Obama Mask Rodeo Clown Banned From State Fair

Good grief.

Why is Obama treated with kid gloves?

Comedians, for the most part, won't tell jokes about him.

Now, a rodeo clown wearing an Obama mask is off limits.

The overreaction to the Missouri State Fair incident is stunning.

Remember the sort of mockery endured by President George W. Bush?

Recall the way Sarah Palin was treated?

Open season on Republicans and conservatives.

Obama?

No mocking.

From Reuters, via the Chicago Tribune:

A clown who wore a mask of President Barack Obama at a Missouri State Fair rodeo and encouraged a bull to run him down as the crowd cheered was banned Monday from any future state fairs.

The incident Saturday night was denounced by leading Democrats and Republicans and fair officials as disrespectful to the president.

The Missouri State Fair Commission voted Monday to "permanently ban this rodeo clown from ever participating or performing" at the annual state fair, according to a news release.

"The Missouri State Fair apologizes for the unconscionable stunt," the commission said.

"Unconscionable stunt"?

Oh, come on.

That's more than a bit extreme.

When Bob Hope told jokes about FDR and all the presidents to hold the office through Bill Clinton, was he being disrespectful?

I can understand the Missouri State Fair Commission issuing a statement apologizing to those offended, but tarring and feathering the clown is going too far.

HE'S A CLOWN.

...The clown appeared at the finals of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo at the fair in Sedalia, Missouri, about 94 miles southwest of Kansas City. A Facebook account of the clown's stunt appeared on the website of Show Me Progress, which identifies itself as a "progressive politics community" for Missouri, from a person who reported attending the fair with a student from Taiwan.

"The announcer wanted to know if anyone would like to see Obama run down by a bull," the posting said. "The crowd went wild. He asked it again and again, louder each time, whipping the audience into a lather."

On Monday, Albert Watkins, a lawyer for the main announcer at the rodeo, said that the unidentified clown who wore the Obama mask made most of the remarks himself into a microphone he was wearing. Rodeo clowns use their own microphones and choose their own mask and routine, Watkins said.

Watkins said his client Mark Ficken, who was the main announcer and is fair association president and superintendent of schools in Boonville, Missouri, has been unduly faulted in the incident.

The only remark Ficken made as announcer was a standard warning to clowns to be careful, in this case saying, "Watch out for that bull, Obama," Watkins said.

When one is president, one has to be able to take a joke.

Supporters of the president have to be able to take a joke as well.

I think the rodeo clown's "stunt" was far less offensive than Obama's remarks about Special Olympics athletes.
________________

The difference between Obama and the rodeo clown is that the guy in Missouri distracts the bull and the guy in DC diffracts the bull.

— Dennis Miller Show (@DennisDMZ) August 12, 2013

Thank you, Dennis - one of the rare comedians willing to tell Obama jokes.