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Everybody Loves Jeff Dunham -- Or Do They? (PC Crowd Goes After Jeff)
AOL Television ^ | November 5, 2009 | Daynah Burnett

Posted on 11/05/2009 7:15:27 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia

These days, it seems you can't turn around without hearing about comedian Jeff Dunham, arguably the most popular ventriloquist since Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop -- and lot more polarizing.

In case you don't know Dunham, he's been a ventriloquist for 25 years, has generated 350 million hits on YouTube and, according to Forbes, earned $30 million last year (placing him just behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock as America's richest comedian). He also earned record-breaking ratings last week for the the premiere of 'The Jeff Dunham Show' on Comedy Central.

But he's also got plenty of detractors, and a Dunham backlash seems to be gathering steam.

I'd had limited exposure to Dunham thus far, but after catching his guest appearance on '30 Rock,' I was curious as to how others respond to his act -- which is politically incorrect, to say the least. Sure, he's got a ton of fans; on the other hand, EW readers apparently can't stand him, and Videogum called his show "the worst thing in the entire world."

--snip--

In his act, five of the seven puppets in his cast of characters are based on racial or cultural stereotypes (José, the jalepeño pepper; Sweet Daddy Dee, the jive-talking pimp; Bubba J, the beer-guzzling redneck), and although Dunham claims he skewers everyone equally, the skewering doesn't seem intended to bridge racial and cultrual divides.

(Excerpt) Read more at insidetv.aol.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: jeffdunham; satire
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Oh, please . . .
1 posted on 11/05/2009 7:15:29 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

I saw that this morning. There’s a poll, and last time I looked, 90-something percent said Dunham is funny.


2 posted on 11/05/2009 7:17:41 AM PST by Nea Wood (Silly liberal . . . paychecks are for workers!)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
the skewering doesn't seem intended to bridge racial and cultrual divides

Ummm... he's a COMEDIAN!!! WHY THE HELL SHOULD IT BE BRIDGING DIVIDES??? IT SHOULD be making folks laugh, he's a comedian not a social activist. What a flipping buffoon.

3 posted on 11/05/2009 7:18:30 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
the skewering doesn't seem intended to bridge racial and cultrual divides

Ummm... he's a COMEDIAN!!! WHY THE HELL SHOULD IT BE BRIDGING DIVIDES??? IT SHOULD be making folks laugh, he's a comedian not a social activist. What a flipping buffoon.

4 posted on 11/05/2009 7:18:30 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: Nea Wood

Wonder if he’s related to Stanley Ann Dunham ??


5 posted on 11/05/2009 7:21:28 AM PST by manonCANAL
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
funny how Bahar,Sikes,AND SO MANY others are free to “make fun” of others and there's that approving silence
6 posted on 11/05/2009 7:21:47 AM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: HamiltonJay

Exactly.
Comedy isn’t supposed to “heal”.
It’s supposed to drive a wedge into a festering wound and induce uncomfortable laughter. The kind where you put your hand over your mouth and look around for a black person.

Seriously.
If you don’t cringe a little, it’s not that funny.


7 posted on 11/05/2009 7:22:17 AM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

I wonder if he will be one of the first targets of the new hate speech law.


8 posted on 11/05/2009 7:22:56 AM PST by Ingtar (Asses far Left of me; Rinos to the Left; FReepin' on the Right with you.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

He’s funny, but too risque for my family (still have younguns at home).


9 posted on 11/05/2009 7:23:00 AM PST by MortMan (Stubbing one's toes is a valid (if painful) way of locating furniture in the dark.)
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To: HamiltonJay

Have these Dunham haters ever watched some of the black comedians on Comedy Central? Some of them take racial stereotyping and white-bashing to a new level. But, nothing to see there, folks, move on...


10 posted on 11/05/2009 7:24:07 AM PST by Russ (Repeal the 17th amendment)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
I was wondering when people would start complaining about Achmed the Dead Terrorist.


