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Title: Hank Williams Jr. apologizes for Hitler-Obama comparison
Source:
cnn
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/showbiz/williams-football/
Published: Oct 4, 2011
Author: Michael Martinez
Post Date: 2011-10-04 15:41:38 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 292
Comments: 5
(CNN) -- Hank Williams Jr. apologized Tuesday for comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, a remark that prompted controversy and resulted in "Monday Night Football" pulling his popular musical introduction from this week's game. "I have always been very passionate about politics and sports and this time it got the best or worst of me," the country singer said in a statement. "The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin' [sic] and high fiven' [sic] on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by, simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement, and I am very sorry if it offended anyone. I would like to thank all my supporters. This was not written by some publicist," Williams wrote. Williams made the comparison on Fox News this week when he was asked about Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, playing on the same team in a June golf game. Earlier Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League condemned Williams' comments and praised ESPN for pulling his "Are You Ready for Some Football" musical recording that opens "Monday Night Football." "The Holocaust was a singular event in human history, and it is an insult to the memory of the millions who died as a result of Hitler's plan of mass extermination to compare the Nazi dictator to any American president," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor. "Hank Williams Jr. should know better. He owes an apology to Holocaust survivors, their families, and the brave American soldiers who gave of themselves to fight the Nazi menace during World War II. The last thing we need is to enter another election cycle on a sour note tainted with inappropriate, tired and over-the-top analogies to the Nazis," Foxman said. "ESPN responded appropriately and did the right thing in pulling the Hank Williams Jr. football song from the airwaves," Foxman said. On Tuesday, ESPN said it has made no decision on Hank's future beyond the Monday night telecast, according to Bill Hofheimer, senior director of communications at ESPN. Williams has criticized Obama in the past, when the Democrat was running for the presidency. In 2008, Williams was even mentioned in some media outlets as saying he was considering running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in the next election cycle, but those plans never materialized. Williams, who supported the Republican ticket in 2008 and even penned a song called "McCain-Palin Tradition," said during that campaign that candidate Obama didn't like the national anthem. The "McCain-Palin Tradition" song, which is a riff on the Williams tune "Family Tradition," included a line suggesting that Obama has "terrorist friends." The day before voting in the 2008 election, Williams said: "You know, I'm usually at Monday Night Football tonight, but Colorado, this is a lot more important tonight. Join me now in our national — you know, that song that, uh, Mr. Obama's not real crazy about, we're singing it right now." Williams then performed his version of the anthem. This week, in an appearance on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning, Williams referred to a June golf game with Obama and House Speaker John Boehner on the same team, against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, as "one of the biggest political mistakes ever." Asked what he didn't like about it, Williams said, "Come on, come on. That'd be like (Adolf) Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. Okay. Not hardly." When one of the Fox News interviewers later pointed out that Williams invoked "one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe ... the president," Williams responded: "That is true, but I'm telling you like it is, you know. That just wasn't a good thing. It just didn't fly. So any way, like Fred Thompson said, you don't want to ask me a question because I'm going to give you too straight of an answer. So talk about something else." Thompson, an actor and ABC Radio Network commentator, was the Republican senator from Tennessee. In a statement Monday, ESPN said that while Williams "is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to 'Monday Night Football.' We are extremely disappointed with his comments and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast." In a statement issued through a representative, Williams, son of legendary country singer Hank Williams, acknowledged his analogy was "extreme -- but it was to make a point." "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood," the country singer said. "... I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me -- how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites, and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will." Williams, however, said he has "always respected the office of the president." Still, he noted, "Every time the media brings up the tea party, it's painted as racist and extremists -- but there's never a backlash, no outrage to those comparisons ... Working-class people are hurting -- and it doesn't seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job -- it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change." CNN's David Close and Denise Quan contributed to this report.
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Would someone please find their balls and man up about what it is that they say when they say this shit?
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
They get infected with stupid when they breath the air at the Faux stodio. And to takes a day or two, not to mention a plate or three of crow to get their health back.
The comparison of Boehner to Netanyahoo is okay though?
He can handle only one plate of crow at a time Fred; cut the goober some slack. ;-D
I find the right wing has 2 personalities. Their overtly racist and or kook side (like birthers) which they only feel comfortable revealing to their own kind knowing they would be ridiculed if they talked or behaved the way they do with each other in a more inclusive gathering and their "public" persona where they pretend they are someone else other than a crazed racists. FOX news kind of makes the kooks let their guard down and reveal what they say to each other on their own forums.
"This is what economic policy in the West has become--a tool of the wealthy used to enrich themselves by spreading poverty among the rest of the population." Paul Craig Roberts
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
#2. To: war (#1)
#3. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
"The Holocaust was a singular event in human history, and it is an insult to the memory of the millions who died as a result of Hitler's plan of mass extermination to compare the Nazi dictator to any American president," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor.
#4. To: Fred Mertz (#3)
#5. To: Ferret Mike, war (#2)
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