Missouri Officials Invoke Rogue Rodeo Clown Defense to Explain Obama Racism

A rodeo clown has gone rogue in the Republican Party.

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Not that one:

This one:

Mark Ficken, the president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association that put on the show at the state fair, resigned today despite blaming a rogue rodeo clown for comments overheard on the video.

Ficken was also the announcer at the event, and has claimed that it is not his voice encouraging a bull to trample the president.

Video:

Ficken’s attorney said via press release:

A beleaguered school superintendent and president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, Mark Ficken, has retained legal counsel to “set the story straight” relative to the rogue rodeo clown who appeared unscripted Saturday at the Missouri State Fair. News networks and media outlets have picked up the story which erroneously attributed disrespectful commentary to Ficken who was serving in his twentieth year as the announcer of the bull riding competition at the fair.

The clown, donning an Obama mask, was wearing a microphone at the time of his unscripted appearance. Ficken had no advance knowledge of the incident. “He was as surprised as anyone with the appearance of an Obama-masked rodeo clown,” said Albert S. Watkins, legal counsel for Mr. Ficken. Ficken’s sole reference to the clown was to say, “Watch out for that bull Obama!”

Unfortunately, in this day of internet piling on, once an outlet published an incorrect statement of facts, the erroneous attribution to my client of comments made by a rogue rodeo clown went viral. My client is now being inundated by responsive and retaliatory action, all of which is premised on a false recital of facts. It is respectfully suggested that the media needs to cut out the bull and get the facts straight.

The rogue rodeo clown defense is a new spin on the right’s favorite one bad apple excuse. Notice that when the consequences of the their rhetoric comes back to bite them, the right always blames “one bad apple” for everything. In this case, it was the fault of a rodeo clown who went rogue. It is never the fault of the people who push racist, violent, anti-Obama rhetoric. The problem is always that someone “took it the wrong way.”

Whether it is Ficken’s voice on the video or not, he should have resigned. He was the president of the association that put on the rodeo with taxpayer money. When something like this happens, the man in charge has got to be held accountable.

The right is so desperate to avoid responsibility for their Obama racism that they are willing to stand behind a laughable defense that involves a “rogue rodeo clown.” Come to think of it, rogue rodeo clowns describe a lot of Republicans.

The clowning isn’t limited to some guy in an Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair. The entire Republican Party has been overrun with rogue rodeo clowns. Too bad we can’t convince more of them to resign as well.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association