N.Y. Post's Apology? Sorry you didn't understand "the humor"

[Botany]

"But it has been taken as something else -- as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism," reads the statement. "This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize." :grr:


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/19/chimp.cartoon.apology/index.html

"Wednesday's Page Six cartoon -- caricaturing Monday's police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut -- has created considerable controversy," the paper said about the drawing, which shows two police officers standing over the body of a chimpanzee they just shot.

The drawing is a reference to the mauling of a woman by a pet chimpanzee, which was then killed by police. In the cartoon, one of the officers tells the other, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

The Post said the cartoon was meant to mock what it called an "ineptly written" stimulus bill.

"But it has been taken as something else -- as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism," reads the statement. "This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize."

But the statement immediately swerves to fire back at some of the image's critics.

"However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past -- and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback," the statement says. "To them, no apology is due. Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon -- even as the opportunists seek to make it something else."

[atommom]

1. A non-apology apology. What a surprise. nt

[bluestateguy]

2. Apologies are really overrated

I don't know why people always demand forced apologies from people who are obviously not sorry for what they have done. They usually sound ike this (and are read by a junior spokesperson):

"We deeply regret if anyone was offended by our comments. That was certainly not the intention."

In other words, we regret (never say "apologize" or "sorry" because you know, that could open the door for litigation) that you had thin skin and couldn't see the obvious humor in our "joke".

And then to make the non-apology just a little more demeaning, they issue it in writing or have a third rate spokesperson deliver it in person.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Bullshit, the cartoon doesn't depict a dead stimulus bill, it depicts would be authors of future

stimulus bills. From the New York Post's piss poor apology.

"Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas told CNN.

"It's about the economic stimulus bill," he added."

From the cartoon

"They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Contrary to Delonas's point of view stimulus bills don't write them selves.

[Botany]

4. I took it as shooting "the chimp" aka Obama who wrote the bill

[Uncle Joe]

6. Exactly, Obama would be writing future stimulus bills or at least

he would have the greatest input of any single individual.

[bdamomma]

5. making an apology just does not cut it.

the person who decided to print and illustrate that hideous cartoon should have been fired.