 “Now, say you’re sorry, and MEAN it!”
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Here’s the full text of Mr. Murdoch’s stronger apology:
As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.
Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.
Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to a number of people and I now better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused. At the same time, I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you — without a doubt — that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.
We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.
Does an apology lend credence to the charge?
This “chimp issue” is one of those silly things that is benign and meaningless.
Therefore, the logical thing to do it to apologize profusely so that it is guaranteed to make it an issue.
They should think next time before they violate the Constitutional Right to not be offended. There should be a law against all this freedom of speech.
“Does an apology lend credence to the charge?”
No, the apology lends credence to the fact that Sharpton is once again revving up his extortion machine. It became clear during the primaries, when those in West Virginia who didn’t vote for BHO were racist, that any criticism of him or his policies will identify you as a racist.
There was nothing racist about the cartoon. The chimp doesn’t even look like Obama. WTF.
Does an apology lend credence to the charge?
If not, your photo sure does. Give your head a shake.
RBG
You’ll have to excuse my ignorance, but was the chimp supposed to signify something or someone (in the Post’s eyes)? All I saw was a dead monkey. Then again, I am Canadian.
I think you guys smashed this one in No Agenda where you said its just a way to make people see Obama as the chimp (and the one that writes the laws).
As a white male I was offended by the cartoon.The cartoon committed the biggest sin of a political toon it wasn’t funny or clever.
Does an apology lend credence to the charge?
Unfortunately, in the eyes of the general public, yes.
Murdoch, scum that he is, should have simply kept mum and let this thing die. I mean, if he’s going to apologize for something, there is a whole laundry list of his (and his company’s) misdeeds that are vastly more outrageous than the damned monkey cartoon!
Oops! Make that ape cartoon. I caught myself in one of my own pet peeves….monkeys vs. apes.
So the next time someone calls you an asshole, it shouldn’t be an issue. Come on, people with any cultural literacy would remember how “monkey” was a term for a black person, and rather dumb at that. People don’t forget these things overnight, so grow up and don’t pretend that these terms are used in a vacuum. They have history.
This one is better: http://h1.ripway.com/johnbrush/obamachipm.jpg
6 MattY. You can be proud for not having a Black racism problem in Canada.
RBG
And the racial grievance lobby wins again. So much for having an honest dialogue like the Attorney general called for.
So Rupert Murdoch’s is one of the attorney general’s ‘nation of cowards’, while McCullough posts a picture depicting Al Sharpton as a monkey.
I thought congress wrote the stimulus bill, not Hussein. Only a racist person, like Sharpton, would think that a picture of a chimp represented a black person.
Oh, maybe the chimp was supposed to be Burris.
well I have to say I did not see that as racist because it is common vernacular in Texas to say “that you could teach a chimp to do that’ or ‘that a chimpanzee could do a better job’, But I have a friend in New Jersey who had not seen the cartoon until I linked it to him and he immediately saw it as racist and making President Obama out to be a monkey. I guess it depends on where you are from and local vernacular as to what you saw in the cartoon
freedom of speech is just that. say what you like, publish what you like, etc.
what we have here is a case of market pressure. if half of your readers think you’re being an asshole, the smart business move would be to apologize, so that you don’t lose those readers (aka customers) and so you can reap the financial benefits all the free publicity for your publication you apology garners you.
it’s called tabloid journalism, and you’d be hard pressed to find a more successful business model in the publishing industry (yep, even outsells porn).
Anytime you mention chimp in ANY kind of context, you will get a knee-jerk reaction by those who choose to see things in terms of racism.
What the offended people did not see was this monkey (or ape if you prefer to be anal about it) was a metaphor for some monkey idiom.
Perhaps having a monkey on one’s back (Congress people wanting more and more pork rolled into the Stimulus bill)?
Monkey business (Pork Barrel)?
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys (Congress)?
Heck, the monkey could have implied some sort of “de-evolution” of Congress since we’re printing tons of funny money to pay for things that have nothing to do with kick starting our economy under this umbrella for stimulating our economy.
Either way, people need to get a backbone and stop whining about things. People are being too sensitive about this and Sharpton is laughing all the way to the bank because he profits off of keeping people thinking in the past.
# 18 Mr Diesel said, “#12 Paddy-O NOW THAT is a racist cartoon.”
Looks like it aired on ABC.
Much Ado About Nothing.
Just more fodder for news media that has little interest in using the Freedom of the Press for any thing other than entertainment and ratings dollars.
what I always find interesting is that while the left lampoons those on the right for their behavior, the right often lampoons those on the left for their appearance, sex, or personal characteristics. Go figure.
LOL, I guess the left never mentions that Limbaugh is fat, or compared Katherine Harris to Cruella DeVil
I just thought the artist/cartoonist thought “What did a monkey write this?” after reading the stimulus bill. Referring to a real primate and not likening a person to the animal. To me he was saying that the thoughts and problem solving abilities of the writers/senators/staff was lacking in solid logic, organization and long term goals. So there is another layer of humor when the artist claims, through the drawing, that it was the crazed, face ripping primate recently shot that actually wrote the bill.
If the primate had been wearing something to identify him as Obama or referencing a person in particular, then I could see it as racist.
Not racist to me…
Horrible appeasement of fanatics like Sharpton. It makes me sick.
There was nothing offensive in the “chimp cartoon.” That coloreds chose to take offense just shows how little they understand critical analysis, politics, etc.
The apology was a hugh mistake. Take it back. Stand your ground.
The ungrateful alien CEO master of his own media MONOPOLY granted US citizenship through bribes has THREATEDED THE LIFE OF THE PRESIDENT TO MANY TIMES BEFORE, through his “employees” like O’Reilly ….
MURDOCH SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR HIGH TREASON, HIS US CITIZENSHIP REVOKED AND HE DEPORTED ….
Whatever. Since the newspaper biz is a media outlet that’s already in peril, let’s go ahead a piss off half our market. Good move, Mr. Murdoch. Maybe you’ve already noticed that not so many folks are buying the NY Post? I vote “NO” for bailing out the Newspaper biz.
Guess who is the dead monkey now?
Gee, I didn’t know that people actually READ the NY POST.
It’s the cheapest dog trainer out here. Cheaper than any other kind of paper at 25 cents for almost a ream of 11×17 can’t be beat, when all you are going to use it for is bird or dog droppings!
this won’t change anything. the blacks will continue to wallow in their own self pity as long as they can. with out this, sharpton would be out of a job.
You owe me an apology!
For what?
If you cared, you would already know…