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As you all may have noticed, the “Are You Ready For Some Football?” song by Hank Williams Jr. that has opened every Monday Night Football since 1991 was curiously absent from last night’s Monday Night Football broadcast. HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT TEAMS WERE PLAYING? Its absence was due to some comments Hank made about Adolf Hitler and President Obama and how they are the same. You know, the truth? From ESPN:
While Hank Williams, Jr. 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.
To backtrack a bit, yesterday morning the country music star/person who has heard of politics appeared on the early morning Fox talkshow Fox and Friends. From what I can tell he was invited on to talk about the current GOP candidates, which makes enough sense for Fox and Friends, but instead he said, “Remember the golf game?” And then everything got amazing!
It’s honestly kind of amazing to me that anyone on TV compares ANYONE with Hitler anymore. And I mean, like, I toooootally get that Obama is just like Hitler, and that he and Biden literally ARE The Three Stooges, but actually saying those words never really seems to go over very well. It’s also amazing to me how reasonable this makes the cast (the cast?) of Fox and Friends look. They seem like normal people! How did he even pull that off! Hank Williams Jr. has released a statement, of course, saying:
Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that pairing was.
Sure. I mean, he needed a ludicrous analogy. So what if the only one he can think of was an extremely loaded and totally insane one? What is he, Ezra friggen Pound? We can’t all be expected to think of NON-HITLER ANALOGIES all the time. Like here, for example: When Hank Williams Jr. compared Obama to Hitler on Fox and Friends it was like, ahhh, ummmmm, hmmmmmmm, whheeeeen Hitler killed all those Jews? Aw, dangit! See, it’s pretty much impossible.
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“I’m glad they pulled his song. There is no room on ESPN for terrible people like that.”
-Michael Vick
A MILLION TIMES THIS!
Really, a downvote for agreeing with facetaco? Yikes, you people.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
But okay, that’s at least three downvotes now. Did you recently upset a large group of people? Perhaps you led them to believe that your mustache was sincere?
NFL fans get really tight when you rag on Michael Vick, I’ve noticed. My anti-torturing dogs and strangling them with your own hands stances is VERY controversial.
I downvoted you initially for your million times this, as I downed FT, because… well, see below.
And I hate Downvote Trolls, I try to keep it positive and uplift everyone via my thumbs and stupid words
I like being thumbed…
“Downvoting Ironic Moustache for supporting Facetaco’s comments is like downvoting Netanyahu for supporting Hitler’s comments.” – Hank Williams Jr
“jejejejeje, dude kills some dogs and the whole world crucifies him. i’m glad they don’t value human life that much.”
- ray lewis
Michael Vick did go to jail for his crimes. He served the given punishment for the crime in full, and now he is a free man trying to get his life back together. So unless he screws up again I will not fault a person for trying to do this. So yes, downvotes.
“I’m Pooping”
This is why we can’t have nice things.
At least Faith Hill didn’t say anything crazy and get taken off of Sunday Night Football, because the nation’s moms would have fucking rioted.
The Hitler thing didn’t freak me out nearly as much as the part where he basically said he wanted to fuck Gretchen Carson.
I will go on record as stating that this entire interview is pretty much way freakier than anything Lynch or Cronenberg could ever come up with. Combined.
Lynchburg?
I don’t really get the whole deal with pulling the song for one week. Sure, he is batshit insane and says ridiculous things on television. But either you think we should separate the art from the person, in which case the song has nothing to do with his behavior, or you just hate the guy now, in which case maybe stop playing that song forever? But just for one week? What is that even suppoesd to do? Keep a few hundred dollar bills out of his money bin full of million dollar bills? Somehow, I don’t think this is a particularly effective “punishment,” if that’s what they’re after.
Also, “Are You Ready For Some Football” is now art, apparently.
“If I were ESPN, I wouldn’t worry too much about being associated with the guy who just called the POTUS ‘Hiter’ and ‘the enemy’.” – facetaco
I’m not saying that, exactly, but this whole solution of removing the song for one week doesn’t seem to be accomplishing anything. In fact, I’d say it’s bringing more attention to their association with him than if they had just ignored the whole thing. I’ve heard that stupid song 800 million times without knowing who sings it, and even if I did know, I’m not sure most people would immediately make the connection and become outraged. It’s not as if they’re starting to use the song AFTER he called the President ‘Hitler.’ But if they are worried about that connection, then why not get rid of it completely?
I assumed they were planning to ditch I completely but didn’t want to do it right off the bat in case it played out differently.
But in any case, when a guy who has a visible role on one of your network’s showcase broadcasts calls the president Hitler, you really have to do something. Especially when you’re Disney-owned. Thems just the breaks.
