Safeway exec's disgusting Obama joke backfires, brings apology [View all]

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Last edited Wed May 23, 2012, 07:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Andrew S. Ross
Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Safeway has enough on its plate - market share under siege, tough union negotiations, rumors of a takeover - without a senior executive putting his foot halfway down his throat, at its annual shareholders' meeting no less.

Vice President and General Counsel Robert Gordon thought he was cracking wise with a lame joke involving the Secret Service, President Obama and two Arkansas razorback hogs deemed an "excellent trade" for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. You can hear the joke here.

Among the less-than-laugh-out-loud-responses was a letter from members of the Bay Area congressional delegation, led by Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, whose district includes the Pleasanton company. It demanded an apology to Pelosi and Clinton, among other "corrective steps," for the "shocking lack of respect, not only for two of the most important and respected people in our country but for all women."

As of Monday, one week after the shareholders' meeting, the only corrective action was a brief statement from Gordon "sincerely apologiz(ing) if the opening comments I made at the recent annual stockholders meeting offended anyone."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/22/BUIB1OLP5E.DTL

Ah, the usual non-appology. Guy needs to be fired.
On edit: Safeway CEO apologizes (see downthread) to Pelosi and HRC