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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / Sweetheart of the rodeo

Sweetheart of the rodeo

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You’ve probably heard about the Missouri rodeo that turned into a Klan rally (starts about 45 seconds in).

Props to the local blog that broke this story. Here’s a summary from a witness:

“I felt like I was at a Klan rally,” Missouri State Fair goer Perry Beam told Raw Story, his outrage stoked by watching a rodeo crowd whoop and holler at a clown wearing an Obama mask while an announcer asked “Who wants to see Obama get trampled?” this weekend.

Reader Interactions

146Comments

  10. 10.

    Phil Perspective

    According to comments at the local blog, the racist, asshat announcer is a school superintendent. Soak that in for a minute. Yeah, Boonville isn’t that big but still. I hope Mark Ficken is fired from his day job.

  11. 11.

    J R in WV

    Saw a van just the other day with “patriotic” stuff, flag decals and all, along with an “Impeach Obama, Change we can believe in” bumper sticker.

    Was very glad to be “wearing” a Veterans for Obama sticker myself.

    In what universe could you find a real crime to impeach the (current) President for?

    Compared to a war on the wrong country, the one that DIDN’t attack us on 9-11? By a president who held hands with the prince from the country that DID attack us? The same president that ordered his minions to wage illegal torture against people who didn’t do anything or know anything about an attack against us?

  13. 13.

    JPL

    @Phil Perspective: The school superintendent has hired an attorney to protect his good name.. link
    This is an issue dealing with free speech. You know who else believed in free speech to rile up the crowd..

  14. 14.

    Hunter Gathers

    @J R in WV:

    In what universe could you find a real crime to impeach the (current) President for?

    In this version of reality, Obama’s crime is his Unforgivable Blackness.

  15. 15.

    Michael Bersin

    Yep, that was us.

    The how got there meta.

    We also do a lot of stories on campaign finance, though those don’t tend to go viral, even when a billionaire drops a fortune on a statewide astroturf campaign.

  17. 17.

    IowaOldLady

    You have to feel mighty comfortable with your racism to do that in front of several thousand people.

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @J R in WV:

    In what universe could you find a real crime to impeach the (current) President for?

    The same universe in which “stop and frisk” of anyone blah is policy.

  22. 22.

    Mike Hamilton

    I was sure this was racist when I first heard about it, but then I read that the rodeo did pretty much the same thing with a GW Bush mask in 1994. Now, I don’t know…

  26. 26.

    gogol's wife

    @J R in WV:

    I saw a car the other day that had a Confederate flag and a sticker saying something like, “Keep the change, I’ll keep my guns and my liberty.” I looked to see if it was a Connecticut license plate (because the combo of a Confederate flag and New England can only mean one thing), but the name of the state had the phrase “Communist state” pasted over it.

  27. 27.

    aimai

    Does anyone have any explanation for the broom protruding from the Obama/Clown’s rear. Is that a rodeo clown thing, like a tail, or is it some more homegrown racist–well, we are way past dogwhistle here–signaling?

    And if you go read the comment thread anywhere this picture is up you will absolutely claim that something-something-something “both sides do it.” As though any parodic attacks on THE SON OF A FORMER PRESIDENT can have the same valence as this kind of attack on the country’s first non white president.

  28. 28.

    handsmile

    Todd Akin is so pissed he didn’t think of this during last year’s campaign. Why, Show-Me Staters just love a good joke. And only the real racists don’t have a sense of humor.

  29. 29.

    Roger Moore

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Remember the problem they have with Obama is not his blackness, they differ with him on issues.

    I think that may actually be true. They differ with him on the issue of whether the poors, wimmin, and blahs deserve to be treated like human beings. Naturally, the particular form of disagreement is going to come out in the form of pointing out that he’s a subhuman blah, just as their hate for Hillary shows up as making fun of her for being female.

  31. 31.

    IowaOldLady

    @aimai: That “both sides do it” meme makes me role my eyes and put on my mom hat. “If Timmy does it, does that make it all right? We are not talking about Timmy. We are talking about you.”

  34. 34.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Roger Moore:

    Treating the poors, wimmen, and blahs like human beings was their main problem with Bill Clinton as well.

    That and the D behind his name.

    They also had that problem with Jimmy Carter.

  35. 35.

    shortstop

    @Mike Hamilton: Assume you are snarking, but I have no doubt that wingers are already earnestly spreading the meme that the Missouri State Fair also once parodied a first-time candidate for the governorship of Texas.

