Obama-mask clown gets lifetime Missouri fair ban

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Well, some days I'm a bit ashamed to say I'm from Missouri. Lifetime ban? Wow... Grow a thicker skin and Obama needs some too, while people are at it.

What did the clown do anyway???? He had a mask on. That's it. End of story. For that ONE offense, his means of making a living in that industry are now taken from him for life. For one joke, he's not permitted to make a living that way again. What the hell has American become?!???

The biggest thing here tho.... The Clown did NOTHING. The loud mouth announcer who just couldn't shut the hell up about it is who turned a gag into beating a dead horse into true offensive B.S.. Go ban the announcer for life!

......oh but in his position, he knows people and has connections. He was always safe. Meanwhile, a lowly rodeo clown, working a dangerous job for crap wages is expendable to the machine of political correctness. How sad.

I'm so utterly confused about this whole situation. You have one group saying just him wearing the mask is offensive, yet it has never been a problem before. Then you have another group saying it was offensive because of the announcer, yet he still has a job. The ones that are so offended don't even know what it is that offends them.

reply to post by stopbeingnaive


The news coverage here in Missouri has been a bit clearer on the offense of the clown himself. I think it's stupid, but it's what is being reported. The mask itself isn't what was the most offensive or racist to hear some speak. It's the fact this mask had exaggerated lips in the stereotypical cartoonish 'African' image. It's an interesting path to take on it. Personally, I don't see harm done here by anyone to warrant the loss of a job or career.

If anyone though? Listening to the broadcast of the show on local news just struck me as how the announcer went on and on and just wouldn't leave a joke lay. I mean, it's like the idiot discovered humor for the first time, while oblivious to how everyone else was apparently NOT laughing anymore. It seemed that clear to me in crowd reaction.

Its so ironic. Obama's high school aptitude tests suggested he pursue a career as a rodeo clown, now an actual rodeo clown had his career derailed by impersonating Obama.
You can't make this stuff up.

eeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

In 1994, there was a ‘George Bush’ rodeo clown dummy

thank god

washingtonexaminer.com...


‘Clown-gate’ Oh now that's priceless.

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.

If I was Obama I would be embarrassed to be so mollycoddled,( look it up).

I am from Missouri, and I want to make sure something is VERY clear. THIS IS NOT the opinions of Missourians. This was the opinion of 1 man who then took it to the democratic polititans and created a big stink. Here in Missouri, we are seriously upset by the fact that this is a big deal. Every one in the crowd loved it and cheered as they do every year. Personally I think he was more upset that the crowd loved it more this year than any other. This skit has been done over and over for every president. The fact that the polititans making such a big deal about this have never gone to their own states fair to know this just shows how disconnected they are from the people they are supposed to be speaking for. Here in Missouri, we are all irate that they are attempting to take this mans job away from him and demand they all have sensitivity training. The government has NO RIGHT to tell us what the heck we are allowed to say!!!

In related news:

Clown who looks like Obama gets banned for life: PHOTOS

The Tatler has obtained theses exclusive photos of the clown’s career-ending performance:

During his insensitive performance, the clown frequently contorted his body into ridiculous poses in order to make the president look like a buffoon.

This truly an outrage, komrades!

Source

Originally posted by Deetermined
reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum

 

The guy who wore the Obama mask was banned for life from future state fairs.

From ALL state fairs or just Missouri State Fair??
I don't see how they would have any control over other fairs.

Hopefully it's just that particular fair.


I say it's a bunch of BS......
Rodeo clowns are there for fun as well as putting their lives on the line to help the bull riders.


Shame the president won't come forward and say enough of this nonsense and leave this guy alone.
It was all in fun. No harm done.

All politicians get picked on and it has nothing to do not with skin color.
Just their political affiliation and their views/policies.

reply to post by xuenchen

The DOJ will investigate

And of course they will label the clown as a terrorist sympathizer, who by the way is a right wing nut job!

I think just to p!$$ off the PC a-holes, I'm going to buy one of those masks online and hit my nearest Wal-Mart! Along with the mask, I think I’ll buy a shirt with a swastika! We'll see how far tolerance goes with all those wonderful Obama folk when I ware both!

This stuff has been going on for years. Why should Obama-jad be any different?

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity
What ever happened to the republican stance that businesses, organizations, and associations should be allowed to hire or fire anyone they want and for any reason. Why shouldn't the Missouri state fair officials be able to do the same.

to all of you that said "they" did this to Bush and "they" did that to Bush, do you have links to articles about the Missouri state fair officials allowing their employees to publicly make fun of Bush and not doiing anything about it? If you are just generally speaking about individuals making fun of bush then you are comparing apples to oranges.

I think a lifetime ban was a bit harsh. and besides.. Obama is a clown.

reply to post by snarky412

From ALL state fairs or just Missouri State Fair??
I don't see how they would have any control over other fairs.

Just the Missouri State Fair. The Missouri Rodeo Clown Association said that they were not going to take additional action against the rodeo clown, Tuffy Gessling, to ban him from the association or other fairs. They only recognized that Missouri State Fair officials wanted him out of the State Fair.

