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Friday, July 06, 2012

Updated. Huntsville parade entry offensive to some and makes national news

A parade entry for the Huntsville July 4th celebration has made the national news. Read this article from today's Standard and be sure to join in on the discussion.

Some sickened by anti-Obama float in Huntsville's Fourth of July parade Here is a snippet from the article.
HUNTSVILLE — Youngsters dressed as Secret Service agents and an individual wearing a Barack Obama mask signaled to spectators from a limo at Wednesday’s Huntsville Fourth of July parade — an entry with the kind of political speech that our country protects.
Who will be the first to opine?

Updated 7-6-12 @ 9:30 pm
The story has gone viral and Huntsville native Dave Clawson has stepped up to defend his parade entry.
Visit the KSL web site for their latest. On the left column are audio links from this mornings Doug Wright show with Dave Clawson and Huntsville Town Councilperson Laurie Allen.

Also, another popular blog weighs in on the story.

29 comments:

S Holmstrom said...

I am personally outraged by parade goers, organizers, police officers who find that "Plan B  Assault Guns" is funny.  It is the stuff that the FBI classifies as domestic terrorism.   Anonymity is cowardly as is promoting the kind of racism and lack of


respect for the president of the United States that was shown in Huntsville on the 4th.  Huntsville has always been a haven for the sweetest kind of old-fashioned patriotism that we love to see.  What a sad thing our children learned this year.
Sharon Holmstrom
 

S Holmstrom said...

Apology to the police officer.  It was never implied by the news that you thought the comment was funny only that there might not be grounds to deny it.

HuntsvilleGal said...

Okay, here's the problem.  The "Plan B:Assault Guns" comment is fiction.  If it were true, yeah, that would be an issue.  Unfortunately, the person who contacted the newspaper gave them bad info and they chose to run with it instead of verifying.  If you want to see what the posters actually said, there are photos of the float here http://www.whattodoinogdenvalley.com/1/post/2012/07/4th-of-july-parade-in-huntsville-ut.html .  The Standard-Examiner article has been updated since it appeared in print, as they have now realized that what they printed was untrue.

Tara Kershaw said...

Hey wait, isn't the point of the 4th of July the holiday to celebrate all our rights as Americans including, but not limited to freedom of speech??

Carla said...

This comes as no suprise. The mormons have always hated blacks and others that are not like them and of their faith!

HuntsvilleGal said...

 Wow.  I must be a very bad Mormon since I have friends who are black and friends who are not Mormon.  Although I do admit to an occasional problem liking those who claim to speak for me....

Greg Anderson said...

The town leaders owe no apologies. If anything, the Ogden Standard-Examiner owes Huntsville an apology for getting the facts wrong in a way that would be most embarrassing to Huntsville (if they were true). Another attempt to "put us on the map" as a bunch of hayseeds. Shame on the media for piling on.

Greg Anderson said...

Why do I get the feeling their retraction/correction won't be a front page story under a bold headline in tomorrow's paper?

Greg Anderson said...

Carla, your statement is simply wrong. Can you not see the irony that your statement is the most unfair and hateful of all these recent comments?

Familiasamuel said...

This has been blown so far out of proportion that it's crazy!! I was there, and my good friend who is African American thought it was Hilarious!  A lot of False things have been said about this float because of the report in the Standard Examiner.  here is a more accurate link http://wizbangblog.com/2012/07/06/faux-outrage-of-the-day-fourth-of-july-anti-obama-float/

Laura said...

Tara, you are right, but the lefties think free speech only applies to 
fellow lefties and anything else is inappropriate.

Domacay said...

Type your comment here.I could not believe what I saw as the Obama float rounded the corner.  It looked like this racist was in black face! I think next year I will have a float with joseph smith and bringum young  sodomizing  young children, just to exercise my right of freedom of speech! Politics and religion should not be in a parade to celebrate our county’s independence.  The true irony of this would have been if the 4th fell on a Sunday, as most of UT would celebrate on the 3rd. How un-American is that!

Jim Aschberger said...

Have you not seen our president? He is black and proud of his African American heritage, as he should be. The mask is for sale at Spencer's gifts alongside masks of George Bush, Ronald Reagen, Bill Clinton and others.

