updated 5:33 AM EDT, Thu April 19, 2012
Editor's note: LZ
Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist
of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and
a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior
writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on
Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.
Not because he doesn't
like Barack Obama but because he got up in front of a group of people
and insinuated he would attempt to assassinate Obama if he's re-elected.
Or let's put it this way: A man with a truckload of guns has threatened
the life of our president while the country's at war.
Nugent's words were: "If
Barack Obama is elected, I'll either be dead or in jail this time next
year," which sounds to me like he's open to directing his disapproval of
Obama in a way that is violent and unlawful. When you see that
statement next to Nugent comparing Obama and his colleagues to coyotes
that needed to be shot, as well as the need to "ride into that
battlefield and chop their heads off in November," I don't see how that
rant cannot be looked upon as a threat on the president's life.
I don't care how you feel
about Nugent's music or Obama's policies, it seems that if there were a
First Amendment line to cross, that would be it. And yet, the reality
is the Secret Service will spend a little time investigating Nugent,
determine he's not a true threat, and move on. If the Supreme Court can
rule in favor of an 18-year-old man who, in voicing his opposition to
being drafted for the Vietnam War, said: "If they ever make me carry a
rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is LBJ," then it's
doubtful anything is going to happen to Nugent.
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