MIKE VINSON, Guest Columnist
Sunday, April 29, 2012 6:24 am

“Come along if you care

Come along if you dare

Take a ride to the land inside of your mind

Beyond the seas of thought

Beyond the realm of what

Across the streets of hopes and dreams

Where things are really not”

– “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” lyrics by Ted Nugent and Steve Farmer, performed by The Amboy Dukes rock group

I’ve been listening to, and enjoying, Ted Nugent’s music since the late ‘60s, when he and his Detroit-based band The Amboy Dukes came out with their progressive rock hit “Journey to the Center of the Mind.”

With The Amboy Dukes’ success serving as a launch pad of sorts, Nugent embarked on a solo career that not only proved to be mega-successful (“Great White Buffalo,” “Free-For-All, “Cat Scratch Fever,” and many other hits), but continues to thrive to this very day.

Ever the entrepreneur, Nugent, also, has starred in his own outdoor-themed television series, has instructional bow-hunting videos/DVDS available, has authored several books, has made appearances in a few movies, etc. Too, he is known as a strong advocate of the Second Amendment Right to “bear arms” and, further, as a super-staunch supporter of the National Rifle Association. Nugent sits on the NRA’s Board of Directors.

However, it might prove wise for us to heed the caution signs, tap the brakes, and slow down a bit– at this juncture, anyway.

On April 14, at an NRA convention in St. Louis, Mo. – with a large crowd in attendance – Nugent, a die-hard Republican, made a speech for the ages.

And to say Nugent made this speech to a “large crowd” at an NRA convention in St. Louis, actually, is misleading because the same speech has gone viral … and I’m talking the world over!

In this famous (or infamous) speech, Nugent spoke out against the likes of President Barack Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Our government is wiping its ass with the Constitution,” Nugent said. “We’ve got four Supreme Court justices who don’t believe in the Constitution. Does everybody here know that four of the Supreme Court justices not only determined you don’t have the right to keep and bear arms, four Supreme Court justices signed their name to a declaration that Americans have no fundamental right to self-defense? That sounds like a stoned hippie. …

“If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either  dead or in jail by this time next year.”

Nugent also said if Obama is re-elected, America would become a “suburb of Indonesia.”

Nugent urged those in attendance at his NRA speech to, each, get a “couple hundred … couple thousand” people to vote for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in November. (NOTE: The Romney camp did attempt to distance itself from Nugent’s NRA speech.)

Expectedly, liberal media pundits swarmed Nugent’s NRA speech like bees on a man lathered in honey, sinking their stingers deeply as possible.

NBC anchorwoman Andrea Mitchell accused Nugent of using “threatening and obscene comments.” Many others have made similar comments, and, I wager, they will continue to do so.

Still, regarding his NRA speech, Ted Nugent was interviewed by the Secret Service.

Nugent said, however, the matter has been “resolved.”

Thankfully, I’m neither Democrat nor Republican. Rather, I campaign and vote for the individual in whom I have trust.

Is Ted Nugent a raving “madman,” or is he a “red-blooded patriot” with the courage to speak his mind, thus casting himself in harm’s way for the collective good of America?

What we have here, I believe, is an issue involving Freedom of Speech versus stepping outside the parameter of the same.

It’s your call; you still have the Freedom to say “yeah” or “nay” to Ted Nugent’s NRA speech.

Cast your vote with Mike Vinson at mike_vinson56@yahoo.com.