I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. -- George Carlin,

The last vote that George Carlin said he cast in a presidential race was for George McGovern in 1972.

When Richard Nixon, who Carlin described as a member of a sub-species of humanity, overwhelmingly defeated McGovern, the comedian gave up on the political process.

"Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians," he explained in a routine that challenged all the premises of today's half-a-loaf reformers. "Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here… like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. Fuck Hope.'"

Needless to say, George Carlin was not on message for 2008's "change we can believe in" election season.

His was a darker and more serious take on the crisis – and the change of consciousness, sweeping in scope and revolutionary in character, that was required to address it.

Carlin may have stopped voting in 1972. But America's most consistently savage social commentator for the best part of a half century, who has died at age 71, did not give up on politics.

In recent years, in front of audiences that were not always liberal, he tore apart the neo-conservative assault on liberty with a clarity rarely evidenced in the popular culture.

Recalling George Bush's ranting about how the endless "war on terror" is a battle for freedom, Carlin echoed James Madison's thinking with a simple question: "Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?"

Carlin gave the Christian right – and the Christian left – no quarter. "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State," Carlin said. "My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death."

Carlin's take on the Ronald Reagan administration is the best antidote to the counterfactual romanticization of the former president – in which even Barack Obama has engaged – remains the single finest assessment of Reagan and his inner circle. While Carlin did not complain much about politicians, he made an exception with regard to the great communicator. Recorded in 1988 at the Park Theater in Union City, New Jersey, and later released as an album -- What Am I Doing in New Jersey? – his savage recollection of the then-concluding Reagan-Bush years opened with the line: "I really haven't seen this many people in one place since they took the group photograph of all the criminals and lawbreakers in the Ronald Reagan administration."

But there was no nostalgia for past fights, no resting on laurels, for this topical comedian. He read the papers, he followed the news, he asked questions – the interviews I did with Carlin over the years were more conversations than traditional Q & A's – and he turned it all into a running commentary that focused not so much on politics as on the ugly intersection of power and economics.

No one, not Obama, not Hillary Clinton and certainly not John McCain, caught the zeitgeist of the vanishing American dream so well as Carlin. "The owners of this country know the truth: It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

Not just aware of but steeped in the traditions of American populism – more William Jennings Bryan and Eugene Victor Debs than Bill Clinton or John Kerry – Carlin preached against the consolidation of wealth and power with a fire-and-brimstone rage that betrayed a deep moral sense that could never quite be cloaked with four-letter words.

"The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they're an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the statehouses, the city halls. They've got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media companies, so that they control just about all of the news and information you hear. They've got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying – lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else," ranted the comedian whose routines were studied in graduate schools.

"But I'll tell you what they don't want," Carlin continued. "They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interests. They don't want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. You know what they want? Obedient workers – people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And, now, they're coming for your Social Security. They want your fucking retirement money. They want it back, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They'll get it. They'll get it all, sooner or later, because they own this fucking place. It's a big club, and you ain't in it. You and I are not in the big club."

Carlin did not want Americans to get involved with the system.

He wanted citizens to get angry enough to remake the system.

Carlin was a leveler of the old, old school. And no one who had so public a platform – as the first host of NBC's Saturday Night Live, a regular on broadcast and cable televisions shows, a best-selling author and a favorite character actor in films (he was even the narrator of the American version of the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) – did more to challenge accepted wisdom regarding our political economy.

"Let's suppose we all just materialized on Earth and there was a bunch of potatoes on the ground, okay? There's just six of us. Only six humans. We come into a clearing and there's potatoes on the ground. Now, my instinct would be, let's everybody get some potatoes. "Everybody got a potato? Joey didn't get a potato! He's small, he can't hold as many potatoes. Give Joey some of your potatoes." "No, these are my potatoes!" That's the Republicans. "I collected more of them, I got a bigger pile of potatoes, they're mine. If you want some of them, you're going to have to give me something." "But look at Joey, he's only got a couple, they won't last two days." That's the fuckin' difference! And I'm more inclined to want to share and even out," he explained in an interview several years ago with The Onion.

"I understand the marketplace, but government is supposed to be here to redress the inequities of the marketplace," Carlin continued. "That's one of its functions. Not just to protect the nation, secure our security and all that shit. And not just to take care of great problems that are trans-state problems, that are national, but also to make sure that the inequalities of the marketplace are redressed by the acts of government. That's what welfare was about. There are people who really just don't have the tools, for whatever reason. Yes, there are lazy people. Yes, there are slackers. Yes, there's all of that. But there are also people who can't cut it, for any given reason, whether it's racism, or an educational opportunity, or poverty, or a fuckin' horrible home life, or a history of a horrible family life going back three generations, or whatever it is. They're crippled and they can't make it, and they deserve to rest at the commonweal. That's where my fuckin' passion lies."

