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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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Click to see the cartoon
1 posted on 02/23/2007 3:45:10 PM PST by lizol
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To: ChiMark; IslandJeff; mmanager; rochester_veteran; NinoFan; Alkhin; MS.BEHAVIN; MomwithHope; ...
Eastern European ping list


FRmail me to be added or removed from this Eastern European ping list

2 posted on 02/23/2007 3:45:39 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol

Fine, change it to Muhammed and publish it again. I'm sure others will see the joke.


3 posted on 02/23/2007 3:46:50 PM PST by Shimmer128 (tolerance becomes crime when applied to evil. Thomas Mann)
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To: lizol

The real crime is that it's not funny.


4 posted on 02/23/2007 3:47:15 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: Shimmer128

Or, change it to LaTrina and publish it again!


5 posted on 02/23/2007 3:48:42 PM PST by Revolting cat! (We all need someone we can bleed on...)
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To: lizol
Poland has contributed troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and they want us to build a missile shield on their territory. That makes anything Polish fair game to the news media sh*tbirds.
6 posted on 02/23/2007 3:51:32 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee (Anything a politician gives you he has first stolen from you)
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To: Grzegorz 246; Lukasz; Kozik; vox_PL
magazine never intended to offend anyone when it published a cartoon that joked about a Polish name and drunkenness.

Cool.

I only wonder why those kids in the cartoon are not saying - let's say - “My parents named me Yitzhak because they were drunk.”

That one also seems to be difficult to pronounce
7 posted on 02/23/2007 3:53:11 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol

IMHO, just about everyone is made of fragile glass these days.

As my aussie mates would put it:

Suck it up.


8 posted on 02/23/2007 3:53:43 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: Chi-townChief

Agreed.


9 posted on 02/23/2007 3:54:23 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: lizol
There were a lot of guys in the service named 'Ski'. Came from a very large family I guess. /sarc

Nam Vet

10 posted on 02/23/2007 3:54:44 PM PST by Nam Vet ( The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.)
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To: Chi-townChief
Websters: a drawing, as in a news paper or magazine, caricaturing or symbolizing, often satirically, some action, situation, or person of topical interest.

I didn't catch where it said it had to be funny.

11 posted on 02/23/2007 3:55:53 PM PST by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism = Monkey Intellect)
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To: Grzegorz 246; Lukasz; Kozik; vox_PL
Or Abdul-Muhaimin, or Azzaam, or Dhul Fiqaar, or something like that.
12 posted on 02/23/2007 3:56:00 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: fish hawk

Are you German? :-)


13 posted on 02/23/2007 3:57:02 PM PST by Eurotwit (WI - CSC)
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To: Shimmer128
Fine, change it to Muhammed and publish it again. I'm sure others will see the joke.

Right on. The magazine would be set on fire by white urban liberals in protest!

14 posted on 02/23/2007 3:57:05 PM PST by llevrok ("“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde)
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To: fish hawk

Nor does it do much in the way of "caricaturing or symbolizing, often satirically, some action, situation, or person of topical interest."


15 posted on 02/23/2007 3:57:15 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: Cagey; MotleyGirl70; Mr. Brightside; Rb ver. 2.0

Have at it, guys.


16 posted on 02/23/2007 3:57:57 PM PST by Larry Lucido (Duncan Hunter 2008)
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To: lizol

Kids might talk that way, in all innocence. But when adults take the words down, verbatim, and publish the depiction as "cute", that is with either malice aforethought, or no thought at all.

Insensitivity for the sake of laughs alone is the cruelest sort of taunting, even more so when there is no particular point to it.


17 posted on 02/23/2007 3:58:03 PM PST by alloysteel
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To: llevrok

That's the point.

Polish jokes? Ever drunk Poles?

It's so easy.

And so funny, isn't it? /s.


18 posted on 02/23/2007 3:59:16 PM PST by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: lizol

Remnick decides what cartoons to publish. IMO he's got terrible taste. One in ten is amusing. Most are sophomoric.


19 posted on 02/23/2007 4:00:39 PM PST by aculeus
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To: Chi-townChief
Just wrote my post right out of the Websters. I see cartoons for kids on sat. mornings on tv and have yet to see a funny one.
20 posted on 02/23/2007 4:01:36 PM PST by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism = Monkey Intellect)
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