Some things have to be seen to be believed, like five dorks in blackface (and one in “whiteface”) doing a “tribute” to the Jackson 5 as the Jackson Jive. I suppose you could attempt the “maybe Aussies don’t know blackface is offensive in 2009” excuse. That might work, you know? If they didn’t already have their own indigenous group of brown people who’ve suffered endless humiliations at the hands of the majority population. If anything it shows how just because you have your own racial issues doesn’t make you all that sensitive to the issues of others. Fortunately Harry Connick Jr., lovable New Orleans jazz man, was there to remind folks that blackface just is not funny. Mostly by mentioning that no one would pull that shit in the states for fear of a severe case of beatdown. Unless it’s Halloween and you’re a drunk frat boy dressed up as a “rapper.” But then, if you’re doing that it’s probably not on television and within the relative safety of your Phi Kappa House.
Harry Connick Jr. Manages To Not Murder Blackfaced J5 Aussie “Tribute” (O RLY?)
64 responses to “Harry Connick Jr. Manages To Not Murder Blackfaced J5 Aussie “Tribute” (O RLY?)”
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Unless you’re Al Jolson and it’s 1929, no one should be doing blackface anymore.
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I love how Connick’s accent gets a little thicker when he’s giving his score. That foolishness hit him in a deep place.
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I’ve got $50 bucks that says they’re the opening act for the Republican National Convention in three years.Any takers?
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I saw this on the Today Show this morning. I went on a five minute rant when the segment said some are calling Connick a hypocrite because he appeared in a Mad TV skit playing a stereotypical black southern preacher. I’m even more annoyed now that I look through the web and find the people calling Connick out are anonymous message board posters. Anyone who doesn’t understand the difference between playing a character that could be black and performing in blackface is too far gone for me to explain it to them. Even when Karl Rove did his Eazy-E imitation at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2007, he had the good taste to leave the greasepaint in the tin.
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I’ve been reading different blogs and I’m surprised at how people aren’t appreciating what Harry did. Now if he did nothing, and laughed at it people would be bent out of shape.
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This is crazy…and my uncle was just saying yesterday that when it comes to racism and race issues, White people just don’t get it, and they never will. It would be good to think that whites in the states wouldn’t pull this, but I really think they would and make it even more grand.
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@ Anthony Nurse(Disclaimer: I loves me some Harry Connick, Jr. Southern Louisianans, unite!)YAASSS! I saw the same thing and that’s how they ENDED the segment. left that "hypocrite" idea just linger in the air there for folk to internalize and repeat. No, he wasn’t in Black-face, yes, he looked like a white preacher (no ‘fro, yall), and yes, he was accompanied by a choir and another Black preacher impersonator. Yes, he is Southern, and yes, there are white preachers with the cadence of some Black preachers. Matter of fact, it wouldn’t be beyond imagination to think that Mr. Connick, Jr. has frequented Black churches in New Orleans. Nevermind that. Let’s ignore the fact that there are white Southern preachers that are comparable to the stereotypical Black preacher. Let’s then equate impersonating a southern (Black) preacher with the minstrelsy displayed in Australia… does that mean that "America" sees the Black preacher as coonish? Probably, but that shouldn’t be surprising either.Just another bit of encouragement in this steadily progressing country…
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I watched the Mad TV sketch with Harry Connick Jr and Orlando Jones and his impersonation was more Rod Parsley than southern black preacher. I’m glad he did what he did. He took a stand when he didn’t have to.
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I love how showing the world that they’re good, upstanding "doctors" seems to serve to justify their performance and legitimize them…and we know how wrongly that’s gone in the past–so needless to say, I wasn’t impressed with that info.I actually think their first performance "20 years ago" was more buffoonish and crude than this one. This one still sucked, but the first one sucked more.
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the racial dynamics isn’t the same in other countries as it is here.
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Aussies are known for their racial insensitivity. It was just in the 70’s that they tore Aborigines from their homes and dumped them with white familes, to be raised "properly." They have just recently concluded that maybe that was slightly damaging to the people and culture. So I was not suprised in the least to see this skit or the other judges reactions. I’m glad that Harry schooled them because I really do think they are not trying to be racially aware at all.
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Having just returned from there, I can confirm that what you said about the indigenous black/brown people there is 100% correct. So for them to do that was QUITE inappropriate. Good for Harry for calling that bullshit out.
