6465: Monkeys And CEOs. Is There A Difference?

Sorry statements in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post published a bizarre acknowledgment that its infamous monkey cartoon could be offensive. The paper wrote:

That Cartoon

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon—caricaturing Monday’s police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut—has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp’s body: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else—as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

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.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon—even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.

Um, sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon—and sometimes culturally clueless racism is just culturally clueless racism.

• Lowe’s reported 4Q profits dropped 60 percent. The company’s CEO said, “The economic pressures on consumers intensified in the fourth quarter, resulting in a further decline in consumer confidence and dramatic reductions in consumer spending. As a result, our comparable store sales for the quarter remained weak and fell at the low end of our expectations.” At this point, it seems like all CEOs are reading from the same cue card.

• J.C. Penney reported 4Q profits dropped 51 percent. “Throughout the year, we took steps to significantly reduce our inventories and operating expenses in order to withstand the impact of the economic conditions,’ said the company’s chairman and chief executive. “At the same time, we stepped up the style we offer and focused on effectively communicating the newness, excitement and value in our merchandise.” Stepped up the style for J.C. Penney means they probably hired another washed-up 1970s celebrity to design a line of cheap apparel.

• Even Walmart reported 4Q profit losses, which fell 7.4 percent for the retailer. At least the CEO didn’t claim the place stepped up the style.