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Obama Rodeo Clown Creates Uproar

Mike

Well-known member
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Fair on Monday imposed a lifetime ban on a rodeo clown whose depiction of President Barack Obama getting charged by a bull was widely criticized by Democratic and Republican officials alike.

The rodeo clown won't be allowed to participate or perform at the fair again. Fair officials say they're also reviewing whether to take any action against the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, the contractor responsible for Saturday's event.

The entertainment during the bull riding contest featured a clown wearing a mask of Obama with an upside down broomstick attached to his backside. Spectators were asked if they wanted to see "Obama run down by a bull." Many in the audience responded enthusiastically.

Numerous Missouri officials denounced the act after video and photos were posted online. Some Democratic Missouri lawmakers suggested Monday that there should be financial consequences for the fair.

The fair said in a written statement announcing the clown's ban that he had engaged in an "unconscionable stunt" that was "inappropriate and not in keeping with the Fair's standards." The fair's press release did not identify the clown.

At least one person defended him. David Berry, a Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association member who was at Saturday's event, described the clown as a friend and said there was nothing offensive or unusual about his actions. Berry said the Obama character was meant to look like a dummy and that rodeo clowns have long performed such acts, often imitating sitting presidents.

"The joke is not that it was the president," Berry said. "They drag out this person dressed like a dummy and all of the sudden this dummy just takes off running. That's what's funny."

But other rodeo professionals said the Missouri fair stunt appeared to go too far.

"It's not unheard of for a rodeo clown, depending on how he reads his audience, to play politics a little bit," said Jim Bainbridge, the senior public relations coordinator at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "But this crossed a line. Clearly, when you're suggesting that the president should be injured, it kind of gets to a level of hostility that is inappropriate."

Perry Beam, an attendee who posted a photo of the event on Facebook, has said it had the feeling of Ku Klux Klan rally. He said that, at one point, another clown ran up to the one wearing the Obama mask and played with the lips on the mask.

The rodeo's announcer — whom some media initially identified as making the comments about Obama — sought Monday to distance himself from the clown's actions.

Announcer Mark Ficken said through an attorney that the clown was wearing a live microphone and had given the announcer no advance notice about the skit. Ficken is president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association and also is superintendent of the Boonville School District.

"He was as surprised as anyone with the appearance of an Obama-masked rodeo clown," said Ficken's attorney, Albert Watkins of St. Louis.

Watkins said Ficken's only comment during the event was to say, "Watch out for that bull Obama!" Watkins said that was meant as a warning for the clown's safety.

Fair Marketing Director Tammie Nichols said the rodeo clown was hired by Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association and that fair officials did not know he was going to mock Obama.

"We've worked with this company for many, many, many years. We have a longstanding history with them and never had any trouble," Nichols said.

The association did not respond to an email request for an interview Monday and had removed the names of its officers from its website. A statement on the site said the association's directors are "dealing with the situation firmly and quickly as this type of behavior will not be tolerated. "

Most of the Missouri State Fair's roughly $4.5 million budget comes from fees charged to attendees and vendors, but it receives about $558,000 from tax revenues, according to the state budget office.

Missouri House Democrats have suggested the Republican-led chamber should form a special committee to investigate the incident and determine whether to continue providing tax dollars to the fair.

State Rep. Steve Webb, chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon should cancel the governor's annual ham breakfast scheduled for Thursday at the fairgrounds. But Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the governor did not plan to cancel the breakfast because of the "deplorable actions that took place during this one event."
 

jigs

Well-known member
maybe Barak the magic negro needs to sit down with the clown and the bull, have a beer, and let it go....
 

Red Barn Angus

Well-known member
What is it with people today? Any little thing gets them all offended. It seems like it's in style to be offended by something or other. Any little thing against the president gets the democrats all excited. I don't remember this kind of reaction in past years. Maybe the truth hurts.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Since the big '0' likes the limelight, maybe he should be invited to play 'Cowboy Poker.' You know, the one where, at a rodeo, 4 people play cards on a card table in the arena and a bull is turned loose with them. The last one left at the table....wins.... :shock: :p :lol: :lol: :lol:

Come to think about it, seems that sport was done away with, too dangerous. But it wouldn't be too dangerous for a fearless leader/community organizer would it? :p
 

Steve

Well-known member
While there is no written law, we may have finally reached a place in America where it’s forbidden to publicly mock the president of the United States — assuming the president is an African-American and a member of the Democratic Party.

