(From FoxNews.Com)
The White House said President Barack Obama misspoke on Tuesday when he referred to a "Polish death camp" while honoring a Polish war hero.
The president's remark had drawn immediate complaints from Poles who said Obama should have called it a "German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland," to distinguish the perpetrators from the location. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called it a matter of "ignorance and incompetence."
Obama made the comment while awarding the Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Karski died in 2000.
During an East Room ceremony honoring 13 Medal of Freedom recipients, Obama said that Karski "served as a courier for the Polish resistance during the darkest days of World War II. Before one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that Jews were being murdered on a massive scale and smuggled him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself. Jan took that information to President Franklin Roosevelt, giving one of the first accounts of the Holocaust and imploring to the world to take action."
Sikorski tweeted that the White House would apologize for "this outrageous error" and that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk would address the matter on Wednesday.
"It's a pity that such a dignified ceremony was overshadowed by ignorance and incompetence."
Alex Storozynski, president of the Kosciuszko Foundation, said Obama's comment "shocked the Poles present at the White House and those watching on C-SPAN. ... Karski would have cringed if he heard this."
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said: "The president misspoke. He was referring to Nazi death camps in Poland. We regret this misstatement, which should not detract from the clear intention to honor Mr. Karski and those brave citizens who stood on the side of human dignity in the face of tyranny."
Anxious to quell the controversy, the White House also noted that the president had visited the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial while in Poland and that he has repeatedly discussed the bravery of Poles during World War II.
The Polish Embassy in Washington, on its website, has a "how-to guide" on concentration camps that states that references to Polish death camps are "factually incorrect slurs" that should be corrected.
The Associated Press Stylebook states that when referring to "World War II camps in countries occupied by Nazi Germany, do not use phrases like Polish death camps that confuse the location and the perpetrators. Use instead, for example, death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland."

This is an insult to all Poles and to all Polish-Americans (many of whom have been loyal Democrats for years).   This commentator does NOT want to believe for a moment that a man who attended/graduated from  the BEST, MOST EXCLUSIVE  and MOST EXPENSIVE private boarding secondary in America and then graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law is actually as uninformed/ignorant of history as his comments suggest.   But then if he knew what he was saying was wrong -- did he show his true feelings for Poles and Polish-Americans?   So we are left to decide whether Obama is a) ignorant or b) an insensitive bigot attempting to perpetuate the most sordid lies about Poland and Poles.  Either way, Polish-Americans should seriously consider voting for OTHER candidates for Presidents.

"A tempest in a teapot"
Definition:
~ An idiom meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion.

The apology should come direct from the President and not his mouthpieces. Once that happens, the issue is over.

Quoted from Box A Rox

"A tempest in a teapot"
Definition:
~ An idiom meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion.

It is NOT a "tempest in a teapot" intentionally using the phrase "Polish death camps" is to imply, suggest, accuse the Poles of being responsible for or complicit in the Holocaust.  It is a PROFOUND INSULT to the Polish people.   It is the type of statement that is only made by either the utterly ignorant or someone with deep-seated hatred for the Polish people.

No one would refer to the German Nazi concentration camp at Alderney in the Channel Islands as an "British Death Camp" or Natzweiler-Struthof as a "French Death Camp" or Fossoli as an "Italian Death Camp".  It is a deplorable statement for ANYONE to make but especially coming from the President of the United States.

Poland has been an ally of the US longer than any other nation.  Poland has been a loyal ally for over 236 years and a member of NATO since 2004.

President Obama needs to apologize publicly.  He also needs to deal with the US immigration policy regarding Polish citizens wishing to come to the US  and get Congress to finally approve a postage stamp honoring Medal of Honor winner LTC Matt Urban.  We who are Polish-Americans have heard the bull-sh*t promises from the politicians we have asked for our help getting elected.  They promise the moon and then deliver nothing and -on top of that - insult and denigrate us and our heritage.   The message from the Polish-American community to Obama should be  DELIVER FIRST OR WE WILL REPLACE YOU WITH SOMEONE WHO WILL GET THE JOB DONE.

A very small tempest, in a very small teapot!

On the subject of "insults", Obama's was obviously a mistake, not meant to insult anyone, but merely a poor
choice of words.  He obviously meant the Nazi Death Camps that were in Poland.  

Others insults are more direct:

Quoted from Box A Rox

A very small tempest, in a very small teapot!

On the subject of "insults", Obama's was obviously a mistake, not meant to insult anyone, but merely a poor
choice of words.  He obviously meant the Nazi Death Camps that were in Poland.  

Others insults are more direct:

Maher doesn't insult people to their face because he has some sort of moral limit, he does it simply because he's a puzzy.  Just like most of the political critics on both sides.

Anyone who defends this indefensible remark by the President proves that he/she a) completely ignorant of Polish-American relations and b) is an insensitive dolt to boot.   It has been an issue for a few decades and only gradually has the American media come to its senses and adopted style books that specifically tell its writers and broadcasters to NOT use the offensive term.  

As stated previously no president - even someone as inept at foreign policy as the present one - would ever call  German Nazi concentrations camps that were located in Italy -- "Italian Death Camps" or German Nazi concentration camps that were located in France -- "French Death Camps"  .. or the one in the Channel Island a "British Death Camp".   And neither of those countries have been as loyal an ally to the US as Poland has and ....  Obama should at least remember that most Polish-Americans are Democrats and have loyally supported the party.

Bottomline - Obama needs to apologize not just with empty words but by following through on long awaited promises (Visa Reform and the LTC Matt Urban commemorative stamp would be a good start) made by previous Democratic administrations and numerous Democratic federal office holders who promised to deliver if they got the Polish community's endorsement, support and vote.

DVOR apparently you don't have reason....who cares how it was misstated.

Quoted from senders

DVOR apparently you don't have reason....who cares how it was misstated.

Millions of people care -- in Poland and in the United States.  The fact is it was a major insult to America's most loyal ally.  

democraps don't have an ally in Poland or Polish Americans. Duh. Anyone who isn't with them is against them.

I'm polish and I see this as phony outrage, caused by insecurity. He clearly misspoke and did so while singing the praises of a polish hero. Get over yourselves people.

"Gotcha journalism/politics" at it's finest..................

Quoted from A Better Rotterdam

I'm polish and I see this as phony outrage, caused by insecurity. He clearly misspoke and did so while singing the praises of a polish hero. Get over yourselves people.

Apparently, you are not familiar with the issue -- because it IS a huge issue for Poles and for the Polish-American community.   I suggest that you write or call Mr. Frank Spula who is the President of the Polish National Alliance and Polish American Congress.  He will set you straight on why this IS a HUGE insult against Poland and Polonia.   You should even call the Polish Consulate in New York City.

The fact that President Obama made the statement while honoring a Polish hero just emphasizes the ignorance/ineptness and insensitivity of the President, his staff and his foreign policy team.

Quoted from A Better Rotterdam

I'm polish and I see this as phony outrage, caused by insecurity. He clearly misspoke and did so while singing the praises of a polish hero. Get over yourselves people.

He is the most intelligent man alive, how can he make a mistake?

This is an issue of GREAT significance for Polish-Americans and Poles in general..   I call upon the President to make good on issues near and dear to Polish people IN America and those overseas as well...... NOW.