  36. 36.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    they seem to be doubling down, is it the heat?

    President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s motorcade was greeted Saturday by protesters waving signs reading “Kenyan Go Home” and “Impeach Obama” outside a Hilton hotel in Orlando, Fla., where he was addressing the Disabled American Veterans National Convention before going on vacation.

    Also a lot of Benghazi signs. What do they think happened in Benghazi?

  37. 37.

    piratedan

    the broom is the “representation” of his horse/steed, the part where kids ride their imaginary horse and have a broom between their legs to ride it. Since Obama is a clown, he doesn’t deserve a real horse.

  39. 39.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @IowaOldLady:

    It’s the maturity of the day care for adults that is the Village for you.

    Spank them all, send them to bed without their supper.

    Then set fire to to the bed.

  40. 40.

    MikeJ

    @Hunter Gathers:

    Missouri = Alabama with a couple of NFL and MLB teams.

    You know the joke about Pennsylvania being Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other and Alabama in between? Replace it with St Louis and Kansas City.

  43. 43.

    Roger Moore

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Treating the poors, wimmen, and blahs like human beings was their main problem with Bill Clinton as well.

    Yup, and they made fun of him for being trailer trash. But it’s the Democrats who practice identity politics by claiming those people deserve to be treated like human beings, not the Republicans for claiming they don’t.

  44. 44.

    karen

    @IowaOldLady:

    You have to feel mighty comfortable with that your racism to do that in front of is just the same truth as several thousand people’s.

    Fixed.

  47. 47.

    Roger Moore

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    What do they think happened in Benghazi?

    They have no fucking clue what happened in Benghazi, or even that it’s a place rather than a person. They just know that it’s a big scandal that should result in the Kenyan-in-Chief being thrown out of office.

  50. 50.

    LanceThruster

    Just this morning on NPR I heard the story of Viola Liuzzo; the only white woman murdered by the Klan during the civil rights movement. As sad as the tale was, J. Edgar himself tried to smear the woman (unfit mother, druggie) as he was active in harassing those in the civil rights movement.

    Yeah…we’re post-racial. Sure.

  52. 52.

    shortstop

    @Villago Delenda Est: Exactly. Also, she’s in a marriage of pure convenience but is unbelievably jealous of Bill’s affairs with other women. She’s going to divorce him over it any day now.

  53. 53.

    Violet

    The rodeo announcer says he wasn’t the one who said those things.

    Furthermore, the lawyer says the audio heard in video of the event came from the clown himself, not Ficken.

    The clown out in the ring was wearing a microphone that was tied to the speaker system? WTF?

    The clown’s name is Tuffy Gessling and he has apologized on his Facebook page. It’s at the link.

  57. 57.

    The Moar You Know

    Furthermore, the lawyer says the audio heard in video of the event came from the clown himself, not Ficken.

    I think it’s safe to say that’s bullshit.

  60. 60.

    JPL

    @Violet: According to a link provided by Jake at comment 41…
    The attorney said Ficken’s only comment was to say, “Watch out for that bull Obama!”

    It sounds like he could have stopped it and chose to participate instead.

  61. 61.

    Violet

    @The Moar You Know: Yeah, it seems pretty far-fetched to me. I’ve been to rodeos before and have never heard a clown say anything on the general speaker system unless someone was interviewing him with a hand-held microphone. But if it’s not true, why would he even “apologize” on his Facebook page.

    @Roger Moore: It’s better than the usual “I’m sorry if you were offended.”

  65. 65.

    Roger Moore

    @Violet:

    But if it’s not true, why would he even “apologize” on his Facebook page.

    Even if he wasn’t the one speaking, he was clearly in on the whole thing and needs to show some kind of public contrition.

  66. 66.

    Violet

    @Mike Hamilton:

    I read that the rodeo did pretty much the same thing with a GW Bush mask in 1994.

    A George W. Bush mask in 1994? Did anyone even know who he was then?

  68. 68.

    Ben Cisco

    FUCK. THEM. ALL.

    The clown for showing his ass.

    Whoever did the commentary for doing it.

    The people who cheered for cheering it.

    And the FerengiMedia™ for, if they ever get around to saying anything about this, will pull out Ol’ Reliable (both sides!).

    Just fuck them all, sideways, with a one-way rocket to Mars.