Obviously Hank Williams, Jr. is batshit crazy (see: “A Country Boy Can Survive”) and I see why a Disney-owned network would want to disassociate itself from him. But I really agree with facetaco’s point that pulling the song for a week is totally half-assed. Either ignore it and let it go on, or pull the song forever. Where’d they get the one week mark as a punishment anyway? It seems so arbitrary. Is there some flowchart or guideline somewhere? “One week for a Hitler comparison. Two weeks for a nipslip. Three weeks for sending a dick Tweet.” Silly!!!
Plus, ESPN is associated with a large amount of professional athletes with a wide variety of criminal behavior. So I’d call this pretty small potatoes for the network, comparatively speaking.
It seemed like they were expecting to take it off the air until he released a statement about it, which would obviously come shortly afterwards. Except that there was never a longer timeframe given than the one week. It really doesn’t make any sense. The whole thing is a garbage circus.
This Argument is ridiculous Facetaco.
May As well stop watching TV, Movies, Don’t Look at CSPAN, and Certainly dont sit in the gallery or audience when congress resumes session. In Fact, dont bother to show up at your next city hall meeting, either.
Everyone Has Flaws, Problems and Makes Mistakes; Saying ‘they shouldn’t show one and not the other because, Hey, they show Vick and he killed dogs, well, ESPN are HYPOCRITES’ is as simpleminded as calling Obama ‘Hitler.’
One dude served his time and works in a sport ESPN broadcasts. The other is some jackass singer that ESPN Employs. Not The Same Thing At All. But.
I don’t even think they should get rid of the song. I’m not saying take people off the air who make mistakes. Yeah, Hank Williams is a jackass, but he didn’t actually participate in any criminal behavior. These people did:
http://nflcrimes.blogspot.com/
And they’re on the station every single week, in a much more prominent role than Hank Williams. So I don’t see how it makes any sense that they’ll disassociate themselves from Hank Williams but not all of those other people.
The criminal behavior of the athletes isn’t being sanctioned by ESPN because they aren’t paying them, they pay the NFL/NBA/MLB etc. It is up to the leagues and the players associations/unions to police the players, and the League (NFL Specifically) has overarching conduct policies that they enforce at will when Athletes Misbehave.
ESPN Pays Hank Williams Junior. Disney Writes him a check. So NOT Doing Something would be Tacit approval in that instance since they ARE in a position to enact some kind of employee/contractor conduct and behavioral expectations policy.
You Can’t just black and white this issue.
They’re not paying the athletes, but they ARE promoting them and providing a venue through which they can garner fame. Which is fine, but then it doesn’t make sense to then remove a song from someone who merely expressed an opinion, however outrageous that opinion may have been.
But you seem to be getting genuinely upset about this, whereas I am just puzzled by the inconsistent and arbitrary decision on the part of ESPN. So…agree to disagree? BFFs?
Never Upset, Always BFFS
(Not sure how I seem upset other than my Downvote (and explanation) but we coo
l)
Geez, guys. Why don’t you just settle your differences on the golf course.
Actually, Ezra Pound probably would have loved his analogy! What with his raging antisemitism.
“I couldn’t have said it better, I thought it was gooooooooddd, living with you waha” – Ezra
Better.
He looks pretty.
He looks petty
He looks shitty.
Are you ready for some foot in your mouth?
Obligatory Laserblast MST3K reference,
I’m not ready for some football anymore
The Comments I saw on EVERY Article relating to this were among the dumbest on the internet. RacistRepublicanSportsFanatics are at the nexus of the worst.
You got Facebook’d!!!!
This guy is so stupid
“booooooooooooooooooooooooobz!”
Talk about unfair! How do we know he was referring to Boehner???
*wasn’t
#sarcasmfail
you guys just don’t know how much golf Hitler played.
“hey everybody, we’re all gonna get laid!” – Hitler
“Hitler looks almost as bad compared to Obama as Hank Williams Jr. does compared to Hank Williams Sr.” – STEVE SCHNEIDER
“He’s So Loathsome I Could Cry”
“Are you ready for an ASSHOOOOOOOOLE?!?!?!”
this reminds me of one of my favorite SNL skits….”call me boseephus!”
Slightly off topic: I’m not a huge fan of country music, but I live in Texas and there’s always country acts at music festivals, the rodeo, etc. No big deal; some of it is pretty good. However, it might have the highest proportion of audience back-patting of any form of music other than national anthems. Red states and blue states can unite in our irritation about twerpy navel-gazing Brooklyn bands or whatever, but they don’t devote a plurality of their lyrics to the superiority, morals, and basic goodness of Brooklynites.
I just like how, out of EVERYTHING he said in this video, he finished saying that the USA has never been this divided with “I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you”, or something like that. Really? THAT’S what you didn’t sugarcoat? A relatively uncontroversial and accepted observation of the current social and political climate in the USA? FINALLY, SOMEONE IS GIVING ME THE STRAIGHT FACTS, NO SUGAR COATING.
