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.
Missouri State Fair officials barred the rodeo clown from ever performing at the fair again and are requiring that “all officials and subcontractors associated with the association must participate in “sensitivity training,” the Post-Dispatch noted .
In addition, the president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, who served as the announcer at the event, resigned on Monday.
Several state lawmakers are also demanding an investigation after threatening to cut funding for the fair, an annual event that receives state tax dollars.
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.
One member of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association who was at Saturday’s event told the Associated Press that there was nothing offensive or unusual about the rodeo clowns actions — he was trying 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,” he 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.”
The only difference between then and now is the hyper-sensitivity and double standard that applies to the first African-American president.
Hyper-sensitivity that was on full display when the apparent Obama supporter who drew attention to the incident, Perry Beam, said it felt “like some kind of Klan rally you’d see on TV,” as reported by the USA Today.
All of which may explain why race relations in America are imploding under President Barack Obama’s tutelage.
Related Article
Congressman invites rodeo clown Obama to perform in Texas
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/08/13/bush-r...ever-81479