The outcry over a rodeo clown donning a mask resembling President Obama reached a new level of absurdity when it was reported Monday that the man behind the mask has been permanently banned from performing at the fair ever again, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In addition, the president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, who served as the announcer at the event, resigned on Monday.

Politicians and the national media jumped all over the incident, deeming it to be inappropriate and disrespectful. However, very few are acknowledging that what took place in Sedalia, Mo., on Saturday night was a duplication of a stunt that has been performed many times before.

In fact, it was documented back in 1994 that a dummy wearing a President George H.W. Bush mask, propped up by a broomstick, was employed as a decoy during a bull riding riding contest.

The only difference between then and now is the hyper-sensitivity and double standard that applies to the first African-American president.

All of which may explain why race relations in America are imploding under President Barack Obama’s tutelage.

The big white gate flew open. The bull came out bucking. The rider flopped from side to side and the bullfighters held back, letting the bull make his moves until the rider dropped off. Licciardello crouched in a heavily padded barrel, a human target should the bull decide to charge. Hawkins waited near the barrel, holding his big inner tube. A dummy with a George Bush mask stood beside the clown, propped up by a broomstick. […]

T.J. Hawkins rolled out the big inner tube, and the bull lowered his head, shot forward and launched into the tube, sending it bounding down the center of the arena. The crowd cheered. Then the bull saw the George Bush dummy. He tore into it, sending the rubber mask flying halfway across the sand as he turned toward the fence, sending cowboys scrambling up the fence rails, hooking one with his horn and tossing him off the fence.
 

Whitewing

Well-known member
I've been telling you guys for a long while now. The man's a King. Mock The King at your own risk.

Of course, this sort of stuff was just fine and dandy.
8130~George-W-Bush-Monkey-Posters.jpg
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Granted I'm not a regular at the rodeo but Presidents have been made fun of at events like that FOREVER.

Whether that is/has always been in good taste is questionable.....but even I see no need for all this uproar
 

Whitewing

Well-known member
The fallout from a Missouri rodeo clown’s mockery of President Obama continued as the Missouri State Fair said it will force all clowns to undergo sensitivity training and the head of the state rodeo-clown organization resigned.

But the state commission went further Monday, saying it will require that before the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association can take part in any future state fair, “they must provide evidence to the director of the Missouri State Fair that they have proof that all officials and subcontractors of the MRCA have successfully participated in sensitivity training.”

You read shyte like this and think it's got to be one of OT's stupid Borowitz reports. Unfortunately, it's not.

America is turning into a country of victim-puzzies.
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
Whitewing said:
The fallout from a Missouri rodeo clown’s mockery of President Obama continued as the Missouri State Fair said it will force all clowns to undergo sensitivity training and the head of the state rodeo-clown organization resigned.

But the state commission went further Monday, saying it will require that before the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association can take part in any future state fair, “they must provide evidence to the director of the Missouri State Fair that they have proof that all officials and subcontractors of the MRCA have successfully participated in sensitivity training.”

You read shyte like this and think it's got to be one of OT's stupid Borowitz reports. Unfortunately, it's not.

America is turning into a country of victim-puzzies.

If I was a member of the MRCA, I do believe I would move to a different state. Or, the MRCA could "shut down" for the rest of the season in protest of the state commission's ruling. Let some of these events see just how much revenue could be lost. Nothing gets folks' attention like massive losses in revenue.

WW is right...what a bunch of candy-azzes. I suppose jokes about fat girls, dumb blondes, and big boobs are verboten now, too. Clowns won't have any material to work with.

They should have given the guy a medal and a cut of the gate.
 

Grandad

Well-known member
I wonder if the bulls have to take the same training. :D :D


Yes, the bulls receive sensitivity training. Then they are called steers.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Whitewing said:
Sensitivity training. Is that anything like a re-education camp?

yep,.. but you just learn that those who do not fall in your same "class" are insensitive and can't take any sort of joke...

in other words.. you stop talking and carrying on when they enter the room and just glare at them... I mean you act respectful and ignore them...
 
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