Like the radicals of the early years of the 20th century, whose politics he knew and respected, Carlin understood that free-speech fights had to come first. And always pushed the limit – happily choosing an offensive word when a more polite one might have sufficed. By 1972, the year he won the first of four Grammys for best comedy album, he had developed his most famous routine: "Seven Words (You Can't Say on Television)."

That summer, at a huge outdoor show in Milwaukee, he uttered all seven of them in public – and was promptly arrested for disturbing the peace.

When a version of the routine was aired in 1973 on WBAI, the Pacifica Foundation radio station in New York,. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC. Pacifica was ordered to pay a fine for violating federal regulations prohibiting the broadcast of "obscene" language. The ensuing free-speech fight made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 against the First Amendment to the Constitution, Pacifica and Carlin.

Amusingly, especially to the comedian, a full transcript of the routine ended up in court documents associated with the case, F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).

"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," recalled Carlin. Proud enough that you can find the court records on the comedian's website: www.georgecarlin.com

There will, of course, be those who dismiss Carlin as a remnant of the sixties who introduced obscenity to the public discourse – just as there will be those who misread his critique of the American political and economic systems as little more than verbal nihilism. In fact, George Carlin was, like the radicals of an earlier age, an idealist – and a patriot --of a deeper sort than is encountered very often these days.

Carlin explained himself best in one of his last interviews. "There is a certain amount of righteous indignation I hold for this culture, because to get back to the real root of it, to get broader about it, my opinion that is my species--and my culture in America specifically--have let me down and betrayed me. I think this species had great, great promise, with this great upper brain that we have, and I think we squandered it on God and Mammon. And I think this culture of ours has such promise, with the promise of real, true freedom, and then everyone has been shackled by ownership and possessions and acquisition and status and power," he said. "And perhaps it's just a human weakness and an inevitable human story that these things happen. But there's disillusionment and some discontent in me about it. I don't consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist. But I understand the word 'cynic' has more than one meaning, and I see how I could be seen as cynical. 'George, you're cynical.' Well, you know, they say if you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist. And perhaps the flame still flickers a little, you know?"

Comments (82)

1. 'Don't be a baby, be a man! Sell out!' -- Lenny Bruce

   Posted by HonestLiberal at 06/23/2008 @ 10:43am

2. Great line from Carlin...and who here at TN Blog does THIS remind you of???

   "Thou shalt not kill. Murder. The fifth commandment. But if you think about it...if you think about it, religion has never really had a problem with murder. Not really. No, more people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason.

   All you have to do...all you have to do is look at slavery, the Middle East, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and the World Trade Center, and you'll see how seriously the religious folks take "Thou Shalt Not Kill." The more devout they are...the more devout they are, the more they see murder as negotiable...it's negotiable. It depends, you know? It depends, it depends on who's doing the killing, and who's getting killed."

   "Why We Don't Need 10 Commandments", Complaints and Grievances (2001)

   Posted by Mask at 06/23/2008 @ 10:50am

3. Love the "American dream" line .... his unmuffeled honesty will be missed

   Posted by leftofcenter at 06/23/2008 @ 11:02am

4. Thank you very much John, for a wonderful rundown of some of Carlin's best material and his take-downs of the facist state this country is turning into...

   You must have stayed up all night to put this baby together!

   Carlin was a true patriot, and he will be missed.

   Posted by wagonjak at 06/23/2008 @ 11:37am

5. I've always heard 'the good die young' (Hicks, Bruce, etc.)

   Carlin, once again, was an amazing exception.

   Thanks for your dedication and your insight.

   Posted by acronym at 06/23/2008 @ 11:43am

6. His unabashed humor and ability to cut to the heart of the issue will be sorely missed. We need more people like this in our society who can point out the truth of the matter no matter how taboo it is the utter it.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/23/2008 @ 11:48am

7. I wonder if George has met God.

   Posted by frankgrits at 06/23/2008 @ 12:01pm

8. oh George, we'll miss you... but I suspect you're grateful you don't have to see the colossal, self-absorbed screw-ups we're making of ourselves & our collective Futures...

   George Carlin on the corporatism, consumption & the Ownership Class:

   http://thiscanadian.typepad.com/this_canadian/2008/06/the-american-dr. html

   "money you don't have, on things you don't need". "the owners of this country don't want that, the Real Owners... forget the politicians... you have no choice... they *own* everything... they spend billions of dollars every year to get what they want. & we know what they want... ... what they don't want: a population of citizens capable of thinking... well informed people capable of critical thinking... ...they want *obedient workers*... "

   There is no 'we' in corruption. http://thiscanadian.typepad.com/this_canadian/2008/03/there-is-no-we. html

   Posted by ThisCanadian at 06/23/2008 @ 1:05pm

9. frankgrits - My guess is no, since he was an atheist.