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flygirl – quick correction: Aborigines STOPPED being stolen from their families in the 1970s. That shit started in the early 1900s unfortunately. Either way, the crime is no less sick.
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One last thing – watch Rabbitproof Fence (Netflix). It’s about what flygirl mentioned. It was banned in Australia. And you think the U.S. has race issues? Sheeeit. 😐
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that was not one bit racist see being in Australia and watch you Americans on Reality TV Shows being demeaning to yourselfs and others is more offensive than anything you are all fake people and are never true down here we dont tolerate the bs and we dont like it it makes me sick how Harry speaks up he wrecked a good show and prefered he didnt come on the show or in the country all it was, was an act that was repeated from 20years ago we dont have issues with black skin coloured people we are a multicultral country it alright to impersonate any other type of person like e.g arabs or asians or even indians but when it comes to black its a touchy subject because you are all scared because deep down you are all racist time to get over it……
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^^^^^ that is one HELL of a run on.
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@ Italian-AussieYour statement epitomizes the racial insensitivity everyone is talking about where many white people (like yourself I assume) get to decide what is offensive and what is not, and everyone else who finds fault is just out to spoil your fun. Nothing is wrong with it, everything is wrong with us right?
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It is/was a really stupid show and anyone of HCJnrs calibre who appears on it has been poorly advised, and "A video of US singer Harry Connick Jnr in black-face has surfaced online in response to the singer’s condemnation of a controversial "blackface" skit on a Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion last night.In the 13-year-old video, filmed for MADtv in 1996, Connick jnr wears a curly wig, preacher’s robes and speaks with a southern-drawl accent, before promoting one of his albums."woops.-
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oooohwow…glad HCJr made his comments. I would have given a negative score & walked out… About the vid he made 13 (?) years ago..I didn’t watch to see how bad it actually was, but maybe he would now think it’s in bad taste and he’s learned something since then. A decade is a long time, some people do actually learn. Sad laugh about them opening for the RNC, i can see it.
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No there is nothing wrong with being black its not a sickness this Harry is just making a publicity stunt to make self popular because no one likes listening to his shit. that jackson jive where not doing anything racist it was act they didnt act or degrade black people it was just re inactment of the jackson five there was no fun making it of it, it was there version of it nothing to do with racism at all… think about it and im a huge fan of MJ and the jackson 5 down here we dont care what colour your skin is it what your personality is like i think the media have blown this out of proportion and living in Melbourne where this show was preformed it really offends me that you ignorant AMERICANS think we are racist where there was nothing racist about it… where in reality TV shows and and movies show so many forms of racism its not funny and these shows and movies come from AMERICA also to make it clear the Jackson Jive were all different nationalitys. dont say it’s fun for me because you dont know nothing about our backround many years ago it use to be hard even for us italians but we have come along way since then so in theory your a hypacryt thats being racist to me saying im a sterotype redneck or something best thing to do GET OVER IT
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AND FOR THE COMMENT: One last thing – watch Rabbitproof Fence (Netflix). It’s about what flygirl mentioned. It was banned in Australia. And you think the U.S. has race issues? Sheeeit. :-|Rabbit Proof Fence was not banned in Australia it actually teaches our younger generation about the past of Australia when the terriable POMS (LONDON PEOPLE) treated our indiginous people terriably and how racism does not lead to anything good.Im sorry but this is really starting to piss me off and if No One Sticks up for AUSTRALIA then i will i wish Harry never enters this Country again or anyone with the same sort of views as him does because we all get along fine here ur not judged by your skin colour its your personality…..
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What did he mean "we spent so much time making black people not look like buffoons?" Is it hard not to do? Are we naturally buffoonish? Who is we!? Am I the only one that heard him say that in the end?
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The act was offensive, can you imagine that it was done nearly 2 decades ago and they believe it is funny in 2009! I have never visited Australia, but I think if anyone pays attention to issues internationally we understand about the underbelly of racial relationships in Australia ( placement of aboriginal children with Euro-Australian families, and the high rates of drug use and suicide amongst aboriginal populations etc – not unlike the experience of non-dominant ethnicities in the USA). Harry is to be commended!
