John Nichols, The Nation, June 23, 2008
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.
3 responses so far ↓
rikkitikkitavi // June 27, 2008 at 8:58 pm |
Rush Limbaugh was actually touting this quote today and saying Carlin sounded just like him!
–RikkiTikki
Mike // July 4, 2008 at 3:14 pm |
Rush thinks he sounds like George? I think even Marlee Matlin could tell the difference! He must still be sneaking those meds.
George was not simply a comedian. His take on comedy far exceeded that of the average comedian. While many artists find humor in subjects such as relationships and other mundane things in life, George proved that he could take even the most disgusting subject matter and expand upon it to the point of having us say that not only was it funny, but we’d also say, “You know what? He’s right” He said some things sometimes that seemed to the casual observer to be quite out there, but he always explained his reasoning behind his biases, and crafted his routines with these. From the moment he took to the stage, until the moment that the curtain fell, Carlin had his audience’s full attention. It takes quite an extraordinary personality to keep everybodys attention. Nobody wanted to miss a word he said, and now that his voice has been silenced forever, the world is a much sadder place to be. Nobody could possibly know what somebody might say after they die, but if George had one last thing to say, I think he would say the following. After all, one of his beliefs was the non belief in religion, and their teachings.
“What are you people, @#$% crazy? All these tributes to me…..After I’m Dead…..Where the @#$% were you people when I was alive? I knew I was on to something when I said, ‘Some people are really @#$% stupid!’ You do know that if I was right about religion, then I don’t know @#$% about the way you felt about me now, right? Y’all should’ve told me sooner. Anyways, you’re all on your own now. You gotta do your own thinking, and cut through the bull@#$% for yourselves now. I’ve gotta go see Richard Pryor now. I know I didn’t believe in the after life, but neither did Richard. Don’t let anybody bull@#$% you. Carlin out!”
I’m sorry if the piece above upsets anybody. It was written with respect. George was not just a comedian, he was one of the most talented linguists known to mankind who just happened to be one of the funniest people on the talent.
rikkitikkitavi // July 4, 2008 at 7:46 pm |
I would have loved to call up Rush and ask him if he also agrees with George when he talked about “cocksucker businessmen” as he often did.
Great post.
–RikkiTikki