扮成奧巴馬錶演 美一小丑被禁演

The Missouri State Fair on Monday imposed a lifetime ban on a rodeo clown whose depiction of President Barack Obama getting charged by a bull was widely criticized by Democratic and Republican officials alike.

The rodeo clown won't be allowed to participate or perform at the fair again. Fair officials say they're also reviewing whether to take any action against the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association, the contractor responsible for Saturday's event.

The entertainment during the bull riding contest featured a clown wearing a mask of Obama with an upside down broomstick attached to his backside. Spectators were asked if they wanted to see "Obama run down by a bull." Many in the audience responded enthusiastically.

Numerous Missouri officials denounced the act after video and photos were posted online. Some Democratic Missouri lawmakers suggested Monday that there should be financial consequences for the fair.

The fair said in a written statement announcing the clown's ban that he had engaged in an "unconscionable stunt" that was "inappropriate and not in keeping with the Fair's standards." The fair's press release did not identify the clown.

At least one person defended him. David Berry, a Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association member who was at Saturday's event, described the clown as a friend and said there was nothing offensive or unusual about his actions. Berry said the Obama character was meant to look like a dummy and that rodeo clowns have long performed such acts, often imitating sitting presidents.

"The joke is not that it was the president," Berry said. "They drag out this person dressed like a dummy and all of the sudden this dummy just takes off running. That's what's funny."

But other rodeo professionals said the Missouri fair stunt appeared to go too far.

"It's not unheard of for a rodeo clown, depending on how he reads his audience, to play politics a little bit," said Jim Bainbridge, the senior public relations coordinator at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "But this crossed a line. Clearly, when you're suggesting that the president should be injured, it kind of gets to a level of hostility that is inappropriate."

Perry Beam, an attendee who posted a photo of the event on Facebook, has said it had the feeling of Ku Klux Klan rally. He said that, at one point, another clown ran up to the one wearing the Obama mask and played with the lips on the mask.

The rodeo's announcer — whom some media initially identified as making the comments about Obama — sought Monday to distance himself from the clown's actions.

Announcer Mark Ficken said through an attorney that the clown was wearing a live microphone and had given the announcer no advance notice about the skit. Ficken is president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association and also is superintendent of the Boonville School District.

"He was as surprised as anyone with the appearance of an Obama-masked rodeo clown," said Ficken's attorney, Albert Watkins of St. Louis.

Watkins said Ficken's only comment during the event was to say, "Watch out for that bull Obama!" Watkins said that was meant as a warning for the clown's safety.

Fair Marketing Director Tammie Nichols said the rodeo clown was hired by Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association and that fair officials did not know he was going to mock Obama.

"We've worked with this company for many, many, many years. We have a longstanding history with them and never had any trouble," Nichols said.

The association did not respond to an email request for an interview Monday and had removed the names of its officers from its website. A statement on the site said the association's directors are "dealing with the situation firmly and quickly as this type of behavior will not be tolerated. "

Most of the Missouri State Fair's roughly $4.5 million budget comes from fees charged to attendees and vendors, but it receives about $558,000 from tax revenues, according to the state budget office.

Missouri House Democrats have suggested the Republican-led chamber should form a special committee to investigate the incident and determine whether to continue providing tax dollars to the fair.

State Rep. Steve Webb, chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, said Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon should cancel the governor's annual ham breakfast scheduled for Thursday at the fairgrounds. But Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the governor did not plan to cancel the breakfast because of the "deplorable actions that took place during this one event."據美國媒體8月13日報道，美國一名小丑因在密蘇里州博覽會上表演時扮成總統奧巴馬引來麻煩，今後他將再也不能參加該博覽會或在博覽會上表演。

10日，在密蘇里州博覽會上，一場鬥牛比賽正在舉行。在比賽中的娛樂環節，一名鬥牛小丑戴上面具、扮成美國總統奧巴馬出現在觀衆面前，身後還倒掛着一根掃帚柄。然後，當被詢問是否想看“奧巴馬被公牛衝撞”時，許多觀衆興奮不已、高聲迴應……

有聲音通過現場擴音器說道：“我們現在就要把奧巴馬踩在腳下。只要牛一出來，奧巴馬，你可千萬別動。他要逮住你，逮住你，逮住你，逮住你……嘿，我知道我是個小丑。而他（暗指奧巴馬）只是到處轉悠，表現得像個小丑一樣，卻不知道他就是（小丑）。”

密蘇里州博覽會在一份書面聲明中寫道，這名鬥牛小丑的表演“不合時宜、不符合展覽會的標準”，所以決定對其實行禁令。不過，聲明中沒有透露這名鬥牛小丑的身份。此外，博覽會官員還表示，他們正在考慮是否對僱傭這名鬥牛小丑的密蘇里州競技牛仔協會採取行動。該協會宣稱，對於此事之前並不知情。

競技牛仔協會主席馬克•菲肯是10日騎牛比賽的講解員，他在12日通過其代表律師公開表態、把自己與鬥牛小丑的不當舉動撇清開來。菲肯宣稱，當時鬥牛小丑帶有一個耳麥，但在表演前並沒有預先通知他。“當看見頭戴奧巴馬面具的小丑出場時，菲肯同現場其他人一樣吃驚。表演全程，菲肯只說了一句話‘奧巴馬，小心那頭公牛’，這是他爲了鬥牛小丑的人身安全而給出的善意提醒，”菲肯的律師表示。

有關此次出格表演的照片和視頻被放上網後，許多密蘇里州官員對此表示強烈不滿和譴責。12日，部分民主黨籍密蘇里州議員建議，應該成立一個專門委員會調查此事，並裁決是否繼續向密蘇里州博覽會提供財政支持。據悉，今年密蘇里州博覽會的預算約爲450萬美元，其中絕大部分來自門票收入，另有大約55.8萬美元則是政府撥付。

不過，也有人挺身而出爲小丑叫屈。戴維•貝里是密蘇里州競技牛仔協會的成員，他在現場觀看了10日的表演。貝里說遭到處罰的鬥牛小丑是他的一位朋友，表演裏沒有任何有意冒犯或者不同尋常之處。“這段表演的重點並不是總統，而是有人扮成一個假人、然後突然間這個假人開始瘋跑，這纔是笑點所在。”貝里解釋稱，以前有不少鬥牛小丑做過類似的表演，他們經常會模仿時任總統。

然而，還有不少鬥牛競技專業人士認爲密蘇里展覽會上的這段表演太過了。“鬥牛小丑根據他對觀衆的解讀，在表演中摻雜一點政治玩笑，這在以前不是沒有聽說過。”美國職業競技牛仔協會高級公共關係協調員吉姆•布雷恩布里奇(Jim Brainbridge)說，“但是這次的表演越界了。顯然，這麼做等同於說總統應當受傷，這就帶有一定程度的敵意、變得不合時宜。”