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Monday Night Football was missing its familiar theme song last night after ESPN opted to pull the classic intro. Controversy over Hank Williams Jr.’s comments on Fox News about President Obama was the obvious catalyst.

Williams’ singing “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” had been a MNF staple – an American signature, even – for over 22 years. Then Hank had to go compare Obama to Adolf Hitler and ruin everything.

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“While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through Monday Night Football,” ESPN said.

“We are extremely disappointed with Hank Williams Jr.’s comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”

If you missed it, Williams weighed in on the politics of the day.

“It’d be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” in reference to Obama golfing with House Speaker John Boehner.

“They’re the enemy! Obama, Biden… the three stooges!”

 
No word on whether Williams planned on naming a third stooge at some point, or if ESPN has locked the country singer out of the NFL for good.

Williams responded to the incident with his own statement:

“Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood,” he said last night. “My analogy was extreme, but it was to make a point.”

“I was simply trying to explain how stupid, how ludicrous that pairing seemed.”

“They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.”

“Every time the media brings up the Tea Party it’s painted as racist and extremist – but there’s never a backlash – no outrage to those comparisons.”

“Working class people are hurting, and it doesn’t seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – well, it makes a whole lot of us angry.” 

“Something has to change. The policies have to change.”

Of course, if he had said that yesterday and not this nonsense, we wouldn’t even be talking about it and he’d still be rockin’ on Mondays:

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