by ill this turn into another Dixie Chicks-caliber scandal?
It seems that Hank Williams Jr. has stepped into some…well, let’s just say he is at the center of a firestorm today.
During an interview on Fox News yesterday, the self-proclaimed redneck compared President Obama to Hitler, saying a golf outing between Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner was like “Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu).”
Actually, I am somewhat impressed with his ability to pronounce “Netanyahu” correctly, as Hank seems…less than coherent. In addition to slurred speech, he also calls Obama and Vice President Biden “The Three Stooges.”
I am picturing it now-Hank swaying and squinting at a photo of Obama and Biden together, while someone asks him “How many Stooges do you see?”
Hank’s answer-“Ummmm…..I sheeee…..three? (hiccup)”
As a result of the interview, ESPN has pulled the “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Monday Night” intro segment from its Monday Night Football indefinitely.
We posted the controversy on The Telegraph‘s Facebook pages and received some interesting input. I am including a couple here:
“Hank, while he is a little goofy, and I question some of the (stuff) he says and does, is being made out to be more of a bad guy than a person who said what he honestly believed and was misunderstood. While I won’t take this for a drag through the political gutter, if you go back and check through the years, Hank is a very proud American. He takes great pride in standing up for himself, as well as others and he was just saying that the ‘pairing’ was odd. It makes no sense. They don’t see eye to eye and they never will. Nothing will change that. His analogy may have been chosen in poor taste, but he was in no way comparing Obama to Hitler. Let’s just be real.”
“He can say whatever he wants, but isn’t ESPN entitled to the same freedom to choose their spokespeople? No one is hindering his freedom to speak, ESPN is just not letting him use their network as a podium.”
While his career has been “quiet” for years, ole’ Hank may still wind up crying “tears in his beer” over this latest faux pas. On the other hand, the Dixie Chicks not only rebounded, but flourished in the pop industry, gaining several new pop fans for every country fan that turned their backs on them for their “heresy” against Bush. Hank may wind up alienating the left, but his fan base was never rooted in the New York art crowd, anyway.
It will be interesting to see if this “Country Boy Can Survive”…his career, anyway
Think maybe Junior might be afraid the Obama might just raise his taxes..which I think would just be fine along with football players and NASCAR drivers