  69. 69.

    Another Bot Splainer

    Ahh, the wonderful God fearing, hardworking, pioneers of the Heartland. The Real Americans to you and me. It’s all good, I mean for crying out loud, some hippie gave Richard Nixon the finger back in 1971.

  70. 70.

    Chris

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    According to PJMedia today, the latest meme is that the terrorists who hit the consulate were part of a group that included President Morsi. Not even kidding.

    Which is also Obama’s fault.

  72. 72.

    patroclus

    @Violet: He (Ficken) didn’t rev up the crowd, but he did say “Watch out for that bull, Obama”. So, he’s not totally in the clear either

  74. 74.

    aimai

    @patroclus: I’m not sure I even think it matters who did it, or who should apologize. Obviously the entire thing took place in an atmosphere, and among friends (the announcer has been doing this for 20 years) where this didn’t even raise an eyebrow. It simply never occured to them that there could or would be people in the audience who would object, or that it would go viral. To me its more an indicator of the incestuous and tribal nature of local politics. It wasn’t meant to be a provocation, or thought of as at all out of the ordinary, because the organizers and the performers and (probably) the greater part of the Rodeo crowd don’t even recognize the Democrats or The President as legitimately part of the political conversation.

  76. 76.

    JenJen

    @Violet: In the summer of 1994, Dubya was a candidate in the Texas gubernatorial election. So it makes total sense that a rodeo clown would have poked fun at the obscure Longhorn candidate at the Missouri State Fair.

  77. 77.

    pseudonymous in nc

    Like I said, we’re going to see a lot more sheriff-is-near moments over the next few years. By 2016, it’s going to be a rolling Klan rally.

  78. 78.

    Mike in NC

    Oh, heck. Are people actually upset that a few Real Americans are enjoying a good old fashioned rodeo?

    Next we’ll see John Sununu (born in Havana) on FOX News to explain that they were just having harmless fun, and add that Obama doesn’t understand our culture, or our customs, or our language. Wink, wink.

  79. 79.

    patroclus

    @JenJen: Dubya was, in 1994, the owner of the Texas Rangers, the son of a former President and a failed Congressional candidate, so he wasn’t exactly obscure. Nor did he attend UT-Austin, so he wasn’t a Longhorn either.

    That said, I agree with you that it isn’t particularly likely that the right-wing response meme that this happened to GWB in 1994 bears any connection to actual reality.

  81. 81.

    RSA

    @patroclus:

    I agree with you that it isn’t particularly likely that the right-wing response meme that this happened to GWB in 1994 bears any connection to actual reality.

    Even if it did happen, there’s the assumption (widely held by rightwingers) that an action has the same interpretation whether targeted at a white person or a black person. By analogy: “What’s wrong with calling a black man younger than me ‘boy’? I say that to white men, too.”

  82. 82.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jesus, it really is déjà vu all over again:

    Fielding a question from a birther at a gathering in Luling, Texas, Farnethold at first lamented that Congress didn’t do more to investigate Obama’s birth certificate.
    “I think unfortunately the horse is already out of the barn on this, on the whole birth certificate issue.” Farenthold said. “The original Congress when his eligibility came up should have looked into this and they didn’t. I’m not sure how we fix it.”
    “You tie into a question I get a lot, if everybody’s so unhappy with what the President’s done, why don’t you impeach him,” Farenthold continued. “I’ll give you a real frank answer about that, if we were to impeach the President tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it. But it would go to the Senate and he wouldn’t be convicted.”

  84. 84.

    The Moar You Know

    “What’s wrong with calling a black man younger than me ‘boy’? I say that to white men, too.”

    I love this example because it is 100% lie. Try that stunt in a bar. Be prepared to get your ass kicked.

  87. 87.

    shortstop

    Apparently the source of the Bush-rodeo-mask thing was a 1994 Philadelphia Inquirer story about rodeos. The story made brief mention of a George H.W. Bush mask on a dummy propped in some arena. No crowd whipped into a frenzy urging the bulls to take down the dummy — and certainly no other clown running up to bobble the famously extended lips of white people.

    In my comment at #35 above pointing out that Dubya was a first-time gubernatorial candidate of another state in 1994, I wrongly gave Mr. Hamilton credit for some nice snarking. Instead, he was dead serious as well as too dumb to keep his Bushes straight. Lord, but these people are hopeless.

