'Wait, Wait. . .Don't Tell Me' show apologizes for Polish joke

Chicago Tribune ^ | November 1, 2013 | Lauren Zumbach,

[ConservativeStatement]

The joke in question came from the Bluff the Listener segment of the show Saturday, in which an audience member was asked to identify which of three stories about an old joke coming true had been taken from that week's headlines.

Peter Grosz, an actor and TV writer who has appeared as a panelist and guest host on "Wait Wait," offered a supposed news item referencing a joke asking how many Poles it takes to screw in a light bulb.

[Revolting cat!]

Lighten up, Franciszka!

[Revolting cat!]

I thought that people from Holland were called the Nethers?!

[Revolting cat!]

Directly from the California Central Valley (eat your Commie heart out John Steinbeck):

Why do Mexicans like low riders?

-- So they can pick tomatoes without getting out of their cars!

[I want the USA back]

They thought they could get away with it. After all, Poles are White and mostly Christian, and so are ‘deserving’ of scorn.

[Verginius Rufus]

Some of the so-called Polish jokes have been around at least since ancient Greece...just a matter of changing the name of the group being made fun of. The Greeks would single out residents of a particular city as being supposedly stupid and tell jokes of this type at their expense. In Ireland they have Kerry jokes (making fun of County Kerry--unlike the American version which consisted of the Democrats nominating a man named Kerry for President because he had the same initials as John F. Kennedy). I was told once by a European that they they had "East Frisian" jokes.

"Did you hear the one about the East Frisian?"

"Hey, I'm an East Frisian!"

"O.K., I'll tell it slowly."

[Nate Whilk]

There was a burst of harmless ones just after his elections, like Catholics will have to wear bowling shirts, etc.

[98ZJ USMC]

Screw you, Tribune. I’m a Pollock and I’ll tell Pollock jokes all I want. Some are quite hilarious.

[Paul46360]

I can see that you are not a POLLACK!