11 posted on 11/05/2009 7:24:21 AM PST by mnehring
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To: MortMan

He would not be wecome in most muzzie countries,but Achmed the Dead Terrorist is a scream


12 posted on 11/05/2009 7:25:43 AM PST by pistolpetestoys (Outside of a dog a book is a mans best friend;inside a dog it's too dark to read.)
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To: Ingtar

Well then, the tolerence brigade will deal with him the ‘progressive’ way-harrass, sue, deny him work ,prosecute and shut him up.


13 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:21 AM PST by Carl LaFong (Experts say experts should be ignored.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

14 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:21 AM PST by 24-7Freeper
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To: Ingtar

Well then, the tolerence brigade will deal with him the ‘progressive’ way-harrass, sue, deny him work ,prosecute and shut him up.


15 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:38 AM PST by Carl LaFong (Experts say experts should be ignored.)
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To: manonCANAL; Protect the Bill of Rights

“Wonder if he’s related to Stanley Ann Dunham ??”

wiki:

Dunham was born in Dallas, Texas in 1962,[6][7] an only child.[8] He began ventriloquism at age eight. He considers it a learned skill, similar to juggling, that anyone with a normal speaking voice can acquire. Although he graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas in 1986,[9] according to Dunham, he never had a “real job.”[1][10]


16 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:38 AM PST by maggief
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

17 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:42 AM PST by OB1kNOb (As government grows, corruption flows.)
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To: mnehring

Let’s make sure his show gets gangbusters ratings so we can shut the idiots at Time Warner up.


18 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:56 AM PST by jyoders19
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

He’s funny as hell. I love Acccchhhhmed the dead terrorist!

Why is he funny? BECAUSE THE STEREOTYPES ARE TRUTHFUL...and anyone without a stick up their a$$ can admit that!


19 posted on 11/05/2009 7:26:56 AM PST by RockinRight (Shove it down our throats in 2009, and we'll shove it up your a$$ in 2010.)
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To: mnehring

Dashing through the sand
with a bomb strapped to my back.
I have a nasty plan
for Christmas in Iraq.

I got through checkpoint A,
but not through checkpoint B.
That’s when I got shot in the a**
by the US Military…

Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
Mine blew up you see.
Where are all the virgins
that Bin Laden promised me?

Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
U.S. soldiers shot me dead.
The only thing that I have left
is this towel up on my head.

I used to be a man,
but every time I cough,
thanks to Uncle Sam,
my nuts keep falling off.

My bombing days are done.
I need to find some work.
Perhaps it would be much safer
as a convenient store night clerk.

Oooh, jingle bombs, jingle bombs
I think I got screwed.
Don’t laugh at me because I’m dead
or I’ll kill you…

I KEEL YOUOUOU!

20 posted on 11/05/2009 7:27:08 AM PST by mnehring
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To: Nea Wood

94% to 6% currently.


21 posted on 11/05/2009 7:28:52 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: Russ

In my observation...

White comedians can white-bash.

Black comedians can white-bash and black-bash.

Asian comedians can white-bash, black-bash, and Asian-bash.

Hispanic comedians can do anything.


22 posted on 11/05/2009 7:29:12 AM PST by RockinRight (Shove it down our throats in 2009, and we'll shove it up your a$$ in 2010.)
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To: mnehring

Walter looks like Joe Biden.


23 posted on 11/05/2009 7:29:45 AM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
Why not play off those views as a means to spread a little tolerance and understanding? Why not introduce a new character to weigh in on it all? Given the enormity of his audience, it seems a real wasted opportunity.

Oh...if he would introduce a berk-wearing/mac-using/volvo-driving liberal...it would be hilarious. (No berks, but I am a mac-using/volvo-driving...not so liberal...)

24 posted on 11/05/2009 7:29:52 AM PST by LearnsFromMistakes (Yes, I am happy to see you. But that IS a gun in my pocket.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

You know, until people with the victim mentality brought this up, it had never crossed my mind that he was stereotyping. Seriously, people have nothing better to do than find something to bitch and complain about on a daily basis. Why aren’t they complaining when black comedians talk trash about white people? This is what’s wrong with our country and it’s rediculous.


25 posted on 11/05/2009 7:32:54 AM PST by Wee-Weed Up
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

The muzzies must be complaining about his muzzie dummy.