   Posted by ksryanc at 06/23/2008 @ 1:12pm

10. Another tribute to Carlin: http://www.236.com/blog/w/jamie_kilstein/crossing_the_line_7285.php He will be missed.

    Posted by the53rdcalypso at 06/23/2008 @ 1:20pm

11. -- George is not in Heaven. He is dead, just dead. He knew better than to believe pure nonsense.

    As he has said...

    "Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! But He loves you."

    -- George Carlin Politically Incorrect, May 29, 1997

    Posted by yoyo at 06/23/2008 @ 1:38pm

12. The man was a genius and will be sorely missed.there aren't many others out there like him willing to tell it straight whether you liked it or not.As for him not voting,hurrah! Voting is Bullshit.John McCain and Barack Obama are two sides of the same coin.They both get there money from the same people.Even Ralph Nader could tell you that.Just listening to Barack praise Reagan makes me realise thar carlin was right not to vote.George Carlin RIP

    Posted by JayheadJ420 at 06/23/2008 @ 1:51pm

13. Carlin was absolutely correct about God, but I like to think that if there is a celestial reward (and I don't believe there is for one instant) it would be biased toward fearlessly honest people like George Carlin, and there are not that many.

    RIP George - and thanks for trying. SFL

    Posted by maturin42 at 06/23/2008 @ 2:07pm

14. yes, "He loves you, and he NEEDS MONEY!"

    we love you, George.

    Posted by sdoire at 06/23/2008 @ 2:20pm

15. John Nichols: Thank you so much for this wonderful article. An obit George Carlin himself would have approved of. And thank you for reminding me of his brilliance, courage and honesty. Carlin and Pryor, gifts to America. From America. The best we have had to offer, both gone too soon. The Irreplaceables: George Carlin and Richard Pryor. Both would agree about the other.

    May D

    Posted by Gatsby at 06/23/2008 @ 2:23pm

16. Posted by ksryanc at 06/23/2008

    Uh, duh. I was being sarcastic. I know all of Carlin's routines quite well. I was a fan.

    Posted by frankgrits at 06/23/2008 @ 2:25pm

17. Shit. Does this mean the ball is in our hands now?

    What do we do? What do we do?

    Posted by lambjams at 06/23/2008 @ 2:31pm

18. Posted by frankgrits at 06/23/2008

    What Would Carlin Say....about McCain?

    Posted by Mask at 06/23/2008 @ 2:35pm

19. I did George's printing for several years, and I have to say is there was never a nicer guy in the world. He was unlike any other "celebrity" I have ever known -- the first time I addressed him as Mr. Carlin, he bristled and said he's "just George." The loss of his wife Brenda after 36 years of marriage hit him hard, but he kept on keeping on. He loved his daughter Kelly more than life, and we were all delighted when he found love again.

    Knowing I was trying to start a career as a freelance writer, George agreed to my many interview requests, and I will treasure those memories until I die...good thing I taped them because he always had me laughing so hard it would have been impossible to write notes.

    A kind and gentle spirit with rapier wit has departed the earth plane...I, for one, will greatly miss him.

    My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Sally Wade (no relation), daughter Kelly, manager Jerry Hamza, and everybody at Carlin Productions.

    Donna J. Wade

    Posted by DonnaWade at 06/23/2008 @ 2:44pm

20. Well said. George Carlin has been a part of my life and that of the nation for many years and will be greatly missed for his insightful and controversial commentary'

    Posted by Leedy at 06/23/2008 @ 2:49pm

21. Why is the fact that Obama praised something about Reagan reason to vote against him? Is it truly that absurd to think that politicians of opposite political persuasions could find things of value in those they disagree with? If it is, that is a sad statement about our political discourse...

    Posted by Thrawn at 06/23/2008 @ 3:03pm

22. I took my dad, a devout Catholic, to see George about twelve years ago in a small club, warming up for an HBO special. He talked with folks a while before the show, and he was a really nice guy. The show was great, and included him telling a heckler to take his dick out of his ass and shove it back in his mouth where it belonged. This was one of the less "dirty" things he said. My dad loved it.

    Posted by onthehelm at 06/23/2008 @ 3:22pm

23. frankgrits - My guess, too, is no. GC was a flame-flickering idealist.

    Posted by 13919811415 at 06/23/2008 @ 3:40pm

24. It's relatively easy to see what's wrong with the system and criticize it, although few can do it with the wit and insight and humor of Carlin. But missing from this entire article, and I assume from Carlin's oeuvre, is any vision for a better future. The potato story is fine as far as it goes, but it goes nowhere, just like Carlin's political abstentionism.

    Criticism is not enough!

    Posted by stevenpatt at 06/23/2008 @ 3:54pm

25. Dear John, I don't know if George Carlin and Ralph Nader ever met but they should have.

    Posted by dick marshall at 06/23/2008 @ 4:09pm

26. raspy relentless ranting ol' rascal

    pal

    Posted by winyahn at 06/23/2008 @ 4:15pm

27. wow--what a great piece, John. Kudos to you. Goodnight, George. you've given me countless hours of side splitting and thought provoking humour which will always be inspirational and unforgettable.