    By the way, did you guys know what they do to get the bulls riled up for bullriding? It ain’t pretty, and it ain’t kind to animals.

  88. 88.

    Mike in NC

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Farnethold at first lamented that Congress didn’t do more to investigate Obama’s birth certificate.

    No worries. Brave public servant Darrell Issa is on the case. First he needs to finish destroying the IRS and the USPS.

  90. 90.

    JenJen

    Here’s the 1994 piece referring to the Bush mask. It was George H.W. Bush, not his son; it happened at a rodeo in Woodstown, New Jersey (outside Philly), not the Missouri State Fair; and if the rodeo was held in 1994, Bush was a former president.

    No mention of any disrespect or disparaging comments from the PA either.

    ETA: @shortstop beat me to it. :-)

  91. 91.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    Like I said before, the freaks are truly out to play these days. And why shouldn’t they be, since, you know, John Roberts amongst others proved racism doesn’t exist anymore, therefore this kind of shit can’t be racist. Only those dirty filthy reverse racists stirring up race hate against whites exist, which makes them worse than slavery.

    I don’t take any solace in the idea that this might be the last throes of asshats like this since they seem to be perfectly willing, able, and succeeding outright in poisoning the well and scorching the earth in the process.

  92. 92.

    MazeDancer

    Rodeo is legal animal abuse. Notice when the “cowboy” is thrown off the bucking bull, the bull keeps bucking. It’s the pain strap attached to his penis or someplace torturous. The bull is trying to buck off the pain.

  93. 93.

    John PM

    This story reminds me of my favorite exchange from The Simpsons:

    Lisa: Grandpa, that American flag has only 49 stars.

    Grandpa: I’ll be damned if I’ll recognize Missouri!

  94. 94.

    handsmile

    @shortstop:

    I assumed you were simply being charitable in your #35 comment to Mr. Hamilton. As I am not, I suspected his intention was something rather different than merely a failure to “keep his Bushes straight.”

    And how sad that Mike Hamilton has not returned to this thread considering how many have replied, directly or indirectly, to his claim (#22). “Now, I don’t know….”

  96. 96.

    patroclus

    @JenJen: No problema, but “Longhorn” isn’t a nickname for Texans any more than “Trojan” is a nickname for Californians. Many Texans would consider it as highly insulting.

    On topic, this example is satire and should be accepted as such, but it is in so incredibly poor taste and downright offensive and violence-promoting that even satirists should agree that it should never have been done.

  97. 97.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    @patroclus:

    Satire usually has a point to make. This comes off as little more than an indulgent revenge fantasy by those who really would rather see Obama trampled and killed off.

  98. 98.

    BobS

    While this was disrespectful of Obama and the office he holds, I don’t really see this particular episode as an example of the blatant racism that has been present over the last 5 years. During the Cheney presidency many of us openly mocked and expressed our hatred of his dummy. It was somewhat common to see images of Bush morphed into a chimp or Alfred E. Neumann, and a common sign or t-shirt at anti-war demonstrations or other collections of like-minded people read “Somewhere in Texas a village is missing it’s idiot”. While it wasn’t particularly smart for a school superintendent to participate in the high-profile way he did, he was no doubt emboldened by his understanding he was very likely among kindred spirits (it was a rodeo in Missouri after all) and felt comfortable trashing Obama the same way Steve Earle or Wayne Kramer were comfortable dissing Bush from the stage at the DC antiwar demonstration.

  99. 99.

    JenJen

    @patroclus: It’s a reference to the breed of cattle, not the university, and is not intended to be a derogatory nickname. Maybe it’s a regional thing, as many colloquialisms are, and perhaps that’s why you’ve never heard it before.

  101. 101.

    Alien Radio

    Bollocks. Above link “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I recognize Missouri”

  102. 102.

    Warren

    @JenJen: um…I’m FROM Texas and have never heard Longhorn used to refer to anything other than cheese and cattle. (People who went to UT are called Horns, for one thing.)

  105. 105.

    JenJen

    @Warren: So I’m just inventing the fact that people in my Midwestern town, and also where I grew up out in the country, often refer to Texas transplants as “longhorns” in a teasing, affectionate way? Isn’t the breed of cattle a proud symbol of Texas? Hell, I work with a really nice kid from Dallas who is a University of Cincinnati student, and we call him “longhorn” as a term of endearment, and he’s never tried to correct anyone or doubt the veracity of the nickname.

