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Picture courtesy of Perry Beam.
Picture courtesy of Perry Beam.

SEDALIA, MO. (KTVI) – Show Me Progress and PoliticalMo are reporting that the Boonville Missouri School Superintendent, Mark Ficken, the Missouri Cowboy Rodeo Association President; was the rodeo announcer behind the mic on what is causing a political fire storm.  The controversy is over the announcer asking the crowd attending a rodeo at the Missouri State Fair, if they wanted to see President Obama run over by a bull.

Reportedly, the crowd cheered until the bull came very close to a rodeo clown, who had donned an Obama mask, had to move out of the way of the charging bull.  According to one account, the crown hooted and hollered as the Obama mask wearing clown ran away.

To read the full article, click on Show  Me Progress.

Missouri State Fair statement
“The performance by one of the rodeo clowns at Saturday’s event was inappropriate and disrespectful, and does not reflect the opinions or standards of the Missouri State Fair,” spokeswoman Kari Mergen said. “We strive to be a family friendly event and regret that Saturday’s rodeo badly missed that mark.”

Gov. Jay Nixon’s statement:
In his own statement Sunday evening, Gov. Jay Nixon’s spokesman stopped short of a call for “accountability,” but said: “The Governor agrees that the performance was disrespectful and offensive, and does not reflect the values of Missourians or the State Fair.”

Senator Claire McCaskill’s statement:

LAKE OZARK – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement in response to reports of a stunt at last night’s Missouri State Fair, in which a clown wearing a mask of President Barack Obama entered during the bull riding event, with the crowd repeatedly being asked if it wanted to see Obama “run down” by a bull:

“If what’s being reported is true, then it’s shameful and it’s unacceptable. The State Fair is funded by taxpayer dollars, and is supposed to be a place where we can all bring our families and celebrate the state that we love. 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. Missouri is better than this, and I expect someone to be held accountable.”

House Minority Leader Jake Hummel (D) and Assistant House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D) statement:

“Poking fun at our president is a time-honored tradition in this country, but the incident Saturday night at the Missouri State Fair rodeo went well beyond the line. The concept of an angry bull attempting to trample a black man for the amusement of a crowd is neither entertaining nor funny and is not the type of behavior that our taxpayer-subsidized State Fair should promote.

“House Democrats will be asking House Speaker Tim Jones to immediately appoint an interim committee to investigate this incident and to consider whether continued taxpayer funding is appropriate for an event that allows such racist actions to occur.”

Congressman William Lacy Clay (D) Missouri:

“I am amazed that in 2013, such hatred, intolerance and disrespect towards the President of the United States could take place at the Missouri State Fair. Our fair is supposed to showcase the best of Missouri, instead, it showed an ugly face of intolerance and ignorance to the world.”

Social Media Political Comments:


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