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Yes i did hear that statment so from my understand he is saying that they are trying to make the black community good because what they are not good people? does the white community make you look better than what you are?but yet this intelligent man say the Jackson Jive and Australia are Rascists
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snob fan,I see your $50 and raise you some fancy swimsuit pagent walkin’ and a b selection of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life ‘Every Sperm is Sacred’ performed by the ‘Jesus Camp’ mass choir.Wenzel,I now see why people have always said Australia is the Alabama of the pacific and other places where half the people think 10% slower..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2r9Do2ySo&
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Tiredocrap West Indian :That act was not offensive you just think its your right to take offence to it.Beileve it or not the Aboriginal Community get looked so well after in Australia even more than the rest of the community what they choose to do with these advantages are up to them they can make themself a better person with it and move up in the world or continue to look back at the past and be miserable most of these comunnitys make the easier decision to be miserable but there are the small group that move forward and make them self abetter person
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Whoa buddy. Lots of throwing around of ahistorical ideas and mumbo-jumbo that negates the past and present experiences of oppressed people in the U.S. AND Australia – funny how both groups in question are considered Black…Italian-Aussie:The whole "GET OVER IT" mantra is what I like to call "NOT HELPING". Is there anything the Australian government is doing that you can point to that speaks to some kind of attempt at repairing the damage done to the Aboriginal people of Australia (I mean ACTION, not the apology given a few years back)? Have you talked to any Aboriginal people (I mean, more than the handful that you could call your "friend" to prove that you too are not racist) or sought any information being gathered about the current state or concerns of the Aboriginal community? Do you think you could find the time to do that to really see if Aboriginal people are truly faring better, or are you just assuming racial harmony because you and yours are doing alright and you know of like 5 Aboriginal folk who are making strides? "We" like to call those "token representations". What do you say? Are you willing to give any examples of this stuff or are you just gonna keep shouting about how great Australia is, how Australia doesn’t have a race problem, and how Black people in general need to GET OVER IT?Can we have a conversation about that? Because a lot of us here know some history about these things in the U.S. It’d be great to have a historical (and factual) perspective on your end. ‘Preciate it.
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Reply Jaddadalos :Look fair enough see where u comming from but remeber the media never shows you the good side of things either now we have learnt about the black commuintys past in America but its what is shown to us but not everything is shown to us either Would you agree? That there is more to it.Well that’s what its like down here for the Aboriginal people down here they have built many communities for them they have included them in our commuinities they have brand new houses built for them which some of us would kill for but some of them include themselves in our community but its not our and theres its one community for all Also in saying that what do i have to be freinds with aboriginal just to proove im not a rascist what about other people such as indians, lebonese, greek, samolion, maury, turkish why is just aboriginals its being racist if i forgot about the rest as well dont you think. Once again its not the skin colour im freinds with its the person inside.and doesnt matter what nationality you are there are good and bad in both.
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Should i get upset if someone with the black skin colour dresses up as mario & luigi just because they are italian or maybe if they were to run around in haloween SCREAM mask????No dont think so…..
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Re: "Who is we!?"Harry Connick Jr. is from New Orleans, a place with a history of mixed blood people who LOOK physically white, butare not completely white. In an interview some years ago I distinctly remember seeing a photo of Harry as a child playing piano with his grandmother looking on. His grandmother was black. I tried to find the photo online to link to here, but lo and behold it is nowhere to be found. Is someone incognegro? If so that may be very well why the blackface hit so close to home. So when he says "we", I believe he slipped up and as my grandmother (who is NOLA born and bred) would say "Let the black out".
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so why then on MAD TV he did that skit as a black preacher that is demeaning because he is acting as if a black preacher would. and as previusly stated in a response in the first 25 he is not white in the skit otherwise he would did it natural but he didnt so is that not offensive? thats even worse because he instates the same accent looks and actions as would a black preacher….but the Jackson Jive who did there crapy version of the jackson 5 they where doin it as there best they are making fun of themselves of how crap there version is not of the jackson 5 or the black commuinty if you realise which you cant see but the guy with the white face actually has dark skin therefore the whiteface no one picks up on that should i be offended now soon gonna have to tell the KISS ARMY to not put black on there face either just white…..
