Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has been one of the most discussed and controversial musicians of 2012. After a myriad of questionable quotes throughout the year, Mustaine admits that he’s “learned a valuable lesson from all this stuff,” concerning the negative attention he’s received from various claims. Throughout the year, we’ve reported on Mustaine’s support of former Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum; his opposition to gay marriage ; telling starving African women to “ put a plug in it ” in regards to the inability to properly support a child;  insisting that the President was born in Kenya even after Obama had released his long-form birth certificate, while likening First Lady Michelle Obama to a “black widow”; and claiming that the President had staged various shooting massacres to increase support for gun control. The slew of comments has resulted in immense criticism from fellow musicians, with GWAR ‘s Oderus Urungus telling Mustaine to “ shut the f— up ,” Deicide ‘s Glen Benton calling Mustaine a “ prolapsed rectum ,” Metallica ‘s James Hetfield giving Mustaine the title of “ big mouth ,” and Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx labeling the Megadeth frontman as a “ f—ing a–hole .” It’s been quite a year for Mustaine, and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone , the legendary musician looked back at his many controversies. “You can’t joke around very much anymore without people misinterpreting what you’re saying,” begins Mustaine. “You know, I probably should’ve said things differently. I probably should’ve skipped that altogether,” Mustaine says about his comments on Obama staging shootings on U.S. soil. “I learned a valuable lesson from all of this stuff.” Mustaine was repeating a theory by pro-gun activist and head of Guns Owners of America, Larry Pratt, when the musician made his comments about the “false flag” shootings. “He [Pratt] said something about it and no one went after him. But everyone went crazy on me,” Mustaine says. “I’ve been talking about politics my whole career. The second album – my God, it shows the U.N. completely blown up and destroyed. So I don’t know why, all of a sudden, now’s the time for people to take exception with what I’m saying … I need to remember that being a public figure, I have a choice. I can be a really good example for people – which I really desire to do – or not.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-dave-mustaine-discusses-being-hit-beer-rocks-croatian-festival/” title=”Dave Mustaine Discusses Being Hit With Beer + Rocks at Croatian Fest” align=”center”]