    Posted by waynegnyc at 06/23/2008 @ 4:22pm

28. Bruce, Pryor, and Carlin. We won't see their like again, ever.

    Posted by gb at 06/23/2008 @ 4:43pm

29. George is dead. I am getting scared. When Gore and Noam are gone I'll really be on my own. Carlin was an inverted evangelist, preaching his own brand of hellfire. I was glad to catch his act at Township Theater in Columbia, South Carolina, in the fall of last year. George honed his pieces and I always wondered how he dealt with hecklers and commentators that could not be ignored and at that show I was glad to find out. "Hey, buddy," he said to one enthusiast, "that's MY name on the fuckin' ticket." I bought his book Brain Droppings and went to a Cambridge, MA, bookstore to have him sign it. I loathe book signings and treating authors as personalities, but I was glad to make an exception in this case. Someone above called Carlin a "nice guy." That was my impression, too.

    Posted by Dan Lackey at 06/23/2008 @ 4:47pm

30. We're all going to miss George dearly. Let's all do our part and remake our country into something that will keep Mr. Carlin from rolling around too much in his grave. You were the best, George! Please say hi to god for me.

    Posted by jmayne at 06/23/2008 @ 4:57pm

31. Stevenpatt: I don't think you've been paying attention.

    I strongly believe in voting, but do you really think Carlin would've accomplished more by voting than by doing the work he did?

    So nobody is going to enlighten me about "KVH"?

    Posted by rriley at 06/23/2008 @ 4:57pm

32. So nobody is going to enlighten me about "KVH"?

    Posted by rriley at 06/23/2008

    KVH = Kristina Vanden Heuvel. She is a writer and the editor for the Nation. As well as doing TV spots and what not.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/23/2008 @ 5:04pm

33. GB:"Bruce, Pryor, and Carlin. We won't see their like again, ever."

    Respectfully, GB, that kind of schmaltzy remark would have prompted a **** you from Carlin.

    Why is it so hard even for people who like Carlin to get Carlin? He hated Man as a whole, but loved the strength and character of individual people. He was abidingly irreverent for a reason, because to be any other way in this society was to be a dupe, a fool, a tool, a cog in a process his every routine gave the middle finger to. He is EASY to understand, if you are intellectually honest, and if you're not, trying to explain Carlin to you is like trying to teach a cat to fetch.

    Posted by realgonecat at 06/23/2008 @ 5:14pm

34. Liberty1: "It is unfortunately likely that he remained still angry against G-d to the end and now has found out how real G-d is as well as hell. I hope I'm wrong and he had a change of heart before he died."

    You are wrong, liberty1, and not just about Carlin, but about EVERYTHING. You're the one who needs to change your heart before death. But good luck with that. LOL

    Posted by realgonecat at 06/23/2008 @ 5:19pm

35. HE MADE MORE SENSE THAN ANY POLITICIAN. ANY.

    Posted by carlosbas at 06/23/2008 @ 5:28pm

36. Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/23/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    You know, Larry, leave it to you. You seem to find value only in those who share your opinions about things of which you know absolutely nothing. You may believe this or that, but the fundamental reality is that you know nothing of what lies out there, and pretty much nothing of what lies in here. The hell reference? Your idea that you somehow know the mind of God is hubristic beyond measure. You continue to insist, for all intents and purposes, that you - yes, you, Larry - be worshipped. You can dress it up in whatever rituals you' d like, and call it whatever you choose to call it, but it's still the same old demand that you be worshipped. The bottom line is simply that GC was far better in tune with Jesus of Nazareth by virtue of his words and deeds than the modern-day Pharisees, the "whitened sepulchres", of which you remain a constant example.

    Posted by jmusolino at 06/23/2008 @ 5:28pm

37. Liberty1: "Another tragic ending to a gifted life wasted on

    anger towards G-d and life in general."

    There was nothing "tragic" about his ending. He was 71 years old and died of heart failure. That's a long life. I wish he could have lived to be 101, but it was his time. An eight year old I know just died of leukemia--that was tragic.

    And how was his life "wasted?" He will only go down as one of the most influential comedic minds and social critics of any century, and will be remembered long after the like of Tim Russert, whose death was plastered all over the airwaves for a week. I liked Russert, but Carlin was one GIANT of a cultural icon. Thanks for posting on this site, liberty1, you are the poster child for everything Carlin railed against. The commentary would not have been complete without your presence.

    Posted by realgonecat at 06/23/2008 @ 5:29pm

38. I first heard GC in 1970. He was tremendously funny and absolutely relevant then. And he kept getting better. I will miss him tremendously - his presence here certainly helped make this world a far better place than it would have been without him.

