Do a quick Google image search for President Barack Obama and you’re likely to encounter a number of questionable items, including Obama as Bob Marley, Obama as Yoda, and Obama as Baraka from Mortal Kombat. Some of them are amusing, while others are downright offense. Although you can dress Obama up as Sarah Palin without stirring much controversy in the process, apparently you can’t put the President’s likeness on a punching bag. According to a handful of patrons at an Indiana fair, that’s going one step too far.
Delaware County GOP spokesman Tom Bennington, who expressed that the punching bag was “mildly offensive”, added, “Iām retired military and I respect the commander in chief. From that perspective it was offensive and we asked to take it down and it was taken down.ā
The offending punching bag features a cartoon version of the President wearing shorts and boxing gloves, as well as sporting a black eye. Bennington said the inflatable toy was supposed to illustrate Republicans “beating” Obama in the upcoming election, though, at the end of the day, fair officials seemed to understand that the object was more than a little disrespectful.
However, just because folks at an Indiana fair think it’s in poor taste to display such an item, that doesn’t mean you can’t go online an purchase one of your very own. A quick search online reveals the Obama punching bag is available from a number of different retailers, including Amazon, eBay, and Prank Place. If you currently have twenty bucks (plus shipping) burning a hole in the pocket of your skinny jeans, then, by all means, knock yourselves out. Just don’t be surprised if someone is offended by your brand new lawn decoration.