Saturday, January 14, 2012

Gordon Gee and the Polish joke

YOU WOULD THINK that the highest paid public university president in America would know better than to crack a Polish joke before a live audience. But then, you don't know Gordon Gee, the Ohio State University president who is enriched by about $1.3 million annually to gracefully tend to the campus and not crack Polish jokes.

But as reported by the Associated Press, Gee told a Columbus audience that running a mega-university isn't as easy as you might think, even for a guy with his soaring skills. Let him explain:

"When we had these 18 colleges all kind of floating around [OSU], they were kind of like PT Boats, they were shooting each other. It was kind of like the Polish army or something. I have no idea what it was."

Sensing that he might have stepped into it, Gee breezily blew off his remark, saying: "Oh, never mind, who did I embarrass now....I'll have to raise money for Poland now."

He later apologized (always the escape hatch for an untoward moment). But it might be better if he spent a few minutes considering the cemetery at Monte Cassino, the burial site of more than a thousand Polish troops whose corps had bravely stormed the German army holdouts in the monastery atop Monte Cassino. It tells a different story.











5 comments:

JLM said...

A man who wears no neckwear other than a bow tie, has no business poking fun at any other group or individual.

David Hess said...

Not to mention Brigadier Genl. Casimir Pulaski, who led Yankee troops in several battles (Brandywine and Charleston, e.g.) against the British in the Revolutionary War and died from battle wounds in the cause of American independence, or Lech Walensa whose Solidarnosc movement led eventually to the unraveling of the Soviet Union and its hegemony over Central Europe

Grumpy Abe said...

Obama supporter? Don't know. I do know media reports have often mentioned his tight relationship with Gov Kasich.

Marv Katz said...

Was it a real apology (i.e., I'm sorry for what I said) or was it the usual politician's apology -- "I apologize to anyone who might have been offended."???

American News said...

Unfortunately, NBC-TV introduced all these anti-Polish hate jokes to the American public back in the 1960's.

It should be noted that the subhuman intelligence jokes about Polish people origin is Nazi propaganda.

Ironically the NBC-TV anti-Polish Bigots ignored that fact and introduced them to America anyway.

NBC-TV anti-Polish Bigot Seth Meyers was bashing Polish people with Polish jokes as recently as Nov. 5, 2011. He mocked the hero Polish pilot who saved hundreds of lives while landing a crippled plane in Warsaw. Thanks NBC-TV....you bunch of Anti-Polish Bigots.

As for Gordon Gee, he should Google "Polish Squadron 303" and see that Squadron 303 destroyed more Nazi German planes in the "Battle of Britain" than any other Allied squadron.