26 posted on 11/05/2009 7:33:28 AM PST by Dewey Revoltnow
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To: manonCANAL

“Wonder if he’s related to Stanley Ann Dunham ??”

Maybe he should get a new puppet. A White skank puppet. Call it his Wayward Sister Ann.


27 posted on 11/05/2009 7:34:15 AM PST by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

These Liberal opinions are getting Out of Control. HE IS A COMEDIAN. I saw today a White Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader is in trouble for dressing as a black rapper for Halloween.


28 posted on 11/05/2009 7:34:33 AM PST by baburc0
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To: SJSAMPLE

>>If you don’t cringe a little, it’s not that funny.<<

In his heyday, every single Chapelle skit was that way. At home, I LMAO — but if I was in the audience I would be scared to death to be near a black person...


29 posted on 11/05/2009 7:36:43 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia; 2ndDivisionVet; A knight without armor; Alexander Rubin; all the best; ...
Read the story, freep the poll! Jeff Dunham is dang funny,

FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his ghost signs up for the list)

30 posted on 11/05/2009 7:36:45 AM PST by dynachrome (I am Jim Thompson!)
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To: LearnsFromMistakes
Send that idea to Jeff. It would be hysterical. Can you imagine the interaction between this new character and Walter? Great way to take the liberal do gooders down a few notches by making a stereotype of them.
31 posted on 11/05/2009 7:36:59 AM PST by Sergio (If a tree fell on a mime in the forest, would he make a sound?)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Daynah Burnett, Idiot.


32 posted on 11/05/2009 7:37:22 AM PST by Psycho_Bunny (ALSO SPRACH ZEROTHUSTRA)
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To: All

Hmmmm, Politically Incorrect humor, wildly successful...hmmmm.
Could it be that Americans are sick and F’ing TIRED of the facist attempt at thought control known as Political Correctness?


33 posted on 11/05/2009 7:38:04 AM PST by Maverick68 (w)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

I have never seen an article like this about a minority comedian who makes jokes about white people etc. It seems nearly every minority comedian has ethnic/racial stereotypes as a component of their act. I don’t mind because I am an adult and I can laugh at myself...or change the channel. Apparently others have yet to grow up.


34 posted on 11/05/2009 7:38:23 AM PST by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: dynachrome

Poll So far:

Jeff Dunham: Love him or hate him?

Love him! I think he’s hilarious 84174 (94.0%)
Hate him! He’s mean-spirited and just not funny 5412 (6.0%)


35 posted on 11/05/2009 7:40:08 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: freedumb2003

I worked for a black guy who used to tell me “black” jokes and Chapelle/Chris Rock type stuff.

I’d look a bit shocked and he’d say “It’s OK, you can laugh...it’s funny!”


36 posted on 11/05/2009 7:40:54 AM PST by RockinRight (Shove it down our throats in 2009, and we'll shove it up your a$$ in 2010.)
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To: pistolpetestoys

Achmed is funnier than heck!

My family was watching one show where he and Walter were taking “questions” from audience-submitted cards, and he veered way into the sexual arena. It was simply to racy for my 10 year old daughter.

Some of his sketches are fine - others are just too much for young ears. (And I do understand that he doesn’t advertise himself as “family fare” in his stage act)


37 posted on 11/05/2009 7:42:41 AM PST by MortMan (Stubbing one's toes is a valid (if painful) way of locating furniture in the dark.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
the skewering doesn't seem intended to bridge racial and cultrual divides.

Excuse me, but WHY DOES IT HAVE TO????


38 posted on 11/05/2009 7:44:25 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Hope....Change...Food Stamps!)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

As Achmed says, “Killing people is easy, being politically correct is a pain in the ass!”


39 posted on 11/05/2009 7:45:01 AM PST by SlowBoat407 (Achtung. preparen zie fur die obamahopenchangen.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

40 posted on 11/05/2009 7:45:41 AM PST by Lucky9teen (America is at that awkward stage..2 late 2 work within the system, but 2 early 2 shoot the bastards)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Is he the voice of Charlie Mc . . . . . Barack Hussein Obama?


