Officials from the Missouri State Fair apologized Sunday after a rodeo clown dressed as President Barack Obama sparked an uproar on Saturday evening.
A photo posted to the blog Show Me Progress showed the fair performer with an Obama mask on. According to fair attendee Perry Beam, the clown came out prior to the fair's bull riding event.
“The announcer wanted to know if anyone would like to see Obama run down by a bull," reads Beam's account. "The crowd went wild. He asked it again and again, louder each time, whipping the audience into a lather. One of the clowns ran up and started bobbling the lips on the mask and the people went crazy.”
The fair's organizers issued an apology on Sunday, calling the event "disrespectful."
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.
One observer 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.
--But it wasn't "racist"....Nah... It was all just a "joke" and a "misunderstanding", right?
I bet it was a real knee-slapper the next morning when the CLOWN woke up and realized he's banned for life...not only from the State Fair, but also the Missouri Professional Rodeo Association, and possibly the entire profession, nationwide... Dang..I'm laughing just thinking about it... :rofllol I'll also bet that the first phone-call he made was to the "Professional Rodeo Asociation" for CLOWNS (kind of like a UNION for clowns)...to file a claim for being "wrongly terminated."
Maybe next year, they can get one of the other clowns to dress up like Palin's kid, and do a whole comedy skit around being a handicapped kid...I wonder if the teabaggers of Missouri would find that as amusing?
....(Hmmmmm.. "A Union for Clowns"... Sounds like a good description of either the Congressional Republican Caucus"...or the "Tea Party Express"...)
LadyJazzer wrote: The fact that you would ask that after such an obviously racist performance, says more about you than anything.
racist - a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others.
So... you know that this rodeo clown believes that all blacks are inferior? So you know that Conan believes that all blacks are inferior? Or could it be that the rodeo clown simply doesn't like or agree with President Obama?
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association has resigned after getting flak about a State Fair event in which a rodeo clown riled up the crowd as a bull chased a masked man imitating President Barack Obama.
An attorney for rodeo announcer Mark Ficken said Tuesday that his resignation from the group is not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing on his part but rather a protest that the association has not banned the rodeo clown from its membership.
Ficken's resignation from the rodeo group comes as he tries to hold on to his job as superintendent of the Boonville School District. The school system announced Monday that it is hiring an investigator to look into whether Ficken was involved in any "inappropriate conduct" during Saturday's bull riding event at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.
"When he found out that the association had no plans to remove the rogue clown from its membership ranks, (Ficken) felt that the better part of valor – given what was said – was to resign from the association," said his Ficken's attorney, Albert Watkins.
Well, at least ONE guy has some class and some morals.... The rest of the knuckle-draggers, ....not so much.
"But the state commission went further, saying it will require that before the 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.”
How does one visually represent the president without showing his race? Would it have been less racist if he wore an Obama costume but changed the race from mixed black and white to all black, all white or asian?
Shouldn't the topic of discussion be why there was a crowd of people so large that wanted to see someone dressed as the president run down by a bull?
Any potential racism seems secondary to the actual dislike of their leader. Chances are folks in that crowd feel like someone else chose their leader. They are likely part of the moving 49% that always looses during an election. You know, you have all been part of that group at one time or another.
Also, people used to make fun of how stupid Bush always seemed. They used to visually represent this as well as verbally. I think it would be easier for Obama to change his race than for Bush to look smart...
It wasn't racist to make fun of Bush....was it?
I recall some here making that a daily activity.
This guy was making fun of the President....irrespective of his race.
I thought that was freedom of speech.
He is not being quieted by the govt, he is potentially being ousted from private companies and groups. That is not a violation of his rights in any way. Private parties can stop associating with other private parties pretty much for any reason with few if any exceptions.
:rofllol I'll also bet that the first phone-call he made was to the "Professional Rodeo Asociation" for CLOWNS (kind of like a UNION for clowns)...to file a claim for being "wrongly terminated."
