I could not resist taking a picture of this sign in front of the Pork Barrel BBQ in Alexandria, Virginia when the family was out walking last night after buying ice cream on Memorial Day. Over at the corporate headquarters of Safeway, executives wish they had two fewer pigs after the company’s General Counsel cracked a joke about Hillary Clinton and Speaker Nancy Pelosi that has been denounced as sexist.
Gordon, 59, has been Safeway’s GC since 2000 and was speaking at an annual meeting when he turned to pig jokes:
You know, this is the season when companies and other institutions are interested in enhancing their reputation and their image for the general public, and one of the institutions that’s doing this is the Secret Service, particularly after the calamity in Colombia. And among the instructions given to the Secret Service agents was to try to agree with the president more and support his decisions. And that led to this exchange that took place last week, when the president flew into the White House lawn and an agent greeted him at the helicopter.
The president was carrying two pigs under his arms and the Secret Service agents said, “Nice pigs, sir.”
And the president said, “These are not ordinary pigs, these are genuine Arkansas razorback hogs. I got one for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”
And the Secret Service agent said, “Excellent trade, sir.”
Even accepting Gordan’s insistence that he is not sexist, he faces a self-evident charge of sheer stupidity. Many blogs have denounced Gordon as a sexist executive in a company that relies heavily on female consumers and employees. Others insisted the joke was tasteless but not necessarily sexist. I have heard the joke with both men and women targets, but the inclusion of two women raised the sexist objection. I took the time to research the joke and it is more often used with women and clearly depicts women as chattel. At a minimum, he suffered from hoof in mouth disease. However, Gordon has now apologized so it appears that Safeway will post a sign reading: ‘Sorry All Out Of Pig Jokes.’
As for our local BBQ, it was not clear what was left on a BBQ menu but it appears that the Pork Barrel had gone vegan.
Growing up in Chicago, I remember a butcher shop and take out that had a sign reading “We Sell Everything But The Oink and The Moo” – not especially appetizing but it certainly guaranteed an extended menu.
Source: Law
OK. Standing alone I didn’t appreciate the repetition of the joke. But considering the articles today: kids being poisoned; college kids burning books, their frat house, and housing of others; cannibalism and bath salts as a mind destroying drug; misleading advertising that’s legal; and an inappropriate joke, the joke is the least offensive and it does make the point that an inappropriate joke can sometimes have consequences.
There was time when such a joke told by such a person would not have resulted in an apology.
Prof gets a pass.
http://www.trueactivist.com/a-river-of-waste-the-hazardous-truth-about-factory-farms/
Keep slamin’ da pigs.
Bob Dylan does, and he was awarded The Medal of Freedom.
Congrats Bob.
Eat more chickin’ …
Just sayin’ …
I guess we could say the idiot was recycling. With the mention of “Arkansas razorbacks,” this so-called joke certainly harks back to the Clinton Administration.
Oro Lee,
Yep.
**************
bettykath,
“Why is a tasteless, if not sexist, joke repeated here?”
Because the joke and the sexist (or not) nature of it was the story? To tell the story without the joke is not relaying the facts of the matter but rather would have been strictly opinion. Part of the story was to let readers decide for themselves if it was sexist or not. As pointed to, the joke is very old and capable of variation, but in context the joke was not only sexist as told, it was partisan as well.
Pray tell, what do they have left to sell at the barbeque restaurant?
Let us not miss a chance to discuss barbeque, pork of course, what else.
It was done on a spit overnight behind the Shell station, and at lunch time is was served, fork-shredded with black peppar and apple vinegar if you liked it too.
So how is it on Highway 61 in Mississippi?
BettyKath,
Damn good point about JT.
That “joke” should have remained on the front porch with the rest of the pigs in his redneck group.
When does the word “women” get replaced with an equivalent to “AfroAmerican”? Isn’t there a need? So prejudiced stained ss it has become.
Although, men should be looking for a replacement too for their designation, for the shame of it all.
Whaddaya say boys? What’ll it be?
Gordon was strongly encouraged to apologize and did. Prof. Turley has repeated the joke knowing that it’s in very poor taste. It is now his joke. His bad.
As I told Joe Paterno after he apologized for a sexist, tasteless joke in one of those meetings where there were few women present, if you have to apologize for your joke, maybe you shouldn’t tell it.
bettykath
1, May 29, 2012 at 10:33 am
What Oro Lee said.
Why is a tasteless, if not sexist, joke repeated here?
—————————————————————————–
Because an apology was made, so that makes it all okay, don’tcha know?! 😡
So Robert Gordon decides to insult two of the most powerful women in government, women who have earned their positions through hard work and years of dedicated service to their country, by comparing them to pigs.
Gordon’s first apology, “I sincerely apologize if the opening comments I made at the recent annual stockholders meeting offended anyone. ” was the typical “iffy” offering that places the responsibility for interpretation on the listener absolving the speaker of any wrongdoing.
Then Gordon found out just how powerful he wasn’t when his CEO stepped in . Gordon had to send a personal letter of apology to both women and his CEO did the same.
“However, Gordon has now apologized so it appears that Safeway will post a sign reading: ‘Sorry All Out Of Pig Jokes.’” (JT) … as long as Gordon remains as GC, Safeway is not out of jokers who are pigs.
Just how dumb is Gordon? Safeway is headquartered in California’s Bay Area.
What Oro Lee said.
Why is a tasteless, if not sexist, joke repeated here?
As a woman who was frequently the only or one of two or three women in a room of men where the “leader” was telling sexist and/or tasteless jokes, I didn’t laugh.
The sign on the door, well, that’s good irony.
Raff,
I think you’re right….. But how much do you think he could get for Yoo, Bybee and Gonzales as a packaged deal……
Hard up for a topic this morning?
Re: Pork
“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, “Fate,” Essays and Lectures
http://www.themeatrix.com/
Re: Joke
1. Told by a Lawyer — of all the people who shouldn’t cast jokes
2. Not just tasteless (if not sexist) but very, very old
3. Told at corporate annual meeting, like that’s going to remain secret.
Try as the posters of this blog might, I don’t think people are ever going to believe lawyers are people
I am no expert, but I think the first thing I would always remember in a BBQ business is..never run out of meat! If the Safeway stockholders had any sense, they would trade for a new General Counsel.
Safeway used to charge 5-10% more in its DC stores than in the suburbs. They’ve stopped doing that in recent years, but it left me with the lasting sense that they were “pigs”.
BTW, there’s a new restaurant on 14th St near Logan Circle with an all pork menu called “the Pig”.
Maybe the business plan featured ‘just in time’ inventory. Got a few kinks to work out.
As an avid consumer and connoisseur of barbeque, especially the kind found along Highway 61 in Mississippi, this is an affront to both palate and economic common sense.
What could possibly go wrong with this business plan?