This is where it gets a little bit confusing. The rodeo clown with the Obama mask was Tuffy Gessling. The announcer and M.C. (who was also the President of the Missouri Rodeo Clown Association) is named Mark Ficken and made the announcement that the rodeo clowns were bringing out their "Obama dummy" (which everyone thought was just a prop) and then followed it up by saying, "Obama you better watch out for that bull". That was the last of the announcer's comments. From there, the rodeo clown (Tuffy) took over with a wireless microphone.

In the meanwhile, the announcer took a lot of heat and obtained a lawyer to protect himself from any of Tuffy's act. Along the way, as President of the MRCA, the announcer asked the organization to ban Tuffy from the Missouri Rodeo Clown Association too, but the rest of the organization refused. Due to the MRCA refusing to take further action against Tuffy, the MRCA President (and announcer) resigned.

Apparently, there is a separate investigation going on as to how much involvement the announcer really had because his day job is at stake as Booneville School District's Superintendent.

I hope that all made sense!

Originally posted by retropekim
reply to post by UnifiedSerenity

 

What ever happened to the republican stance that businesses, organizations, and associations should be allowed to hire or fire anyone they want and for any reason. Why shouldn't the Missouri state fair officials be able to do the same.

to all of you that said "they" did this to Bush and "they" did that to Bush, do you have links to articles about the Missouri state fair officials allowing their employees to publicly make fun of Bush and not doiing anything about it? If you are just generally speaking about individuals making fun of bush then you are comparing apples to oranges.

Here is a quote from U. S News.

"A lifetime ban on a poor rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask, when there is, as the AP noted, a tradition of poking fun at all presidents in the same way in that venue, is not only extreme but borders on Stalinist. Remember, a bad joke told in Soviet Russia could get one sent to the gulag. In this case the offender should probably be grateful he is only being sent to the unemployment line."

Full story here.
www.usnews.com...

Notice this part of the quote.
" ... a tradition of poking fun at all presidents in the same way in that venue, ... "
So they have used masks of presidents in the past and there was no problem. Apples to apples.

reply to post by Khaleesi
alright, gave you a star for pointing that out.

I still think that the Missouri state fair officials have every right to choose who they have performing at their fair, and if anyone disagrees with their decision then I would suggest writing them and letting them know your feelings, or peacefully protesting during the fair and/or boycotting the thing.

As far as the clown getting in the unemployment line, I guess he could get partial unemployment for a week or two until the fair is over and the rodeo crew moves on to their next gig.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way sticking up for Obama, I'm no fan. I'm sticking up for the right of the state fair people to decide what they think is right,

It's sad that politics has to be injected into everything nowadays. A rodeo clown should be a rodeo clown, nothing more. And before the party-baiters (tentative title) come out in full force, yes I would say the same when it happened to Bush. That being said, a lifetime ban is too harsh a punishment, especially considering the person he's mocking has done far worse than someone performing a tasteless joke.

Funny how it was funny to wear a "Tricky Dick" Nixon mask post Watergate but now it is Not Funny (read "politically incorrect") to wear a Barack Obama POTUS mask (pre-impeachment).

Originally posted by Youareallschizophrenic
I think a lifetime ban was a bit harsh. and besides.. Obama is a clown.

ROFL I guess the truth hurts eh?

I honestly think that politics should be left out of any public setting, regardless of how "blue" or "red" your state is. People go to public events to have fun, not to see another broken system parodied in front of them. County, local, and state fairs should be about AGRICULTURE and down home hospitality and that is it.

Leave the political backbiting for a discussion in a private manner.

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


Oh my, yet another ATS thread with the Obama haters all weighing in, but you don't seem to care about his appointing the perjuring James Clapper to head a surveillance oversight committee, i.e.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

As for the clown, big-lip caricatures of blacks is fairly standard, untolerated racial stereotyping these days. Revving up a crowd to get into the idea of a bull running over the POTUS -- also fairly uncouth behavior.

What happened when the Dixie Chicks said that they were embarrassed that George W. Bush was their president? They were banned from being played on Clear Channel radio stations, and a number of concerts were cancelled by promoters. Did they make a racial slur or joke about killing him or his death? No. Did you precious people register your indignation over this matter? I extremely doubt it.

You knee-jerk Obama-hating folks show how petty you are by making a stink about this and not addressing issues that matter, such as the one in the thread I cite above. Enjoy your faux outrage and much ado about nothing.

reply to post by Deetermined


Thanks.....

I started a thread on this the other day before any decisions were made.
Haven't had a chance to read up on it yet since then.

I still can't believe how sensitive people are over Obama, like he is some kind of demi-god.
And Obama is probably eating this up.

All presidents have had their share of insults, why should he be any different?
He shouldn't.....:shk:


As another poster from Missouri stated, this attention was caused by one man who posted it online.
And not every one in Missouri feels this way towards the clown.