Essay 1598

Eyeing the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• American Idol judge Simon Cowell offered an apology to a contestant he referred to as a bush baby. “If he’s offended,” said Cowell, “then I apologize.” But like Rosie O’Donnell, Cowell insists he can’t guarantee he won’t offend people again. In fact, it’s safe to guarantee that he will.

• A Canadian sitcom — “Little Mosque on the Prairie” — is hoping to debunk misconceptions about Muslims. The show follows a group of Muslims living in a prairie town in Saskatchewan. “I want the broader society to look at us as normal, with the same issues and concerns as anyone else,” said the show’s creator. Let’s hope the show doesn’t run opposite Fox TV’s “24.”

• The University of Illinois is facing a new controversy regarding its Chief Illiniwek mascot. The Oglala Sioux tribe demanded that the school return the Chief’s headdress and assorted regalia. As it turned out, the headdress had already been returned in the 1990s. Nonetheless, tribe officials want the rest of the stuff returned; plus, they want the mascot to be retired. Talk about Indian givers.