    This is a rather silly dispute.

  109. 109.

    shortstop

    @handsmile:

    I suspected his intention was something rather different than merely a failure to “keep his Bushes straight.”

    That isn’t what I said. I said I originally thought he was snarking, i.e., parodying the kind of thing a winger is likely to say in response to this story. As I noted later, the mixing up of Bushes is just a side note to the fact that he was in dead earnest with his little story.

    @MazeDancer: Bingo. It’s horrendous.

  110. 110.

    Violet

    @JenJen:

    Hell, I work with a really nice kid from Dallas who is a University of Cincinnati student, and we call him “longhorn” as a term of endearment, and he’s never tried to correct anyone or doubt the veracity of the nickname.

    People can’t correct nicknames given to them by other people. It doesn’t work that way. He may hate his nickname or know it says more about the ignorance of those who gave it to him than it does him, but in any case if he makes it an issue he’ll never hear the end of it. Not making an issue of it is often the best strategy in that situation.

    Have you asked him what he thinks of the nickname “longhorn”? If you’re a co-worker and not in a position of authority, where he couldn’t be honest, you might get an interesting answer. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe his entire family went to Texas A&M, where being called “longhorn” would be considered an insult. Don’t know unless you ask.

  112. 112.

    Violet

    @Yatsuno: I bet BobS can come up with a whole bunch of examples where people bobbled the lips on the Bush or Cheney masks. BOTH SIDES DO IT!

  113. 113.

    patroclus

    @JenJen: I’m from Texas and am reasonably familiar with the state.:-) Trust me, if you call many Texans “Longhorns,’ it is considered highly insulting. I would advise you to stop using it.

  114. 114.

    dww44

    @Hunter Gathers: Exactly! Have a friend employed at the nearby Air Force Base, retired from the Air Force, and current civil service employee, and an absolutely unrepentant GOP conservative. She was born and raised in St. Louis. I’ve long since decided that that sort of mind set, the racist remarks and thoughts included, are in no way confined to the South. We are an equal opportunity country vis-a-vis racism and the anti-Obama sort.

  115. 115.

    shortstop

    @patroclus: I never call people longhorns, but I do like to politely ask random Texans why they must put lone stars on nearly everything publicly owned/operated, from manhole covers to park benches to toilet tanks. Sometimes they get highly agitato when I do this.

  116. 116.

    Violet

    @JenJen:

    I’m just inventing the fact that people in my Midwestern town, and also where I grew up out in the country, often refer to Texas transplants as “longhorns” in a teasing, affectionate way?

    You may not be making it up–why would you?–but it may not be seen as “teasing and affectionate” by those on the receiving end. Have you asked them?

  117. 117.

    BobS

    @Yatsuno: @Violet: Actually, yeah, both sides do, although I can understand the reluctance to admit that here at the Obama’sTheBestHumanEver Clubhouse.
    As far as bobbling lips, that obviously has racist connotations, but I couldn’t see that happening from the shitty grainy video provided.

  122. 122.

    JenJen

    @<a href="#[email protected]Violet: Wait a minute, “the ignorance of those who gave it to him”?? I’ve never had a reason to ask him what he thinks of the nickname, because he laughs and smiles every time, and because he tells us his frat brothers call him that too. Guess I’m finding it hard to understand why it would be “ignorant” to give someone a nickname involving a state symbol of pride. The Longhorn is one of the official State of Texas animals, even!

    I didn’t go to Ohio State but I certainly don’t get bent out of shape when people refer to Ohioans as Buckeyes. Like the noble Longhorn Steer, it’s a state symbol, not merely a collegiate team name.

    My God, I wonder how the Longhorn Steakhouse franchise with its corny Texas theme manages to thrive in suburban America if so many people are bent out of shape by the “ignorance” of what they chose to call the place.

    @patroclus: Noted! You should maybe introduce a bill to remove the Texas Longhorn as one of the official state animals since it’s such an offensive symbol to Texans everywhere, or something.

  123. 123.

    J R in WV

    @Hunter Gathers:

    Well, yeah…. but I’m asking for a REAL crime, not being presidential while black!

    That’s only a crime in the pea-brained mindless wing-nuts.

    My brother said, “I know Obama is your guy, but he hasn’t been good to me financially.”

    I thought to myself, but didn’t say out loud “Dude, the stock market has doubled since your guy Bush left office. If you can’t do good financially under these circumstances, maybe you’re just hopelessly bad at finance?”

