A few days ago, we posted a story with the headline Dave Mustaine has a Santorum fetish, where we quoted the Megadeth frontman saying that he is most certainly voting Republican, and of all the current nominees, he likes the guy who is so anti-gay, that gay rights activists recoined his last name to mean "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex". Anyway, this has sent the mainstream media into a frenzy, and why not? An anti-abortion Republican gaining support from a metal band, named MEGADETH? The jokes write themselves. Here is a collection of what's been happening:
Conan O'Brien mentioned this in his monologue last night (about 1:05 in), saying:
This is crazy, Rick Santorum picked up an endorsement from the lead singer of the heavy metal band Megadeth. Megadeth, yeah! In other words, Santorum is the only candidate who is both pro-life and pro-Megadeth.
Ok, not the best joke. In fact, I think that comedian/filmmaker Albert Brooks took the same concept and came up with a much better punchline:
Santorum accepts Megadeath endorsement after learning they are not the abortion clinic of the same name.
— Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) February 16, 2012
Sports and lifestyle blog, Grantland also did a piece on the support Mustaine gave Santorum,
…this is perhaps the least metal thing that has ever happened. This is a good 67 percent less metal than Metallica cutting their hair, 42 percent less metal than watching Metallica in group therapy*, and 21 percent less metal than Lars Ulrich whining about Napster. This is so unmetal that a bummed out King Diamond feels like he's just going to spend the day humming some Barry White songs while wistfully cranking a salad spinner. This is Rob Halford in a taupe Polo shirt and slip-on loafers, Bruce Dickinson out for a leisurely afternoon at American Girl Place with his nieces, a bunch of Norwegian black-metallers getting together to throw a church raising.
There are hundreds of other articles popping up about this, at the Onion's A/V Club, The Daily Beast (who goes very in-depth), Huffington Post, The Hollywood Gossip, and many others. I would have to say, the best commentary on the situation has to come from The Daily Show's twitter account:
#TDSBreakingNews Megadeath frontman Dave Mustaine endorses @RickSantorum. Romney reported to be SWEEATINNG BULLETTS!!!
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 16, 2012
They lose a point for misspelling Megadeth, but win so much more with the "Sweating Bullets" reference. All of this publicity has gotten back to Mustaine himself, who is now backtracking on his original statement:
"Contrary to how some people have interpreted my words, I have not endorsed any presidential candidate," the rocker said in a release after earlier reports had him backing Republican Rick Santorum on Wednesday. "What I did say was that I hope to see a Republican in the White House. I've seen good qualities in all the candidates but by no means have made my choice yet. I respect the fact that Santorum took time off from his campaign to be with his sick daughter, but I never used the word 'endorse.'"
While it's true he never used the word endorse, he didn't really have to. Anyway, this is a huge win for Megadeth, because the band has gotten more publicity out of this than maybe ever in their lives.
You can catch Dave and Megadeth, along with Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil out on the Gigantour right now. Here are the remaining dates/ticket locations.