    Posted by jmusolino at 06/23/2008 @ 5:32pm

39. Carlin was not angry at God. He was angry at the fools who wasted their time trying to make him and everybody else fear the freaking invention. Carlin needs no defense. It's us who needed him as an anthidote to so much stupidity and hypocrisy, I wish I could use his language! George, I will miss you dearly.

    Posted by carlosbas at 06/23/2008 @ 5:40pm

40. I had the unique experience on 6 different occassions to see George Carlin live the first being in 1972 before he was a household word.....I even had a brief encounter with him in 1984 after seeing him live .....a l-o-n-g story but we ended up having coffee and donuts and a waitress together(he knows what O'm refering to don't you George?!I will see you when I get there keep a seat warm for me and the beer cold I rememeber your favorite brand....and we will NOT be sponsoring any golf touraments om your name so don't worry there will be the George Carlin Open...sleep well my friend

    Posted by PTBarnum at 06/23/2008 @ 5:44pm

41. This is a great article--shared it all over Facebook. Carlin's insights and humor will be sorely missed.

    Posted by MetalPhil at 06/23/2008 @ 6:46pm

42. Have some respect for the dead, dammit! Don't mention KVH.

    P.S. Yeah, Nichols is basically the only legible writer in this shallow bowl of tepid liberal broth.

    Posted by chinpoko at 06/23/2008 @ 7:49pm

43. Thank you for this excellent article. I saw George on three occasions and will cherish the memory always. I have the same heartfelt sadness as most who have posted above and all that I can add is that George Carlin is not dead if I don't want him to be!

    Posted by Harry G. at 06/23/2008 @ 8:36pm

44. Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/23/2008

    What's funny is, it was and is guys like LVLIBERTY, not "anger at God", that convinced Carlin of the fact that "Religion is Bulls**t".

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

    Posted by Mask at 06/24/2008 @ 12:27am

45. George Carlin was my hero and I loved him. When I was 14 I had a set of best of George Carlin CD's that inspired me to keep thinking and speaking the truth as I knew it. At an age when I felt alone and unacceptable, his courage to deconstruct the taboos that intimidate us all into conformity and compliance reassured me. I wasn't the only kid who could see when the emperor was naked. Being unacceptable was ok. In the back of my mind, after all these years, that re-assurance is still with me, like a wink and a nod from a face in the crowd saying, go on, pick up that mike and speak.

    As the country became more deeply hypnotized by the propaganda of consumer advertising and right-wing ideology became more entrenched, I felt safer knowing you were out there; a candle in the dark. And I really worried about you two years ago when you released "Life isn't worth Living". Sure, we all shared your utter frustration, but I could tell it was wearing you down. You alone could not continue the burden of exercising free speech and free thought for an entire society and generation of youth who would not participate. And now you are at rest. You've earned it.

    Thank you George Carlin for the strength that you gave me, and for having the courage to go first. The wake of greatness that follows you will be forever filled with jesters, wanderers, tricksters and fools who won't be afraid to express themselves. Truth will have its final stand, yet.

    Posted by Setsuna777 at 06/24/2008 @ 01:53am

46. Thank you, John, for a very interesting take on George Carlin. You have a lot of stuff not found elsewhere. For anyone interested, there are quite a few good clips of George on youtube, includng the great "Modern Man" and "Relgion is Bull...."

    Posted by lsewell at 06/24/2008 @ 02:17am

47. Thank you, John. What a loss, the death of Carlin. Who else can tell the truth in the same manner that he could? The answer, I'm afraid, is no one. Perhaps the new visibility of some of his very best commentaries, triggered by his death, will raise up a new cluster of "comedians" to tell truth to power.

    Entropy. Bring it on.

    Rest easy, George. Keep laughing.

    Bill Ardis

    Posted by BillArdis at 06/24/2008 @ 03:15am

48. The fact that you all have so much near worship of this guy who spent his life hating speaks volumes about the moral vacuum that if the left in this country.

    Watching Democracy Now this morning feature some clips of Carlin's past performances only re-affirmed how much vitriol the guy had towards anyone who he did not agree with. In fact that pretty much made him a poster child for the left and their hatred of all who do not share their ideology.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 12:35pm

49. Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008

    Bitter, boring, predictable, negative... Good morning LV!

    Can't you use your brain and training and knowledge with just a bit more pizazz? Let down your hair. Mix it up a little. You don't have to be the moron Carlin describes. None of us do. That's, uh, the point.

    Posted by winyahn at 06/24/2008 @ 12:44pm

50. lvliberty-Carlin did not spend his life hating,but you already knew that.You don't decide his afterlife,but you already knew that,too.Do you write this nonsense in order to get a reaction?

