It is an American tradition as old as America herself. From newsprint to public speech we, as Americans, have been making fun of our politicians and their positions. Apparently this free speech does not apply to rodeo clowns. The Missouri State Fair imposed a lifetime ban on the rodeo clown whose depiction of 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 Missouri State Fair is forcing all clowns to undergo sensitivity training.
“The announcer wanted to know if anyone would like to see Obama run down by a bull,” a posting of the account on Facebook said. “The crowd went wild. He asked it again and again, louder each time, whipping the audience into a lather.”
Another clown then apparently joined the performance.
“One of the clowns ran up and started bobbling the lips on the mask and the people went crazy,” the posting said. “Finally a bull came close enough to him that he had to move so he jumped up and ran away to the delight of the onlookers hooting and hollering from the stands.”
Mark Fickenhad, who obtained legal counsel in hopes of clearing his name, is the rodeo association president and was the rodeo announcer. His attorney, Albert S. Watkins, said Monday that the clown was acting unscripted. He said it was the clown, wearing a microphone, who made comments riling up the crowd. Ficken’s only comment during the routine was, “Watch out for that bull, Obama!”
Mark Ficken is also the superintendent of the Boonville R-1 School District. Ficken became president of the Missouri Cowboy Rodeo Association Saturday morning, a post he resigned after just two days Monday.
“But the young Missourians who witnessed this stunt learned exactly the wrong lesson about political discourse — that somehow it’s ever acceptable to, in a public event, disrespect, taunt and joke about harming the president of our great nation,” McCaskill said in the statement.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s press secretary, Scott Holste, said in a statement, “The governor agrees that the performance was disrespectful and offensive, and does not reflect the values of Missourians or the State Fair.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder weighed in in a series of Twitter posts. Kinder said he loved the fair and planned to attend but said the clown’s performance reflected poorly on the state.
“I condemn the actions disrespectful to (the president of the United States) the other night. We are better than this.”
The event organizer, the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, apologized on its website, calling the act “inappropriate.”
“We are taking measures by training and educating our contract acts to prevent anything like this from ever happening again,” the statement said.
Apparently, we no longer have the freedom of speech we once did. It is now frowned upon to challenge our elected officials as if they are of greater stature than us. Is President Obama now a king that we cannot spoof him? Is he a religious figure that we cannot question him? What has happened to the America I knew, where we could imitate Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and even Jimmy Carter? As I say again and again, when we move away from the Lord, we loose our freedom.
By the way…
In 1994, Douglas A. Campbell, a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer chronicled a rodeo clown even featuring George H.W. Bush.
From the report:
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.
Political Correctness has brought this country and it’s people to a point of humdrum existence where it is never okay to laugh at or about Obama, our white and black president.
Liberals and their allies have had a field day with this manufactured outrage, and conservatives have allowed them to get away with fiery diatribes.
I have a confession to make: I have laughed at every preceding “Presidential,” mask and I laughed at the one referenced here. Finally, I laugh at the silliness of those who continue to foment unrest and work their petty indignation as they display the victim button.
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