Poop on this!

If you were to ask me who my hero was, I really don't know if I could give you a definitive answer. But one thing is for certain -- Triumph the Insult Comic Dog would probably be the front-runner.\nThe creation of comedic genius Robert Smigel, Triumph (best known for his catch-phrase, "for me to poop on!") is in some hot water after his recent comments on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," which was taped in Toronto all last week. Triumph traveled to Quebec City's annual Winter Carnival, where he called French Canadians "obnoxious and dull," told them they had a look of superiority and advised a plump Quebequois separatist to try "separating himself from doughnuts first." (New York Times, Feb. 15). Triumph's remarks have caused a huge stir in the House of Commons, where politicians are using the "incident" as a platform to swing separatist votes.\nTriumph has slammed the best of them, ridiculing the Westminster Dog Show, Simon Cowell and fans in full Jedi regalia waiting in line to see the second "Star Wars" prequel. While those can all be considered safe targets, it seems like Triumph has unwillingly stepped on a few toes in Canada, where Quebec's attempt to become sovereign has been a sore spot for years.\nThe issue of Quebec and the relationship between French Canadians and the rest of Canada is a touchy one, with some people comparing it to race relations here in the United States. There is also a huge constituency of Canadian voters that hate Quebec because of its valiant efforts to secede from Canada, and it seems like many of them were in the Toronto audience the night the segment aired on "Late Night," as the jokes with greeted with plenty of laughter and applause.\nSo did Triumph do anything wrong? Is he ignorant of Canadian culture, or are people just overreacting?\nCanada is known for its humor, giving us the Kids in the Hall, Mike Myers and Jim Carrey. It values political satire of its own government and culture as well as ours, repeatedly attacking George W. Bush. So why can't we fire a few zingers back as well?\nAs Americans, we really don't understand the semantics of America Junior's civil conflict. Cultural diffusion doesn't let us understand what the big deal is, so to us it's just one big joke. I mean, it's one nationalistic province trying to secede from Canada to become its own country! That could never happen in America ... well, with the exception of Texas. But we've become so laissez-faire with them we barely even remember they execute retarded people.\n The biggest influence on what is funny and not funny is culture. "Seinfeld" dominated the States for years, only to tank everywhere else. It was a show about nothing -- but nothing was still something in America, and simply nothing everywhere else. Sometimes comedy can successfully cross cultural boundaries (BBC's "The Office") and sometimes it can't.\nFrom this side of the border, Triumph's quips were hilarious. We don't understand why what he said was so bad, and we never will, maybe because we just don't get Canadian politics, or maybe have our own qualms to deal with. Utopian understanding of every culture is the political equivalent of masturbation, a false idea wrapped in hope.\nRichard Pryor once said, "What I say might be profane but might also be profound."\nEvery joke has an audience, and every punchline has a victim.