    Posted by i'm nobody at 06/24/2008 @ 12:55pm

51. In fact that pretty much made him a poster child for the left and their hatred of all who do not share their ideology.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008

    HAHAHAHA. Says the person who essentially said that every one of the anti-war left are traitors and would have been shot in the good old days. Genius. I couldn't even make this kind of hypocrisy like this.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/24/2008 @ 12:56pm

52. Uh, lvlarry, you do know that carlin's vitriol was part of his act don't you? I suppose in your shrivelled little brain every actor who plays a killer has murdered. Carlin had plenty of righteous indignation, and was goddamn funny and creative in the way he expressed it. By all accounts, he was a loving husband and father, and a genuinely decent human being. You, on the other hand, are a sad little misanthropic twit hiding behind your antiquated books while doing the very things jesus purportedly found most detestable. You are living proof of our need for a man such as carlin, and his great relevance. Keep making cluster bombs for god you swine. "Even jesus would never forgive what you do" Dylan- masters of war

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 1:18pm

53. Keep making cluster bombs for god you swine. "Even jesus would never forgive what you do" Dylan- masters of war

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008

    I quit making cluster bombs 19 years ago.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 1:35pm

54. "I quit making cluster bombs 19 years ago." lvlarry

    Yet you show no remorse for your barbarism. I hope that your dreams are haunted by images of limbless children, lifeless infants, and the grim visages of your myriad other victims. You are absolutely the worst example of humanity I have ever encountered. Your attempt to cloak your murderous vocation under the veil of self righteous jingoism is to no avail. We all "see through your mask"- you profited from building cluster bombs- you are a murderer, a coward, and a reprobate of the highest order.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 1:56pm

55. "And may I add: Carlin is proof that one need not believe in God's existence in order to do God's work."

    Posted by rriley at 06/23/2008

    Well put. Ok I read that and felt a "Amen!" coming on. And I'm not even religious. :) Rest in Paradise Carlin....

    Posted by sayiTainTs0 at 06/24/2008 @ 2:11pm

56. Good article. George Carlin is quickly becoming one of my favorite comedians. His insights are profound and his humor is razor-sharp. Joe bless you George.

    Posted by jh6655321 at 06/24/2008 @ 2:22pm

57. He was a great comedian and poet. However, he had the philosophical insight of an arrested adolescent shared by the whining branch of the left. His politics, like his drug addictions, reflected his projected self-hatred and the black and white thinking of an 11 year old. He just took a little longer than Abby Hoffman and Lenny Bruce to kill himself.

    Posted by schaferatsprynet at 06/24/2008 @ 2:29pm

58. "...this guy who spent his life hating ....

    ...re-affirmed how much vitriol the guy had towards anyone who he did not agree with...."----Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008

    And Larry would never EVER realize his hypocrisy in that statement, would he?

    Given the hatred, vitriol and name-calling he reserves for those who do not agree with HIM!

    Posted by Mask at 06/24/2008 @ 2:38pm

59. You are absolutely the worst example of humanity I have ever encountered. Your attempt to cloak your murderous vocation under the veil of self righteous jingoism is to no avail. We all "see through your mask"- you profited from building cluster bombs- you are a murderer, a coward, and a reprobate of the highest order.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008

    You are a joke. You know nothing about me. You haven't been with me over the past 3 decades, providing food, clothing, medical supplies, job training, and building schools in the US and 3rd world countries. Were you there in South Africa with me, sleeping on mountainsides or on the dung floor of huts while trying to help farmers and villagers who lack any modern conveniences? How about when carrying rice, books, and nutritional supplies in remote villages in the Philippines? I don't remember seeing you there either. Maybe you were with me twice a week in South Central Los Angeles, bringing boxes of food to the homeless and the extreme poor, black, hispanic and white. Or when my wife and I crossed over the mountains when the Northridge earthguake knocked out the freeway and we were taking food, water, and medical supplies to South Central. No, I don't recall seeing you at any of these.

    Like most leftists, you rely upon your own ignorance and prejudice rather than any objective knowledge.

    And as to "profited" from making cluster bombs. I was an employee not an owner.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 3:00pm

60. There were two truly great things about George Carlin: his talent, and his courage. Nobody doubts his talent, talent to make you laugh but also talent to see THROUGH THE BULLSHIT and the veils and disguises and centuries old lies and the stupidities that have come to be accepted as truth in this imperfect world. But in addition to talent, he had the courage to say the things he felt no matter who woudn't like it. He didn't owe allegiance except to himself, this man's mind was free, and the couple of clowns posting stupidities here only prove how much he will be missed.

    Posted by carlosbas at 06/24/2008 @ 3:01pm

61. "And as to "profited" from making cluster bombs. I was an employee not an owner." rev. larry love

    So you made the cluster bombs for free? But perhaps i was wrong about you not having a conscience- all of your proselytizing humanitarian work probably has its roots in a subconcious remorse for your atrocities. As for being a joke, on a thread about carlin, i will take that as a complement, but before you start calling me a joke, realize that all modernity laughs at your assinine beliefs.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 3:41pm

62. There were two truly great things about George Carlin: his talent, and his courage.

    Posted by carlosbas at 06/24/2008

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious or to spew out profanities. Teenagers do it every day. Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 3:42pm

63. here's a joke for the resident clown, Rev. larry love

    When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

    But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!

