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After complaints, editor of The New Yorker denies cartoon in magazine was a 'Polish joke'
SignOnSanDiego.com ^ | February 22, 2007 | Verena Dobnik

Posted on 02/23/2007 3:45:06 PM PST by lizol

After complaints, editor of The New Yorker denies cartoon in magazine was a 'Polish joke'

By Verena Dobnik ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:40 p.m. February 22, 2007

NEW YORK – The editor of The New Yorker said Thursday his magazine never intended to offend anyone when it published a cartoon that joked about a Polish name and drunkenness.

David Remnick was responding to the reaction of some New Yorkers of Polish origin, angered by what they consider a “Polish joke” published in the Feb. 19 issue of the magazine.

Veteran cartoonist Robert Weber had sketched two children chatting at a bus stop with the caption, “My parents named me Zbigniew because they were drunk.”

Zbigniew is a traditional Polish name.

The magazine received 28 complaints, including two phone calls. The New Yorker sent a form response to readers who complained via e-mail, apologizing and saying the intended joke was that Zbigniew is an unusual name.

“Neither the cartoonist nor the editors of The New Yorker thought this was anything other than a joke about the difficulty of pronouncing a name,” Remnick told The Associated Press. “It's two American kids talking to each other. There was never any intention or thought of this being a particularized ethnic joke, much less an ethnic insult.

“We just don't publish that kind of thing,” he added.

Staff members at the magazine said they couldn't remember ever having dealt with similar controversies surrounding their cartoons.

The magazine's weekly cartoons have become a staple of American culture, poking fun at everything from popular culture to politics. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon.

The single-panel cartoons are sprinkled throughout each issue, between non-fiction articles, short stories and poetry.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: newyorker; poland; polish; polishjoke
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To: llevrok

"white urban liberals"

Those weenies??? I don't think so. :D


21 posted on 02/23/2007 4:05:11 PM PST by Shimmer128 (tolerance becomes crime when applied to evil. Thomas Mann)
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To: fish hawk

IMHO, there is just no way you can top Rocky and Bullwinkle although Bugs Bunny may come close at times.


22 posted on 02/23/2007 4:08:10 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: lizol

I am not polish, so it's no skin off my nose, but the cartoon just is not amusing in any way.

The cartoon is an insult, no matter how they try and back peddal.

I have never know Polish families to be anything other than warm, loving, hard working tradionalists who fought for their freedom against the Soviet Union and for our fine republic.

This guy Webber must be a SCREAM at parties.


23 posted on 02/23/2007 4:09:47 PM PST by Mr. Jazzy (Very Proud Dad of LCpl Smoothguy242 USMC of 1/3 Marines, K-Bay Hawaii.)
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To: Chi-townChief

I'm talking about the "new" cartoons you see. It's hard to find an old "real" cartoon these days like Bugs, Daffy, or even Tom and Jerry.


24 posted on 02/23/2007 4:09:50 PM PST by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism = Monkey Intellect)
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To: Eurotwit

No, I'm a blood thirsty savage without a Casino.


25 posted on 02/23/2007 4:10:48 PM PST by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism = Monkey Intellect)
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To: lizol
Zbigniew Brzezinski

Ski???

26 posted on 02/23/2007 4:12:05 PM PST by pandemoniumreigns
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To: lizol

It would have been funnier if it read: "My parents named me Tiffany because they were drunk."

But not very funny. The whole scene looks depressing, right down to the mud puddle in the foreground.


27 posted on 02/23/2007 4:13:13 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: fish hawk

Hey, I took the liberty of reading your profile page and noticed your comment about the Braves. See that is what I think about this story:

"There are more important things in the world"

Cheers and a good weekend to you.


28 posted on 02/23/2007 4:14:06 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: lizol

Are you seriously offended by this?


29 posted on 02/23/2007 4:14:54 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: lizol

You kinda miss the point of the joke Zbigniew is an historic name: Zbigbniew Brzezinski. The kid is saying there's no history behind his name


30 posted on 02/23/2007 4:18:11 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: lizol

I'm offended that so many are so easily offended.


31 posted on 02/23/2007 4:18:38 PM PST by gorush (Exterminate the Moops!)
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To: Eurotwit

Not seriously, just a little bit.

I'm just wondering - what reaction would be, if some mainstream Polish magazine published a similar cartoon relating to a Jewish or Muslim name.


32 posted on 02/23/2007 4:19:40 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol

You would have crazy accusations about anti-semitism by some hyperbolic columnist in the Jerusalem Post, and your embassy in Damascus would be burned to the ground ;-)

BTW: You got any contenders in the cross country world championships. Other than that guy who is going to win the gold tomorrow in the ski jump :-)

Go Adam. I hope Norway gets the silver medal :-)

Cheers.


33 posted on 02/23/2007 4:23:12 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: Eurotwit
As my aussie mates would put it:

Suck it up.

A girl in college that I "enjoyed the company of" had no patience for wimps and the ultra sensitive. Her saying...

Suck it up flower ass.

34 posted on 02/23/2007 4:24:00 PM PST by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
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To: lizol; All
"I'm just wondering - what reaction would be, if some mainstream Polish magazine published a similar cartoon relating to a Jewish or Muslim name."

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

35 posted on 02/23/2007 4:24:00 PM PST by musicman
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To: Eurotwit

Adam actually is getting better and better every competition :-)


36 posted on 02/23/2007 4:25:42 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol

what reaction would be, if some mainstream Polish magazine published a similar cartoon relating to a Jewish or Muslim name.




Not a valid comparison since last time I checked being Polish isn't a religion.


But what if the joke went: My parents named me William Henry Harrison because they were drunk.


37 posted on 02/23/2007 4:26:43 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: Phantom Lord

See, I like my mates talking like that. I like my women to be a little more subtle and feminine about it.

With appolgies to offended female senstive freeper brigade.

On second thought:

Suck it up ;-)


38 posted on 02/23/2007 4:27:38 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: durasell

Same level of amusement


39 posted on 02/23/2007 4:29:41 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol
" if some mainstream Polish magazine published a similar cartoon relating to a Jewish or Muslim name"

A jewish name...No problem...A muslim name,,,hell to pay...

As to the the question of insult... I think that most Poles have imunized themselves from them...One of my best friends was a 3 tour nam vet and he knew every polish joke in the book...

History, I think will bear out that despite this percieved distain, the Polish citizenry will come to be known as among the best of the freedom loving, freedom fighting people of europe...

40 posted on 02/23/2007 4:30:02 PM PST by pandemoniumreigns
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