I see your point. And this is possibly going to make me sound like a complete looney -toon, but I will take the risk, and say that yes, Hank Williams Jr. made some completely inappropriate and really way-out-yonder-beyond insane remarks on Fox and Friends, BUT, I actually have more respect for him than any of those dumbasses sitting on the couch. Simply because, yes, he’s batshit crazy–but he OWNS it. You know? He DOESN’T sugar coat it–he just outright says, “Obama is the enemy!” He actually said that. Because that is what his crazed mind believes. And you know what’s effing scary? And maybe even MORE dangerous? Is that those fools on the couch believe it too, but they don’t own it. They won’t say it. They put up the pretense of being “fair and balanced.” They pass themselves off as legitimate journalists and they try to distance themselves from Hank William’s Jr’s comments by saying, “I don’t understand that analogy” or steering the conversation toward which candidate he likes best, but they all think it too! And their network propagates the sentiment. And they sit there and act like they don’t understand where he is coming from. It makes me so angry.
I don’t think those airheads on Fox & Friends actually think Obama is the enemy, though. I think they disagree with him, sometimes entirely, but not “the enemy.” However, for a big paycheck, they are willing to act every day like he is the enemy, which gins up lunatics like Hank Jr. Then, when actually confronted with Hank Jr’s moronical hate, they are genuinely appalled. As if they have no complicity in it. Which makes me think Fox & Friends are not happy or decent people. They are willing to provide all the oxygen that kind of hate-fire needs, for a paycheck. And they tell themselves they are “just airing the other side of the story” as “entertainers” or whatever. And the country gets worse and worse off, full of people less and less happy. Thanks, douchebags! We know you’re smarter than that, so maybe step up and BE smarter (even if it would damage your brand!).
There was a Daily Show or a Colbert where they exposed one of the blondes as some kind of Rhodes scholar or something fancy pants smart before she went on Fox and Friends and basically routinely said things to the effect of not knowing how to tie her shoelaces.
Whores. They’re all whores.
Yah, ‘xackly!
Okay, you made me go watch that clip again — it’s what I was thinking of too:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-8-2009/gretchen-carlson-dumbs-down
Sometimes, Hotspur, I get worried about our brains.
BTW, my books came in the mail and I’m really excited. I haven’t started them yet but they’re on a very special shelf for books I’m looking forward to reading. Yipee!
THEY ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS
Well, there there was one time this country was way more divided than it is now; back when some people thought it was a bad idea to give black people freedom. Of course back then Hank Williams Jr. would have compared Lincoln to King George III.
hey, Hank Williams III…how do you feel about all of this?
Seriously, the Williams genes skipped a generation. III is awesome.
And, the above photo notwithstanding, rather fetching. Which, i know, irrelevant, except it’s not, because I am willing to put up with a racist, disfigured father-in-law if you’re attractive. FELLAS.
I work at the “small studio” in Nashville where this was shot. We were all pretty shocked, especially considering that this was the first interview of the day. These satellite media tours are usually four hours long and consist of interviews with over twenty stations, so for him to open with that was pretty nuts. After that, stations were asked by his P.R. people not to ask political questions. Another great moment that didn’t actually make it to air was another interview where he was asked about his half-sister Jett Williams. Sadly it wasn’t live, and I was asked by the P.R. firm to edit it out.
So how drunk was he then?
He seemed totally sober, to be honest. It was just kind of clear when he came in that he’s the most important person in his universe.
Sooooo…. his PR people didn’t want anyone to ask him political questions, after he agreed to be on Fox and Friends?? Huh. Wonder what kinda questions they thought he’d be asked in the first place?
I have no idea what they were thinking. All the other shows asked about Hank Sr.’s new box sets (the background in the shot was for that as well), and I assumed that was the main reason he was doing the interviews. I highly doubt that he personally chose to be on Fox and Friends. Most of those interviews/shows are chosen by the P.R. firms, and the artists usually don’t even know who they’re talking to until right before the interview starts.
You know you went over the line when this cheese dick stops kissing your ass.
Has anyone taken the time to see what other videos 68truthseeker has posted? Because with a name like 68truthseeker you know there’s a lot of Internet gold in them YouTubes.
In this VERY short time I’ve learned from 68truthseeker that Obama is absolutely a Kenyan and not a Christian and only refers to Jesus ONCE in a Christmas message.
And then I found the real gem:
Physicist claims he was told in 1992 ‘The USA will have a black, Soviet agent as president soon’
I haven’t heard this kind of honest grassroots journalism since Da Truf bravely went on the air last Saturday night to explain to America that 9/11 was an inside job.