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@Italian-Aussie"they can make themself a better person"This infers that they are automatically bad people who inherently need to better themselves? You do realize that you are speaking as though they are beneath you by default. Many whites "can make themselves better people" too."here they have built many communities for them they have included them in our commuinities "Oooh how generous! Communities built especially for them, no doubt on land that is rightfully theirs to begin with. Let us not forget how fortunate they must be to be "included in" your communities, because their lives have no value without nice white people being so charitable as to "include" them in their community. [sarcasm]These people have had their land stolen, their children forcefully taken away from them, have had attempted genocide via eugenics unleashed upon them, and been systematically, sociologically, educationally, and economically oppressed for at least 100 years; but it’s okay because they got a new house.Logic (noun) = a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration : the science of the formal principles of reasoningPunctuation (noun) = the act or practice of inserting standardized marks or signs in written matter to clarify the meaning and separate structural units
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urban suburbanite :no its not like that i cant say it all in one lil paragraph but when you live here then you will understand till then apply your opinion what im sayin up north Alice Springs that where they built there communities it is restricted untouched land kept at its natuaral beauty sites down here where we go and learn about their culture which are left untouched we build houses for them provide them with support, money now there are also white aboriginal people to we work togeather we live togeather we are togeather dont talk about Australians when you dont know nothing about them like Harry Cornick Jnr should keep his opinions to him self his a jackass… now what i mean by better person most of these communities that only live off what our goverment provides them with what we pay our tax money with (our = people who work and pay tax weither white,black,yellow,red,blue,green……) use this money for drugs, alchahol insteading feeding there families getting a job now this some not all so stop being racist in insisting to me they are different people there not check previous statment there are good and bad in all nationalitys not just white are bad black are great.i even look up to which you call black people i call a person or a friend or even an icon.
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Do Not imply ALL AUSSIES and AUSTRALIANS or AUSTRALIA as a Country is racist because we all seem to get along here this is just one persons dumb opion on a TV show who has lost fans here in Australia because his head is that far up his ass he cant see between his ass hairs and the shit he feeds him self to beileve just like you dont like the white man or white person because i might get called sexest now to but just like you dont like the white man judging by appearence which i personally dont and many others dont judge Australia as country but only judge individuals by personality or simply dont judge at all it upsets me when people call others & i racict when we are not….Goodbye ALL have a nice life HARRY CORNICK JR DONT COME BACK!!!!!!
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It is not an implication that Australia has had a racist history, it is an historical fact. Goodbye Italian-Aussie and good luck on getting the Australian equivalent to an American GED.
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Italian-Aussie:"Beileve it or not the Aboriginal Community get looked so well after in Australia even more than the rest of the community what they choose to do with these advantages are up to them they can make themself a better person with it and move up in the world or continue to look back at the past and be miserable most of these comunnitys make the easier decision to be miserable but there are the small group that move forward and make them self abetter person"_______________________________You must be out of your mind. I’m not going to even bother going back and forth with you because it’s pointless. You don’t get it, you never will, and you don’t WANT to either so I really just can’t. You go ahead and believe this garbage all the hell you want. I refuse to waste time, energy, and precious brain cells on you or what you said. "I have not come here to debate anyone. I only debate with my equals; all others I teach." FINITO.
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i wonder if the effort spent in worry about black face in a country on the other side of the globe or worry how you’re perceived by whites was spent on reducing black on black crime (which FAR outnumbers white on black crime), what would happen?
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*worry is supposed to be worrying. LOL
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If you go to the comments on the video at YouTube [Link – Text Comments (4000 and counting)], you wlil find "Italian-Aussies" by the thousands! Most of them much less polite than our guest here.I suppose this is obvious, but I’ll point out that the Australian Aboriginal people are much more analogous to our Native Americans.I’m going to look around (not on YouTube) and see if I can find any Aboriginal opinion on this video.Love your owl Snob.
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Oh my goodness, Italian-Aussie, you are what make me cringe about being an Australian, and was it really necessary to get so crude because people don’t like your opinions. And to top it off with a version of the all-too-familiar "if you don’t like it why don’t go back to where you came from" *sigh*This skit was on a reunion show that should never have been reunited. ‘Hey Hey’ was a ball of rubbish when it was originally on TV, complete with bad jokes, bad voice-overs, and a terrible host. But it was popular, light entertainment. But when things like this happen, the fact that the act was offensive is lost amongst the reply "It was a joke". I teach in a secondary school in Melbourne and whenever I deal with an issue of bullying in my class the bully nearly always states "it was a joke". A lot of people hide behind this idea of Australia being a country of "larrikins" when making these ‘jokes’ which seems to give people some bizarre license to be offensive. There is a strong element of racism in many countries, and Australia is unfortunately one of them. This situation is only strengthened when the mainstream media jump on the hype, giving a voice to the ignorant.But not everyone here feels that people should get over it, and there are many people (maybe who are not as vocal or forceful) who have a great understanding as to why this caused offence.
