, alongside with the American, Texas and Mexican flags, and tell them to drop dead.'"