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Hank Williams Jr. & The Prez
After playing his “We Don’t Apologize For America” at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines Friday night, Williams told the crowd what he thinks about the 44th President of the United States.
“We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him.”
Apparently Williams’ remarks were well received by some members of the audience. The Des Moines Register / Metromix reports, “The cheers that followed were loud and enthusiastic.”
Williams’ latest anti-Obama screed comes nearly 10 months after his traditional “Are You Ready For Some Football” opening for TV’s “Monday Night Football” was yanked by ESPN due to remarks the country singer made during a via-satellite appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” Commenting on politics in general, Williams said a then-recent golf match between Obama and Speaker Of the House John Boehner “would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu” and described the President and Vice President Joe Biden as “The enemy.”
Williams eventually apologized for his remarks, saying his passion for sports and politics “got the best or worst of me.”
Williams’ Iowa State Fair comments come one week after Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine told a Singapore audience that Obama is responsible for several U.S. “murders” including the recent Aurora, Colo., shooting tragedy.
“Back in my country, my president, he’s trying to pass a gun ban, so he’s staging all of these murders, like the ‘Fast and Furious’ thing down at the border,” Mustaine said. “Aurora, Colo., all the people that were killed there, and now the beautiful people at the Sikh Temple.”
And, in case you were wondering, Williams’ and Mustaine’s recent comments come only eight years after the Dixie Chicks told a London audience that they weren’t too thrilled about then-President Bush. Appearing at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire shortly before the U.S. launched the Iraq war, lead singer Natalie Maines said the group was “ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
Maines’ remarks resulted in country music radio stations banning the Dixie Chicks’ music and at least one media event where the group’s CDs were gathered in a pile and destroyed by a bulldozer.
However, there doesn’t seem to be much, if any, outrage expressed towards Mustaine or Williams. Guess you could say times have changed since 2003.