Your opinion, as stated: "He only uses hunting to stand out from other celebrities."
A little history:
Ted has always been a hunter. He wasn't always public about it. Being a celebrity, he valued his hunting time for the privacy it afforded him, as well as the other aspects of it. He was initially reluctant to be public about his hunting.
BUT, he has a lot of kids coming to him, asking him about this hunting thing. He saw that there was a need, a lot of young fans, who might end up being non-hunters at best, possibly even anti-hunters, who wanted to learn about it and didn't have anyone they knew who hunted. So he decided to do something about it, at great personal cost.
By cost, I refer to both his privacy and income. He claims that his public advocacy of hunting and gun rights has lost him several million dollars in contracts. Recording deals, tours and other live performances.
Then, he's spent his time. Ever seen him in concert? You may not like his music, and that's OK, but part of every show is devoted to reminding people of what some of their rights are. He talks about guns, hunting, the UN, many things.
He makes it very clear that he is opopsed to drug and alcohol use, something not common in the world of Rock stars.
He gives up a lot of privacy, because he's making his field time public, to be shared with strangers, all in an effort to keep mainstream America from losing sight of the fact that there isn't anything wrong with hunting.
And of course, he pays in other ways, such as people reacting the way you do. You can't stand him, think he's an idiot, regardless of what he does for our side. He knows you're out here, yet he does this anyway, despite the fact that you have no appreciation for any of what he does. It's all part of the package.
Is Ted brash? Yep. Loud? Yep. Sometimes over the top? Absolutely. Sometimes he makes me cringe a bit, too, and he knows that, and I'm about as un-politically correct as they come. He has said it himself, publicly: In his own opinion, if he's the best we have, that's pretty bad. He WANT's someone better, actually encourages others to do everything they can, and would love to see someone do it better.
Been looking around at who's on our side? Not too many out there.
He's spent his life achieving a level of celebrity, and has chosen to in turn spend that coin on our causes.
You may not like him. You may not want him doing the things he does. The truth is that he did more for hunting last week than you or I are likely to accomplish in our entire lives. That isn't a slam on you, it's just the way it is.
Of course, that isn't engraved in stone, either. You may go on to far greater accomplishments in this area, time will tell. I do what I can, and I think it's fair to say at this point in my life it's most unlikely that I will come anywhere near what he's already done. I do my small parts anyway, because I think we need everything we can get.
Ted isn't here to defend himself. You started this thread and slammed him pretty hard. Those of us who've been in this fight for years have a lot of appreciation and respect for the man, because he has earned it. You have the right to your opinion, right or wrong. You also have the reality that when you slam someone like this, it's the equivalent of picking on a family member and you're going to get some feedback. A lot of it you won't like.
All we know about each other is what comes through this screen. From what I see, you're pretty young with lots of growing to do. That isn't a bad thing, it's a part of life's cycle. 20 years from now I'd like to think you'll be talking to someone, young and brash, trying to set an example and maybe doing some good.
A little history:
Ted has always been a hunter. He wasn't always public about it. Being a celebrity, he valued his hunting time for the privacy it afforded him, as well as the other aspects of it. He was initially reluctant to be public about his hunting.
BUT, he has a lot of kids coming to him, asking him about this hunting thing. He saw that there was a need, a lot of young fans, who might end up being non-hunters at best, possibly even anti-hunters, who wanted to learn about it and didn't have anyone they knew who hunted. So he decided to do something about it, at great personal cost.
By cost, I refer to both his privacy and income. He claims that his public advocacy of hunting and gun rights has lost him several million dollars in contracts. Recording deals, tours and other live performances.
Then, he's spent his time. Ever seen him in concert? You may not like his music, and that's OK, but part of every show is devoted to reminding people of what some of their rights are. He talks about guns, hunting, the UN, many things.
He makes it very clear that he is opopsed to drug and alcohol use, something not common in the world of Rock stars.
He gives up a lot of privacy, because he's making his field time public, to be shared with strangers, all in an effort to keep mainstream America from losing sight of the fact that there isn't anything wrong with hunting.
And of course, he pays in other ways, such as people reacting the way you do. You can't stand him, think he's an idiot, regardless of what he does for our side. He knows you're out here, yet he does this anyway, despite the fact that you have no appreciation for any of what he does. It's all part of the package.
Is Ted brash? Yep. Loud? Yep. Sometimes over the top? Absolutely. Sometimes he makes me cringe a bit, too, and he knows that, and I'm about as un-politically correct as they come. He has said it himself, publicly: In his own opinion, if he's the best we have, that's pretty bad. He WANT's someone better, actually encourages others to do everything they can, and would love to see someone do it better.
Been looking around at who's on our side? Not too many out there.
He's spent his life achieving a level of celebrity, and has chosen to in turn spend that coin on our causes.
You may not like him. You may not want him doing the things he does. The truth is that he did more for hunting last week than you or I are likely to accomplish in our entire lives. That isn't a slam on you, it's just the way it is.
Of course, that isn't engraved in stone, either. You may go on to far greater accomplishments in this area, time will tell. I do what I can, and I think it's fair to say at this point in my life it's most unlikely that I will come anywhere near what he's already done. I do my small parts anyway, because I think we need everything we can get.
Ted isn't here to defend himself. You started this thread and slammed him pretty hard. Those of us who've been in this fight for years have a lot of appreciation and respect for the man, because he has earned it. You have the right to your opinion, right or wrong. You also have the reality that when you slam someone like this, it's the equivalent of picking on a family member and you're going to get some feedback. A lot of it you won't like.
All we know about each other is what comes through this screen. From what I see, you're pretty young with lots of growing to do. That isn't a bad thing, it's a part of life's cycle. 20 years from now I'd like to think you'll be talking to someone, young and brash, trying to set an example and maybe doing some good.
