When Pennsylvania Congressman Jack Murtha recently said many of his home staters are "racist" and "rednecks," he may have been referring to the state's longtime U.S. senator.
The New York Post's Page 6 reports that Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., used the occasion of a public luncheon Friday to lighten up the crowd by telling Polish jokes.
Specter was speaking before the influential Commonwealth Club, a Pennsylvania Republican group meeting in New York's Rainbow Room, when he began his opening act.
The senator queried his audience if anyone present was Polish. Reportedly, about 10 people raised their hands.
Apparently callous to their feelings, Specter let loose with a stream of Polish jokes. The Post said he recounted the old one about a person who tells another person that he knows a good Polish joke. The man responds, "Hey careful, I'm Polish!" Specter delivered the punchline: "That's OK, I'll tell it more slowly."
A member of the stunned audience told the Post that Specter's jokes were "insensitive."
"I was offended, and I'm not Polish," the source said.
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