Turning Sexual Predators Into Patriots: Pedophiles, Purity Culture, and the Patriarchy

Shared by a friend but originally posted by the Facebook group “Proud Deplorables.”

Scrolling through Facebook and this meme came across my thread.

Shivers ran through my body. I angrily responded, “Says the man who never served and threatened to shoot the last presidential candidate and the last President. If that is what you consider a patriot, you might want to revisit its definition. 😉” (1)

My next thoughts were of the summer of 1986 when I met Ted Nugent. He was performing at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. My boyfriend/future husband was working the event, so going backstage was a regular occurrence. A smile and a “please” for the security guard at the gate were usually enough to get me backstage and if it wasn’t, my boyfriend would come and give permission for my entry. I met dozens of artists during those summer concerts at the Fairgrounds.

But meeting Ted was different. Everything seemed normal until I stepped through the doorway of his dressing room. Across the room was a nearly naked woman laying on a built-in bench and he was snorting lines of cocaine off her stomach. As he raised his head to inhale the coke, he noticed me. His fellow band member handed him a drink and Ted sauntered over to me. As he approached, he rolled his shoulders in a drunken attempt at seduction and said, “Well aren’t you a tall drink of…