Glenn Beck Slammed By Polish Group For Butchering Schakowsky's Name

Glenn Beck's penchant for envelope-pushing rhetoric and personalized political attacks often lands him in hot water. But the strangest complaint about the controversial Fox News host's big mouth may have come on Wednesday.

A non-profit group whose goal it is to "promote the understanding of Polish America and Poland, and to advocate for their needs and interests in America" released an statement on Wednesday, admonishing Beck for deliberately butchering Rep. Jan Schakowsky's surname.

The Piast Institute noted that Schakowsky's name "is only three syllables long," and that "its original spelling was altered to make it easy for English speakers to say." And yet, the Michigan-based group adds, Beck "made a hash of pronouncing the surname."

"Our names are a key to our identity, self-esteem and our pride in our heritage and family," the statement reads. "To fail to pronounce them correctly, especially on national television, is a mark of disrespect. This is a serious matter. The prejudice the Polish-Americans have suffered has usually begun with the mockery of our names. We would ask Mr. Beck and all others in the media to make the effort to pronounce our names correctly. All television stations have guides for pronunciations of foreign names and places. We ask that they also develop a handbook for the correct pronunciation of Polish American and all other American names."

The irony of it all is that Beck's mispronunciation of "Schakowsky" may have been the most innocent portion of the entire segment. Earlier, the Fox News host spent several minutes trashing Schakowsky's husband, Robert Creamer, for a past conviction for federal bank fraud.

He also insisted, for the second straight night, that the Obama White House was tainted for extending an invitation to Creamer -- a highly-respected voice in the progressive community -- to the president's first state dinner.

Scoffing at a Polish surname was, it seems, the final straw.

UPDATE: Schakowsky, it turns out, isn't even Polish. Her staff, which first told the Huffington Post she was a Polish-American, emailed to clarify that she's actually of Russian descent.

Comments

[dray3000]

11:19 AM on 12/13/2009

If any one is being violent , lets take a look at where the violence is coming from , what groups ,and who these groups are blaming for there own violent behavior. Liberal groups are behaving violently protesting capitalism.remember Pittsburgh? .i could go on with more liberal groups who behave in the same manner . Then instead of taking responsiblity for their own actions they want to blame people like glenn beckker.omg i mispronounced his name. is anyone going to be outraged over it on the liberal side?. Glenn im sorry i mistyped your name on here.Lets try this again. They want to blame people like Glenn Beck for inciting violence.Pleaaaseeeeeee!!!!!! Doesn't anyone have acountability , responsibility,or a moral compass in their lives anymore for their own behavior?Whatever happened to earning a living and being responsible for the priviledges we enjoy in our lives. Ohh but i forgot everybody has the right to have life given to them on a golden platter without lifting a finger to earn their living and everyone has the right to have healthcare provided for them even though they dont even work to earn and pay for their insurance and, ohh yeah, we dont even have to be documented and legal Americans to have coverage because no one is going to check or is required to check our identification cards or lack thereof. .But its ok though because its going to help our economy and lower costs for everyone.

[dray3000]

10:14 AM on 12/13/2009

yeah lets argue about petty issues and mistakes and mispronunciations and misspellings instead of paying attention to whats going on in washington. ohh yeah.... thats right ,thats exactly what all the liberals want us americans to do isnt it? that is be distracted and bicker about petty things instead of watching what obama and his radical administration is doing.

[ramsha]

01:58 PM on 12/12/2009

You mean COPERNICUS, bright tea bagger?

[MrSimon]

11:48 AM on 12/11/2009

Ironic that The Piast Institute is decrying the mispronunciation of a jewish surname after the poles killed 3 million jews during the holocaust.

[adrian nyu]

10:04 AM on 12/11/2009

I think he's just too dumb and lazy to take the time to learn how to pronounce her name!

[postman66]

08:01 AM on 12/11/2009

Every member of the Obama Administration Beck sIams is BIack or Jew!sh. J. Edgar Hoover had the same nexus he liked to work.

[lockDown]

04:20 AM on 12/11/2009

Why does this bigot have a show?

[70streehugger]

08:42 AM on 12/11/2009

Bigot? Do "YOU" have an issue with Beck or an entire group of Americans who question this administrations policy and the very questionable people who are his chosen advisors ..if that is the case YOU are the bigot.

[sarabono]

12:16 AM on 12/11/2009

Actually a Russian Jew

[sarabono]

12:16 AM on 12/11/2009

The only problem ..... she is Russian

[OLJW00]

11:56 PM on 12/10/2009

WOW - she's not even Polish....

But don't let facts get in the way of a good mob rant.

laughable.....

[JeffW]

12:41 PM on 12/11/2009

Obviously you didn't read the entire article, if you had you would have read these two sentences: "UPDATE: Schakowsky, it turns out, isn't even Polish. Her staff, which first told the Huffington Post she was a Polish-American, emailed to clarify that she's actually of Russian descent."

[mlpo]

10:58 PM on 12/10/2009

Actually, Schakowsky is Jewish. I guess they just don't want to say that.

[KellyKay]

08:46 AM on 12/11/2009

yeah, really does make it a much better joke. Glenn Beck makes fun of a Jewish women's name. Now I get it.

[JeffW]

12:43 PM on 12/11/2009

What does her being Jewish have to do with the article?

[brahdog]

10:37 PM on 12/10/2009

yeah he was being a xenophobic ass, but i still need help spelling and pronouncing our polish housekeeper's name, they're tricky ones, the polish names sometimes. beautiful language tho.

[Baculus]

07:47 PM on 12/10/2009

There are Russians of Polish descent. If her name is Polish, then that is probably the case with her.

[publanski]

09:02 PM on 12/10/2009

In general, if a name ends "ski" it's Polish, if it ends "sky" it's Russian. I know this isn't always the case, but it is much of the time.

[Daniel Simmons]

07:37 PM on 12/10/2009

Good thing she's not actually Polish. But Rusian as Glenn confirmed on his show today. Great fact-checking, HuffPost.

[Ifticar2]

09:19 PM on 12/10/2009

Yep. HP is right up there with CBS, ABC, NBC and PBS with their fact checking.

[publanski]

09:32 PM on 12/10/2009

I'm pretty sure she's American. You should probably check your facts.

[KataVideo]

06:57 PM on 12/10/2009

Jan Jankownskysonsky... yeah that sounds foreign and un-American.. to teabaggers.

[billhodges]

07:16 PM on 12/10/2009

WOW what an offense, Beck is really a mean person because he did not pronounce this name correctly. The lefts fear of Glenn and Fox News is very apparent in this thread. :-))

[OLJW00]

11:58 PM on 12/10/2009

Unreal isn't it?

[KellyKay]

08:42 AM on 12/11/2009

Show me, where is the fear.

[70streehugger]

08:50 AM on 12/11/2009

Before I push the ignore button. For future reference .. If you choose to use terms ( childish names to garner ATTENTION) ..that you find popular.. we know how some people NEED to follow the crowd.. and really NEED attention.

However, anything you may have provided towards an intellectual debate will be missed ..

[KataVideo]

12:27 AM on 12/14/2009

you mean, like teabaggers follow the crowd?