by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy There's no point is trying to write an article about George Carlin. In this case, the platitudes just don't work. There is no way to sum up what Carlin meant to a generation being pushed through a human sausage grinder called Viet Nam, a generation that witnessed the US government open fire and murder its own citizens. It's enough to view Carlin and laugh with him at every stupid thing that's been done to us. As Carlin might have put it: it must really piss those mother fuckin' cocksuckers off! Sorry, George, wherever you are. I just couldn't get all seven of them in. There was, after all, only one George Carlin.
Following is a 'video playlist' of several of Carlin's greatest routines as well as the obligatory 'obit'.
I forwarded an email with news about Carlin.
The People's Voice were kind enough to quote me:
"--a 'funny man', to be sure, but much, much more. Carlin was a worldly wise man, a latter day Voltaire who 'cut through the crap' to expose the frauds behind many curtains." - Len Hart
Carlin is already missed! But he will never be forgotten. Whenever anyone in authority does something stupid, mean, or just plain crooked, George had already skewered them. Whenever a prig presumes to authority, George had a list of seven words that still sums them up!
Don't mourn Carlin's passing. Go get a CD of one of his old 'albums'. Put it on and have a laugh at the expense of every stupid jerkoff that makes up the American establishment. Laugh it up! Carlin lives!
9 comments:
" I'll tell you what they don't want - they don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. "
Carlin taught the skill of critical thinking in the most direct way possible - by providing an example. Looking through his YouTube videos there were very few that were not insightful, that did not say something that needed to be said, that was NOT being said by anyone else.
Yes, he will be missed. But his message will live on.
Fuzzflash sez...
We stand in solidarity and tribute to a great man, Len and Sad.
George Carlin was up there with Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce; brilliantly creative and outrageously funny like Lenny, he also had the physical comedy of Pryor, often Chaplinesque. The smarts, the moves and the chops; George Carlin had it all.
A human being with a heart like a whale and a quicksilver soul. How fortunate we are to be able to share his legacy via cyberspace. His life's work was a tour de force of precision anti-bullshit comedy. How sweet it was that he knew of his Mark Twain award before striding out to play the big stand-up joint in the sky. Love ya, George.
Sad and Fuzz...
You guys are why I blog! Now --George would have wanted us to kick those cocksuckers in the balls!
Carlin laid it on the line. He never cheated his audience or took the easy path. He didn't coast or cruise or live off the name he had already made. I am reminded of Voltaire who got the shit beat out of him for daring tell some jealous aristocrats: "I have no name but the name that I have made for myself".
The finest tribute we can pay Carlin is that the entire nation has a belly laugh at the NEOCONS expense!
George Carlin was one of the seminal comic voices of my generation. I met him once, you know - more than thirty years ago. He was promoting his album "On the Road". I had a friend who worked at our local Tower Records – and he got me in for the early meet 'n' greet. I was bowled over by the man - barely able to muster a coherent 'hello'. I was so flustered in fact - I forgot to ask him to sign my album cover. Before he left - he got out some chalk and scrawled the outline of a body on the cement in front of the store (it was the cover of his new album). Tower preserved that until the store was demolished a few years back.
God I'm bummed about this. I grew up listening to Carlin - and Pryor, and Redd Foxx….not to mention Cheech and Chong (I can still recite 'Basketball Jones' in my sleep). They're all gone now – and who’s around to replace them? Comedy has changed. Oh – I like the satirists (Stewart, Colbert) – but it’s not the same. The irreverence is gone – replaced by a world-weary wink. We were more innocent then – more easily shocked and dismayed by work events. We still believed humanity was basically good, you see (or at least I did). Carlin and his fellow troubadours punctured cynicism’s trial balloons – pointing out where and how the ‘you can’t do that’ people were wrong. Nothing pissed Carlin off more than mendacity at its slimiest.
The world is suddenly a sadder place.
Wonder if Carlin will have the time
to show Russert the error of his ways? Unless I miss my guess,
George is gonna be a busy guy on
the other side!
From: Jack D.
Thanks for this article and video. It reminds me of just how radical Carlin really was.
For all the mock outrage over Carlin's routines about naughty language, the thing that REALLY scared the shit out of the ruling class was Carlin's razor-sharp expertise in lifting the veil and showing us who really controls the power in America.
For all the fake outrage over the word "fuck," the Ruling Class doesn't really give a shit about naughty language. What does frighten them is when someone like Carlin comes along and tells The Truth to the masses.
The Fat Lady Sings said...
God I'm bummed about this. I grew up listening to Carlin - and Pryor, and Redd Foxx….not to mention Cheech and Chong (I can still recite 'Basketball Jones' in my sleep). They're all gone now – and who’s around to replace them? Comedy has changed. Oh – I like the satirists (Stewart, Colbert) – but it’s not the same. The irreverence is gone – replaced by a world-weary wink.
As George said: "All Things Must Pass" but only a Tibetan monk might not miss the very air that surround the pantheon you describe. How fortunate to have met Carlin. I met Cheech and Chong once. It was still early in my broadcast career--a TV and AM radio combo in El Paso. I got to clown around with them on the air. I wish I had taped the show.
Anonymous said...
George is gonna be a busy guy on the other side!
Right on!
Marc McDonald said...
For all the mock outrage over Carlin's routines about naughty language, the thing that REALLY scared the shit out of the ruling class was Carlin's razor-sharp expertise in lifting the veil and showing us who really controls the power in America. ...What does frighten them is when someone like Carlin comes along and tells The Truth to the masses.
You are absolutely correct! That's why 'they' will try to take over the internet, somehow put it under the control of the 'establishment'. If that happens, the Cowboy will never the light of day again. If I may borrow a phrase from JFK, we have to smash the 'establishment' into a thousand pieces.
'They' would have you believe that the economic principles by which the rich get richer are somehow akin to the laws of physics. They want us to believe that there is nothing we can do about it. Well --that's all BULLSHIT!
There is something we can do about it. Revolution --and death to a lousy, decadent, venal faux aristocracy that foisted a beast upon us. Fuck Bush and fuck his co-conspirators!
Truth to the masses! Viva La Revolucion!
George Carlin was the best 'sociology/critical-thinking' teacher i've ever had. He used humour to lower your defenses and open your mind, then added penetrating questions (often unstated) to get you to think for yourself.
Socrates would've been envious.
muleboy303, you are absolutely correct. Carlin made us laugh so hard that we barely knew that he had made us wise.
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