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First off, I love, love, love that owl. It cracks me up everytime I see it. My husband says orly all the time and I swear, he makes the same face! lol. Okay on to my comment…I’m glad Harry Connick, Jr. said what he said regardless of some skit he did several years ago. He was sure to stress how we in the U.S. feel about black face. Just b/c he didn’t agree with the performance doesn’t mean that he was attacking Australia. So Aussies need to "get over it." (Let’s see how it feels when someone diminishes your feelings.)On Connick’s ethnicity. I was born and bred in N.O. and am from one of those mixed blood families. I vaguely remember people saying somthing about him being black but it was never proven. His father was the DA in N.O. for decades and he’s the whitest white man you’ve seen. Not to say that means anything but his family has been in the public eye for decades before Jr. became who he is. Seems like this would’ve come out if there was really something to it. The politics there is ruthless. But on the flip side, it could just be one of those well-kept secrets.
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Just apoint of clarifacation…the referenced skit was of a blaxk southern preacher and a white southern preacher…. and the simlarities were part of the comedy…ie…they are more alike than not etc….
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The only reason why some Australians would say Harry Connick Jr was parodying a black preacher is because they don’t know anything about American Southern Culture. Black and white preachers down south do the same thing. Not all of them but if you grew up in New Orleans like Harry then you would know.
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Oh man. Pleeeeease do not think that all Aussies are okay with this nonsense, I and everyone I know find it cringe-inducing and horrific. Harry Connick Jr was entirely within his rights to call them out on this bullshit. There are sadly a lot of Aussies who are redneck racists, but it’s not all of us, I swear.PS – Rabbit-Proof Fence was never banned in Australia. Not sure where you got that idea. I think it should be required watching for all Aussies.
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@Soda & Candy: I agree. Rabbit-Proof Fence was an excellent movie, indeed. It should be required watching, period.
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My fault – while there, someone told me it was banned. Either way, I watched it on my return flight home.
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@ Soda & Candy: I agree that we shouldn’t dislike an entire people for what a group of those same people have done. But understand that this is one of those things that Blacks fight against all of the time. Welcome to the stereotypical world! However, point taken. I DO NOT believe that all Aussies are racists. Just like all Blacks are not ghetto. What just floors me everytime I see it is the fact that you can go to any corner of the globe and the people all seem to think that they are better than Blacks (what is that?). I personally appreciated Harry taking a stand and pointing out that we just don’t play that Sh!t here in the states. What people really need to "GET OVER" is racism. Luv, Peace, and Hair Grease!
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You don’t have to be white to be racially insensitive, and you don’t have to be black to be offended by hurtful garbage like this and that blighted Shirley Q. Liquor.Connick’s ‘we’ (I as interpreted it) refered to the toils of engendering a paradigm shift. ‘We’ have been working towards breaking down the old divisions and ignorance and reaching for a fraternity. There is a common goal in mind, from whence the participants joined is of little consequence in that regard. ‘i wonder if the effort spent in worry about black face in a country on the other side of the globe or worry how you’re perceived by whites was spent on reducing black on black crime (which FAR outnumbers white on black crime), what would happen?’All new scapegoat applicants come this way…Rush Limbaugh’s fetid being would fall in on itself like some prolapsed uterusWal-Mart would abandon niceties like bullets and just get to the arms dealing, already
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Harry Connick, Jr. is a Catholic-Jew. He should have gonged the act when they first came on and requested that the show not be aired. But, he comes off like the jewish hero that stood up for the Black people again. The crap shouldn’t have aired in America. Anytime some racist people would take over Black people’s land and call them "aboriginal" and they were there first, you know they are racist. The "media" owners benefit from showing this and pushing one of their own off as a hero. If he was real he would have gonged them on site and requested the show not be aired with him on it. Be careful of who owns our American media, because they have us doing the Helter Skelter while they collect all the money and run to the middle east.
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Looked like some – HAva – Hava jews dancing, when I looked at it again.
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