Hank Williams Jr. Obama Comments: How One Sound Bite Can Hurt a Reputation

It only took one sound bite on Fox News' Fox & Friends and Hank Williams Jr. had been terminated as the opener to Monday Night Football by ESPN.

Williams, when referencing this summer's golf summit between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, said, via USA Today, "It would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu."

When asked to clarify, Williams didn't exactly backtrack, declaring Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were "the enemy."

Of course, this predictably incited a wave of criticism throughout the nation, similar to "The Wave" in some stadiums, except more obnoxious and more damaging to one's reputation.

Tweeted Simpsons writer Tim Long, "Comparing Obama to Hitler is almost as crazy as comparing Hank Williams Jr to his much, much more talented father."

Per tweeter Benari Lee, "Hank Williams, Jr. now says he has 'always respected the office of the president.' Except for that one time he said Obama was like Hitler."

Obviously, Williams wasn't aware that one sentence these days can change your life forever. He supposedly hung around enough NFL sets. He probably should have gotten the hint from NFL players.

This is the world of Twitter, after all; the same world that can send one ill-advised statement across the globe in less than one second. And that's not even counting all the "retweets" and "mentions."

Just imagine the MNF crew checking their Twitter accounts in the afternoon and clicking on the trend "Hank Williams Jr." Imagine their expressions when they saw what was before them.

Williams not only disgraced ESPN with his actions on Monday, he disgraced his name. Comparing the President of the United State to Hitler, no matter what the context, is probably one of the worst comparisons you can ever make. Heck, mentioning Hitler in general is generally frowned upon.

Apparently Williams is interested in running as a Republican for a 2012 U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee.

Well, that campaign was over before it even started.