© AP/Jameson HsiehThis photo provided by Jameson Hsieh shows a clown wearing a mask intended to look like President Obama at the Missouri State Fair. The announcer asked the crowd if anyone wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull,” according to a spectator. “So then everybody screamed. ... They just went wild,” said Perry Beam, who attended the rodeo at the State Fair in Sedalia on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. State Fair officials apologized calling the display inappropriate and disrespectful.
The NAACP says the clown was guilty of inciting violence against the president.
In a statement reported by Breitbart, the NAACP's state president, Mary Ratliff, wrote: "The activities at the Missouri State Fair targeting and inciting violence against our president are serious and warrant a full review by both the Secret Service and the Justice Department. Incidents involving individuals acting out with extreme violent behavior in movie theaters, schools, churches, political appearances, and outdoor events in general speaks volume to the irresponsible behavior of all the parties involved with the incendiary events at the Missouri State Fair."
The rodeo incident has grabbed national headlines. And the fallout so far has included the resignation of the head of Missouri's rodeo-clown organization, and the announcement of Missouri State Fair officials that all rodeo clowns will now have to take sensitivity training as a condition of their employment.
Meanwhile, the clown who actually performed the skit - donned a mask of the president and mocked as an announcer asked the crowd if they wanted to see a bull run him down - has been banned for life from state rodeo performances.
Now the call is for the federal government to get involved.
Ms. Ratliff also said, in her statement, that the state is to blame for providing funding for the fair, an annual popular event.
"Our legislature has failed to support Medicare Expansion in Missouri, has consistently attempted to dismantle our Human Rights Commission, fail to adequately fund urban schools - [which] are predominantly African American - yet they are subsidizing the Missouri State Fair to the tune of $400,000. We are calling for the subsidy to stop."
She went on, Breitbart reported, to say that Governor Nixon's "planned Pancake Breakfast for Thursday should be his 'Last Supper' at the Missouri State Fair in response to the racially intolerant attacks on his Commander in Chief."
What part of "rodeo clowns" don't they comprehend?
Yes, their job is serious. They have to distract a raging bull while also helping a thrown rider to safety. However, they could do that, dressed like regular cowboys.
They are dressed like clowns and wear clown make-up and they, well, clown around. Part of their job is to entertain the crowd.
At least two people were involved in the incident -- the announcer and the clown. So why is it that only the clown is banned for life?
The aspect of this that I really don't like is the a president can be poked fun at; a dictator cannot. Executive Orders, presidential authority under the NDAA, drone "kill lists" -- Obama is ruling by decree, like a dictator, not like a president.