41 posted on 11/05/2009 7:46:12 AM PST by RoadTest ( But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do)
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To: SJSAMPLE

Yeh, obviously this guy has never watched South Park. ;)


42 posted on 11/05/2009 7:46:43 AM PST by Lucky9teen (America is at that awkward stage..2 late 2 work within the system, but 2 early 2 shoot the bastards)
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To: MortMan
My kids love Peanut and Jalepeno on a Stick

43 posted on 11/05/2009 7:48:57 AM PST by Lucky9teen (America is at that awkward stage..2 late 2 work within the system, but 2 early 2 shoot the bastards)
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To: reagan_fanatic

They don’t even desire to “bridge racial and cultural divides”.

They simply mean that White Westerners need to bow down to and be cowed by other, less successful, less valuable (yes I said that) cultures.


44 posted on 11/05/2009 7:49:01 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

“he’s just the latest in a long line of comics that includes Andrew Dice Clay, Dane Cook and Russell Brand.”

Those guys? Long line? Wonder if he’s ever heard of Lenny Bruce or Richard Pryor. And don’t even mention Sam Clemens or H.L. Mencken.

All the historical perspective of a goldfish.

“Who’s got it right: the critics, or the fans?”

The critics are libtards. Why even wonder if they could be right?

“the skewering doesn’t seem intended to bridge racial and cultrual divides. In fact, it seems to cement, if not widen, them.”

Oh, yeah, and the things you libtards have done to bridge racial and cultrual (sic) divides” have worked so very well. That’s why white teenagers can walk safely through black neighborhoods, just as they could in my youth.

Oh, wait a minute...

“whom Dunham claims is not offensive to Muslims in the least”

If it’s not offensive to mooselimbs, it’s not worth saying.

“oh, and homophobic, too!”

We conservatives really need to mount a campaign against that bogus concept and word. It is rational and healthy to deplore the symptoms of same-sex attraction disorder, and to acknowledge the harm it causes. There is nothing “phobic” about it.

We really need to speak up every time anyone uses that term—and far too many rather conservative people do. The imposition of that concept was a crime against humanity, and the use of the term is an endorsement of that crime.

“it’s also not entirely clear that satire is the intent in the first place.”

When you’re a libtard, nothing is entirely clear.

“Why not play off those views as a means to spread a little tolerance and understanding?”

We have far more tolerance and understanding than is good for us already. Of course, in the mouth of a libtard those words only mean “strict, rigid, leftist orthodoxy.”

“Maybe we’re ... missing something?”

Well, let’s see...are you a libtard? Yes? Then you are missing everything that matters.

Jeff Dunham: Love him or hate him?
Love him! I think he’s hilarious 82,881 (94.0%)
Hate him! He’s mean-spirited and just not funny 5,315 (6.0%)


45 posted on 11/05/2009 7:49:55 AM PST by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: manonCANAL

LoL LoL can’t be a thread without *it* mentioned.


46 posted on 11/05/2009 7:51:31 AM PST by ~Kim4VRWC's~ (I am Jim Thompson............................Please pray for our troops....)
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To: OB1kNOb

I just love Achmed the dead terrorist & Walter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go


47 posted on 11/05/2009 7:51:31 AM PST by sunny48
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To: MrB

Great tag line. Did you coin that phrase?


48 posted on 11/05/2009 7:52:06 AM PST by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: RockinRight

A black guy I work with sends me all the funny “black people stuff” he can find. Prom photos, hood photos, etc.

www.hotghettomess.com


49 posted on 11/05/2009 7:52:27 AM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

His type of belittling by the PC crowd is why the RoadRunner can’t be found on TV, classic Warner Bros. cartoons are non-existent, stumble-drunk bits like Red Skelton used to do are forbidden, etc. However, if a heterosexual feels queasy about being next to a homosexual, then the laugh tracks come out in force.

And that’s why ALL blacks on comedy shows are well adjusted and successful, but the whites on their shows are stupid, maladjusted, still racists, and unaware of how they’ve hurt the poor blacks.

Comedy used to be comedy . . . now it has to be processed by pinheads.


50 posted on 11/05/2009 7:53:14 AM PST by laweeks
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