Nugent Wonders Why Didn’t We Shut Down for COVID 1 through 18
You know you got it when you're going insane.
Long ago, I adopted a policy not to blog about topics that could be summarized “Known Idiot* Says Something Stupid.” This one, though, is too amusing to pass up.
Snopes (“Did Ted Nugent Ask Why There Were No Lockdowns for ‘COVID 1 Thru 18’?“):
In a nearly 12-minute video shared from the verified Facebook account of Ted Nugent, the musician vented his frustrations about the COVID-19 pandemic, while amplifying conspiracy theories, in a bizarre rant.
“I ain’t scared. I ain’t scared of nothing,” said Nugent before going on a tangent about “knowing every songbird.”
At about the 1:30 mark, the musician then lamented the decisions made by production companies to cancel tours in 2021.
“We are not waiting for any authorization from any bureaucratic entity to say, ‘you can go ahead and tour now.’ You know, this year’s tour is canceled again. Are you kidding me? The production companies won’t let us tour again this year,” said Nugent. “Dirty, bastards, lying, scam, smoke and mirrors, COVID-19 freaks.”
And at the 2:20 mark, the 72-year-old asked his viewers the following:
You know, I guess I would ask you — because I’m addicted to truth, logic and common sense — and my common-sense meter would demand the answer to why weren’t we shut down for COVID one through 18?
COVID-1 — and there was a COVID 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 — COVID one through 18 didn’t shut anything down but woah, COVID-19!
He did not appear to be joking.
I enjoyed Nugent’s music in my youth and still find him to be a fairly entertaining fellow, if something of a whackjob. And, honestly, I don’t care much if a septuagenarian rock star doesn’t realize that COVID-19 is a portmanteau for “COronaVIrus Disease 2019.” But combining the gaffe with a rant about government conspiracies, dirty bastard production companies, and his own addition to “truth, logic, and common sense” is a bit much.
_________________
*Sometimes, it was literally about people who just weren’t very bright. More often, though, it was about demonstrably bright people who stayed in the news by spouting outrageous and easily debunked nonsense. Posting every time that happened simultaneously gave them oxygen and made me dumber in the process.
Someone in the Trump orbit said something similar on television. I believe whomever said it was female, does anyone else remember this?
I really do like the category: Known Idiot Says Something Stupid
@Jen:
You mean this?
“This is Covid-19, not Covid-1, folks.” — Kellyanee Conway, April 15, 2020
I would give someone a pass for saying this in February 2020. Not in April 2021.
I just realized that I have some empathy for the situation Ted finds himself in. He wants to get out there and play, and he can’t. That sucks. I don’t know if he needs the money, but that thing with the audience is a thing unto itself, even if you don’t need the money.
Of course, he didn’t just say, “Covid sucks!” Sigh.
@Jay L Gischer:..Known Idiot Says Something Stupid
The KISSS of dense…
Nugent is suffering from terminal Cat Scratch Fever and should have been vaccinated for bat shit insanity long ago. By the way, why does OTB give this non-drug addled minor league rock musician and Pied Piper of byzantine thinking any coverage? Are their no serious political thinkers or substantive citizens in the political realm left for you to cover?
*confused expression* Of course we did, don’t you remem… *eyes widening* OH MY GOD, HE’S GOT COVID18 AMNESIA!!! *runs away screaming in fear*
@CSK: Yep, that was it.
IMHO, she knew better and was being intentionally misleading. Nugent is just deteriorating.
I made a sarcastic comment months back to this effect. I thought it was obvious what the “19” in COVID-19 means.
Apparently some people are that stupid.
This would be laughable, if it weren’t for the unfortunate reality that most Republicans are saying equally dumb shit.
Likely >400,000 Americans died needlessly because Republicans have become near universally stupid.
So…funny…but tragically not funny.
@Christopher Rudolph:..why does OTB give this non-drug addled minor league rock musician and Pied Piper of byzantine thinking any coverage?
You are summarily appointed the OTB Official Entertainment Maven.
I hear Doc Severinsen still has a band and has been looking for gigs since Johnny retired.
Ted wants to get out and play a medley of his hit.
Ted went on to rant: “They claim 500,000 people died from Covid 19. Bullshit!”
It’s easy to dismiss Nugent’s ignorance on the derivation of the name of this coronavirus and chuckle at his stupidity. But, anyone with a megaphone like he has who’s going to perpetuate a lie as pernicious as ‘COVID-19’ wasn’t as deadly as it has been needs to be smacked down hard.
@Kathy:
Nugent certainly is.
See, this is what a poor education will get you.
It should be “COVIDs one through 18”. You have to pluralize COVID here. It’s like “Attorneys General” or “Flus, swine, avian and bovine.”
I suspect he was a sad victim of cow flu, which left him udderly bereft of grammar.
@Kathy: Covid-21 jokes are so much better than Covid-1-through-18 jokes. There’s that moment when the color drains out of someone’s face at the mere mention…
@Gustopher:
That might be a moot point.
@Jen: Isn’t she famous for “alternate facts” too?
Perhaps we should rename the trump pandemic disease COVID 2019 as a public service to certain individuals. Or in some other way make it clear it’s not COVID the nineteenth.
In the case of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, the “2” does indicate “second.” Unfolded, the abbreviation reads “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Corona Virus 2.” This is to distinguish it from SARS-CoV, which led to an outbreak of a similar disease, named SARS, in 2003 (there, let’s rename that one COVID-03).
@Kathy:
As I understand it, SAR-CoV-2 is the virus, COVID19 is the acute respiratory disorder caused by the virus in some cases (like the difference between HIV and AIDS).
I mentioned this item to a coworker today. She said “No, you’re kidding me, right?” She really couldn’t believe it.
@Mister Bluster: I kind of dig the title of OTB Official Entertainment Maven. However, instead of it being appointed position can we have an competitive election, as there may be better candidates out there! Also, I am not sure what the Doc Severinsen reference was about, as he didn’t seem to cast a broad net into the schools of political fish.
Ted Nugent is now going to Wang Dang That Sweet COVID-19!
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-nugent-catches-coronavirus-after-year-of-telling-us-the-pandemic-is-all-fake?via=FB_Page&source=TDB&fbclid=IwAR1iXf4wPZJHNf1pOFT-cBeBwPlqzR2Zy_VFnVsntcplMw14iiMumbw56pM