  124. 124.

    shortstop

    @BobS: Your “point” has gone from 1) Both sides mock presidents and this wasn’t racist, to 2) Yeah, okay, I missed that this incident had explicitly racist overtones, so will scramble to blame the video while screaming OBAMABOT at the people correcting my error, to 3) you people just don’t understand me. Impressive.

  125. 125.

    Mike Hamilton

    @Cermet: I go along with that, and a fair percentage of the crowd probably saw t that way. But after reading the description of the Bush thing, which was pretty much exactly what they did with Obama, Makes me think that it could have been more just stupidity and insensitivity than deliberate racism.

  126. 126.

    shortstop

    @Mike Hamilton:

    But after reading the description of the Bush thing, which was pretty much exactly what they did with Obama

    How about responding to the multiple people who asked for the link, Sparky? Because the link I provided above — the origin for this right-wing meme of yours — shows that it was far from “pretty much exactly what they did with Obama.” Pony up.

  127. 127.

    BobS

    @shortstop: My point remains 1) “Both sides mock presidents”, frequently in ways that those president’s supporters find insulting or inflammatory, 2) that the video is poor quality & lip bobbling is in fact racist behavior & Obama sycophants gather here like grapes on a vine & 3) nothing I wrote suggests I think “both sides are equally racist”.
    Oh, and 4) you aren’t really any brighter than Violet.

  129. 129.

    shortstop

    @BobS:

    1) [sic] My point remains [1)] “Both sides mock presidents”, frequently in ways that those president’s supporters find insulting or inflammatory,

    Well, and this, Bob. Don’t forget about this in your initial comment: “I don’t really see this particular episode as an example of the blatant racism that has been present over the last 5 years.”

    2) that the video is poor quality & lip bobbling is in fact racist behavior & Obama sycophants gather here like grapes on a vine

    Let’s unpack this curious collection of unrelated thoughts. First, thanks for admitting that it’s racist behavior. Is it less so, or less important, because of what you perceive as others’ sycophancy? If some people give Obama too much credit, does that make what you admit is racism not racist? Take your time, Bob. Think this through.

    3) nothing I wrote suggests I think “both sides are equally racist”.

    I’ll give you this one. You went from denying the racism and pretending that all mocking of presidents is equal in both degree and kind, to doubting that the lip bobbling actually happened when it was pointed out to you, to attempting to blame the messenger for correcting you. You never showed either the smarts or the stones to formulate a simple, straightforward message like the one above.

  130. 130.

    Citizen_X

    @BobS: Seriously?

    “Who wants to see Obama get trampled?”

    Fuck you. Oh, would “Who wants to see Obama get dragged behind a pickup?” actually be racisty enough for you?

  133. 133.

    Violet

    @JenJen:

    Wait a minute, “the ignorance of those who gave it to him”?? I’ve never had a reason to ask him what he thinks of the nickname, because he laughs and smiles every time, and because he tells us his frat brothers call him that too. Guess I’m finding it hard to understand why it would be “ignorant” to give someone a nickname involving a state symbol of pride. The Longhorn is one of the official State of Texas animals, even!

    Okay, let me explain, then. In Texas, the two largest universities are the University of Texas and Texas A&M. They have a fierce and longstanding rivalry. The mascot of the University of Texas is the Longhorns. A&M are known as the Aggies. If you called someone who went to A&M “longhorn” they would not like it very much. Same if you called someone from the University of Texas an Aggie. Some might get offended. Some might get angry. Since you’re not from Texas, most would probably think you’re just unaware of the history of the word.

    Since you are unaware of that longstanding and very fierce rivalry, you are ignorant of it. You are unaware that calling someone who went to A&M “longhorn” might not be seen as friendly joshing but instead as an insult.

    Sure the longhorn is one of the official state animals, but honestly, what does that have to do with anything? You might as well call him “armadillo” (state small mammal) or “pecan” (state tree). It is possible for a word or symbol to have multiple meanings to a group of people. It’s the state large animal and also the very well known and group-signifying mascot of the largest state university.

    Since he doesn’t have a problem with it, there doesn’t seem to be any issue in this case. If you came to Texas and started calling everyone “longhorn”, you might have a different experience. You might also meet another Texan in Ohio who doesn’t appreciate being called longhorn.