    But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in His own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is fucked up.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 3:49pm

64. or how about this one:

    Here's another question I've been pondering- What is all this shit about Angels? Have you heard this? 3 out of 4 people belive in Angels. Are you FUCKING STUPID? Has everybody lost their mind? You know what I think it is? I think it's a massive, collective, psychotic chemical flashback for all the drugs smoked, swallowed, shot, and absorbed rectally by all Americans from 1960 to 1990. 30 years of street drugs will get you some fucking Angels my friend! What about Goblins, huh? Doesn't anybody belive in Goblins? You never hear about this.. Except on Halloween and then it's all negative shit. And what about Zombies? You never hear from Zombies! That's the trouble with Zombies, they're unreliable! I say if you're going to go for the Angel bullshit you might as well go for the Zombie package as well.. GC

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 3:55pm

65. Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 |

    I take back my comment that you are a joke. I just feel very sad for someone possessing the kind of mind and emotions that can produce your last two posts.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 4:03pm

66. I feel very sad for someone who can so blindly believe in absurdities while calling others clowns.

    "I find it discouraging and a bit depressing when I notice the unequal treatment afforded by the media to UFO believers on the one hand, and on the other, to those who believe in an invisible supreme being who inhabits the sky. Especially as the latter belief applies to the whole Jesus-Messiah-

    Son-of-God fable.

    You may have noticed that, in the media, UFO believers are usually referred to as buffs, a term used to diminish and marginalize them by relegating them to the ranks of hobbyists and mere enthusiasts. They are made to seem like kooks and quaint dingbats who have the nerve to believe that, in an observable universe of trillions upon trillions of stars, and most likely many hundreds of billions of potentially inhabitable planets, some of those planets may have produced life-forms capable of doing things that we can't do.

    On the other hand those who believe in an eternal, all-powerful being, a being who demands to be loved and adored unconditionally and who punishes and rewards according to his whims are thought to be worthy, upright, credible people. This, in spite of the large numbers of believers who are clearly close-minded fanatics.

    To my way of thinking, there is every bit as much evidence for the existence of UFOs as there is for the existence of God. Probably far more. At least in the case of UFOs there have been countless taped and filmed and, by the way, unexplained sightings from all over the world, along with documented radar evidence seen by experienced military and civilian radar operators.

    This does not even begin to include the widespread testimony of not only highly trained, experienced military and civilian pilots who are selected for their jobs, in part, for their above-average eyesight and mental stability, but also of equally well-trained, experienced law-enforcement officers. Such pilots and law- enforcement people are known to be serious, sober individuals who would have quite a bit to lose were they to be associated with anything resembling kooky, outlandish beliefs. Nonetheless, they have taken the risk of revealing their experiences because they are convinced they have seen something objectively real that they consider important. All of these accounts are ignored by the media.

    Granted, the world of UFO-belief has its share of kooks, nuts and fringe people, but have you ever listened to some of these religious true-believers? Have you ever heard of any extreme, bizarre behavior and outlandish claims associated with religious zealots? Could any of them be considered kooks, nuts or dingbats? A fair person would have to say yes.

    But the marginal people in these two groups don't matter in this argument. What matters is the prejudice and superstition built into the media coverage of the two sets of beliefs. One is treated reverently and accepted as received truth, the other is treated laughingly and dismissed out of hand.

    As evidence of the above premise, I offer one version of a typical television news story heard each year on the final Friday of Lent:

    "Today is Good Friday, observed by Christians worldwide as a day that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose death redeemed the sins of mankind."

    Here is the way it should be written:

    "Today is Good Friday, observed worldwide by Jesus buffs as the day on which the popular, bearded cultural figure, sometimes referred to as The Messiah, was allegedly crucified and according to legend died for mankind's so-called sins. Today kicks off a `holy' weekend that culminates on Easter Sunday, when, it is widely believed, this dead 'savior' who also, by the way, claimed to be the son of a sky- dwelling, invisible being known as God mysteriously `rose from the dead.'

    "According to the legend, by volunteering to be killed and actually going through with it, Jesus saved every person who has ever lived and every person who ever will live from an eternity of suffering in a fiery region popularly known as hell, providing so the story goes that the person to be 'saved' firmly believes this rather fanciful tale."