Amazing how the race card always comes up.

Richard Sorensen said...

Greg, you are absolutely correct. It is extremely unfortunate that a small handful chose to use social media and the Standard Examiner to cast a black cloud over what was a very nice day.

The story should have been about our homegrown World War 2 hero, Keith Renstrom, who rode in the parade wearing his Marine Corp uniform draped in medals earned in the battle of Saipan, Kwajelein, and other areas of the Pacific.

It is also disappointing that the Standard, in a rush to break the story, had the majority of their facts wrong. They owe the fine people of Huntsville a retraction and an apology.

B Lierd said...

I totally agree with you Sharon.  It's very sad to see people being disrespecful to the country's President and it's sad to think our Independence Day Parades may turn into a display of political or religious preferences.  If they were to replace President Obama's name and mask with a church leader's, would they still say it was all in fun, we should loosen up and enjoy it?  I highly doubt it! 

Dave Vanbeekum said...

What? 

Carrie Q said...

Richard, You are right...It would have been nice to hear of the home grown World War hero, Keith Renstrom, instead of the distasteful and disrespectful portrayal of the Commander-in-Chief, as well as the reference to assault rifles. However, it was obviously uncomfortable to several people who also have a right to free speech. Whether someone is a Democrat, a Republican, or somewhere in between, isn't it  important to be good examples to our children and grandchildren, teaching them a level of respect for the leaders of our country? I wonder what the World War hero thought of the side show disrespecting the President of the United States, who represents a country that he sacrificed for and put his life on the line for? This was a hometown parade that left people with a bad taste in their mouths. 

...... said...

I thought this was one of the highlights of the parade. Everyone around us at the parade was laughing too. Unfortunately there is always a handful of people who blow things WAY out of proportion and ALLOW themselves to be offended......Freedom of speech.

Sunseaandski2000 said...

The race card as well as the church card... Grow up people..

Greg Anderson said...

Your hypocrisy is off the charts, Domacay. But it's easy to say, write or do something offensive when you hide behind a fake name online or a mask in a parade.

-Greg W. Anderson (My real name.)

Greg Anderson said...

The Town Council had better be very careful about drafting new "rules" for entries in the parade. If you ban political statements then that means no real politicians are allowed to participate (something which has happened a lot in the past). If you ban impersonators then nobody could dress as Uncle Sam or you couldn't have those "re-enactors" marching with the canons and rifles. If you simply form a committee to review all entries then it's going to look like it all depends on the whims of those committee members (who will be looking for someone to ban so that they can justify their existence as a committee).



So you might as well be up-front about it and just make a rule that says "No Clawsons Allowed." Then have fun when someone like Brian Barnard comes knocking on your door.

Hunchy said...

Poor Mr. Obama can't take the heat. Then get out of the kitchen. It is the American way to speak out about leadership, good and bad. If you only want to hear the good about leaders, you better go to China or North Korea. 

Domacay said...

  At a boy Greg, be proud to be a racist.I'm sure your church is proud of you.

Greg Anderson said...

You exhibit the traits of an ignorant coward. Sounds miserable.

p mitchell said...

Hooray to Huntsville for keeping the Patriotic heart of America alive and beating. Keep lighting the way for free speech and freedom which many do not or have not seen. You are a true beacon.

Sandi Tuck said...

Dave Clawson had a statement to make. So Made. Newspapers have a hard time finding story's. The internet did that. This campaign has become very disrespectful to all concerned. People are looking at all the wrong things. We need to look at technology We don't build cars like Henry Ford We don't even communicate like we did just a few years ago. Businesses are trying to recover. We need to start sending
more Congress people that can work with each other and can find new way's not what they have been doing.Personal prejudice's are not a factor any more . Look at the pic' buy your comment   Sandi Tuck

Jaredgolf61 said...

Funny how the Standard Examiners completely false article keeps getting reported. Libs love to lie.

Jaredgolf61 said...

Please do your float!! If you think us evil Mormons haven't seen it all before then you are definitely as dumb as your post indicates.

Jaredgolf61 said...

Just as you hate Mormons right?