    Your Ohio example is similar, but isn’t Ohio known as the Buckeye state? If you started calling him “lone star” that might not have gotten anyone’s attention.

    As for the Longhorn Steakhouse, it was started in Atlanta, GA, according to their website. Doesn’t even mention Texas on the website. Just “the west”.

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @J R in WV: My brother said, “I know Obama is your guy, but he hasn’t been good to me financially.”

    But Bush was great for him? rhetorical, I know what it’s like to try to argue with people like this

  136. 136.

    BobS

    @shortstop: Yeah, I still don’t see the mocking of Obama at a rodeo attended by a bunch of rednecks who most likely dislike him every bit as much as I disliked Bush as being intrinsically racist, unlike much of what has occurred throughout his presidency- you know, the last 5 years I mentioned in my original comment. With me so far? I’m in agreement with the fanclub that the lip bobbling (that I was and still am unable to make out from the low quality video but have conceded is there since Violet pointed it out to me in her somewhat assholish fashion) is in fact a racist gesture that doesn’t change the fact that BOTH SIDES DO mock presidents they don’t like. The sycophancy of you and Violet and Yatsuno becomes relevant inasmuch as many of you here at the fanclub tend to pout and/or overreact to real or perceived slights of The Great Man, much like we’ve seen in your comments.
    I will give you this- you are marginally brighter than Violet.
    @Citizen_X: Yeah, seriously- while wishing violence and/or death on someone is kind of shitty, it’s not inherently racist (although in the context of American history I can certainly appreciate people who choose to spin it that way when Obama is the subject) – I was present when similar sentiments were expressed about Bush and Cheney- in fact, I’m fairly confident I was guilty of thinking or speaking them once or twice myself.
    By the way, suck my dick.

  138. 138.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @BobS: smells like PUMA spirit
    \
    don’t let the virtual door hit you in your whiny ass on your way out, asshole.

  139. 139.

    BobS

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ll concede you the “asshole”, but “whiny” seems to be what passes for team spirit here at the fanclub.
    Cocksucker (seems to be mandatory to sign off with an expletive of some sort on this thread).

  140. 140.

    karen

    @Citizen_X:

    Fuck you. Oh, would “Who wants to see Obama get dragged behind a pickup?” actually be racisty enough for you?

    I think he’d prefer that actually.

  142. 142.

    karen

    @BobS:

    You misunderstood me. I said you’d prefer that as a way to show racism, not that you’d prefer it to happen. And it’s not a matter of being smart or stupid. It’s a matter of you being a firebagging PUMA.

  143. 143.

    LC

    The clown is just a clown… entertaining his audience.

    We need to get a life if we can find humor in a clown acting up…
    This Prez has made a hell of a lot of changes .some like ’em, some don’t….. he discusses major policy on Jay Leno for goodness sake and a clown poking fun is a big deal? Really? I guess all the editorial cartoons that have the POTUS with ears as big as an unnamed cartoon elephant are out of line and any reference to Congress getting a 75% subsidy on their health care is also out of bounds.
    Come on… it is time to grow up.

  144. 144.

    JenJen

    @Violet: Oh good grief. Thanks for the pithy college sports lecture, but I’m not ignorant of the rivalry, nor is anyone I know or work with. It’s just that we don’t care and why should we? If someone is going to be that deeply, deeply offended by being assigned a nickname that also happens to be a rival college sport’s team’s mascot then that person needs to lighten up, and wouldn’t have been given an affectionate nickname in the first place. Sheeeeesh, some of you are acting as though I’m hurling vile epithets around.

    And to think this entire silly dispute started with me making fun of George W. Bush. Spare me.

  145. 145.

    Violet

    @JenJen: I agree that sports fans need to lighten up. Don’t understand that sort of thing at all. I get supporting a team, or even a school, but not to the extent of basing your life around it or actually taking offense at something. I just don’t get it at all.

    Nicknames are not always kind. A friend of mine got a nickname as a child because he looked something like a well known sports figure. These days that name is considered mildly offensive, yet the older generation only knew him by that name and that’s what they call him when they see him. It’s kind of embarrassing for him. He’s got a kid that is getting old enough to ask questions, so that’s getting interesting.

    That’s the kind of thing I was thinking about when I mentioned nicknames not always being something you can pick or something you want. Sounds like in the case of the guy you’re talking about, he doesn’t care one way or the other about the nickname you’ve given him.

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