    That would be an example of unbiased news reporting. Don't wait around for it to happen. The aliens will land first." GC

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 4:06pm

67. Hmm I guess that whole respect for the dead thing goes out the window when LVL feels a person is a sinner?I guess he feels the same for Carlin that I did when Reagan died.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/24/2008 @ 5:24pm

68. Hmm I guess that whole respect for the dead thing goes out the window when LVL feels a person is a sinner?I guess he feels the same for Carlin that I did when Reagan died.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/24/2008

    There was no lack of respect. Certainly my use of the word tragic about his life conveys a level of respect.

    Your Reagan question prompts me to thus ask. You had sadness that you thought Reagan died without knowing and accepting Christ?

    If so, your sadness was without cause. Reagan as has been amply testified to, even by his liberal son Ron Jr, loved G-d very much.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 6:03pm

69. "Your Reagan question prompts me to thus ask. You had sadness that you thought Reagan died without knowing and accepting Christ?"

    No I didn't respect Reagan in life so I felt no need to say respectful words in death.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 06/24/2008 @ 6:14pm

70. nobody here cares about your jesus bullshit rev. reagan was a cowardly war criminal just like you- no wonder you admire him so much.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 6:31pm

71. i love g-d too. such a versatile profanity, and it comes with the added bonus of pissing off you goddamn religious nutters.

    Posted by entropy at 06/24/2008 @ 6:33pm

72. LVLIB....did George Carlin ever call for the "Dresdenization" of a city to win a war?

    Or the selective nuking of a country to win a war that was settled with an armistice?

    So...how is what he said "hateful" and what YOU've said not?

    Posted by Mask at 06/24/2008 @ 7:26pm

73. Carlin was a kool-aid drinking, America-hating moron. Good riddance.

    Posted by pontificus at 06/24/2008 @ 9:55pm

74. I lost one of my last filters. First Lenny Bruce, then Bill Hicks, Richarrd Pryor now George. Somebody better be coming up to form the truth so people will understand. We need people to take all the BS and get it out in a form that the ones coming up after us handle. Twisk

    Posted by Twisk at 06/24/2008 @ 10:07pm

75. lvliberty - everyone knows you're really a Commie in Conservative clothing - come out of the closet! Please stop torturing yourself. The emotional turmoil must be enough to make your bowels move at the thought of looking in the mirror. Live your life to the fullest. Communism is legal! Put on your Red dress! Leap from the closet and bound forth with unbridled joy! "I'm lvliberty and I'm a Communist!" Say it loud and say it proud!

    Posted by guanabana at 06/24/2008 @ 10:10pm

76. Carlin was funny for about 5 minutes.

    The fact that you all have so much near worship of this guy who spent his life hating speaks volumes about the moral vacuum that if the left in this country.

    I quit making cluster bombs 19 years ago.

    You are a joke.

    Like most leftists, you rely upon your own ignorance and prejudice rather than any objective knowledge.

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious or to spew out profanities. Teenagers do it every day. Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    It doesn't take any courage to be obnoxious Those that never mature, do it for the rest of their lives.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 06/24/2008 @ 3:42pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Posted by Lillian at 06/25/2008 @ 12:15am

77. George was "the man" even though he raved against "the Man"... oh, our wonderful language. "Twisk"... find some way to do it yourself! I'm a high school teacher, and have Carlin's "Brain Droppings" on the shelf in my school room. We all have to take the "message" and find ways to pass it on: If you're tired of being screwed, do something about it! Personally, I hold Carlin in the highest regard. A master of language, psychology, sociology, and political science, and pretty damn funny to boot! People are afraid of what George was talking about... it's too true. Money does rule the world. What are WE going to do about it?

    Posted by Bhartra at 06/25/2008 @ 01:40am

78. LET'S GO LOOK AT THE BODY!!!

    Posted by RoboPanda at 06/25/2008 @ 03:55am

79. LET'S GO LOOK AT THE BODY!!!

    Posted by RoboPanda at 06/25/2008 @ 03:55am

80. I changed my mind. Let's just look at it once.

    Posted by RoboPanda at 06/25/2008 @ 03:57am

81. George Carlin was undoubtedly one of the best comedians of our century and his comic spirit will surely live on forever...

    We miss you George!

    I actually came across a really cool website doing a tribute on George--- you can listen to ten of his funniest comedy bits for free if you go to Lexy.com and click on the George Carlin tribute link. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    Posted by jeanbeesmith at 06/25/2008 @ 1:20pm

82. The commentors who seem not to like Carlin and who mention our "vacuum of morality" seem to need morality to mean something different than Carlin did (and yes, Carlin did have a rational morality that I don't expect them to understand).

    The Carlin-hater's morality seems to consist of the following (mostly by lip service, not by deed): 1. Smile sweetly. 2. Be polite. 3. Never use naughty words. 4. Respect the beliefs of others, particularly if those beliefs are from a tradition that doesn't respect ANYTHING else but its own dogma.

    My comment on this kind of morality? Fuck that shit!

    Posted by Gnomon at 06/25/2008 @ 6:38pm