Yet another one nailed by Mr. Bozell

Carlin may have been an entertaining comedian but the filth and garbage that came out of his mouth at times would have curled wallpaper off the wall. 

The man also demonstated an atheistic/agnostic bent for the lack for God in his life by once claiming there was "more evidence for UFOs than for the existence of God." Makes me wonder what he's saying now?

The MSM has lauded him as one of hollywood's greatest entertainers but, in truth, Carlin was a sad case study in futility.

"Everything you know is wrong!" - Firesign Theatre

"Everybody is going to save something now. Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails. And the greatest arrogance of all, save the planet". - Carlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljNDbKpusT0

This link is to video of Carlin on Global Warming.

Carlin had a crusty old LOST heart. Sour and bitter.
But I cheer this dialouge.

George Carlin stopped being funny about 20 years ago, which always made me sad. Tell me again why they're called comics?

George Carlin changed drastically over the years, becoming a hateful, hurtful human who railed against everyone who dared disagree with him. Some years ago during a concert in Milwaukee, an audience member heckled him and Carlin responded with a screaming, foul mouthed diatribe that completely quieted both the heckler and the audience. After a few moments, Carlin added this final dismissive to his annihilated heckler, "and I hope you and your family get in a car crash and burn to death."

By all eye witness accounts, the concert was completely ruined, and stunned Carlin fans staggered from the theater when Carlin was through. Since Carlin was an anti-American wise ass, the anti-American wise ass MSN did a down low reportage of the incident.

Carlin became cruel and abusive, a flake by many standards, and an outcast not simply because of his willingness to take on "the man," but because he himself was a sick man. Mentally ill, I think, by reasonable analysis.

Carlin satirized a world that doesn't exist. The religion he attacked was the religion that a smartass kid imagined in his mind. The God he mocked was The Great White Santa Claus in the Sky, which is how a ten year old portrays religion. It had nothing to do with reality, however. The same goes for most of the "indignities" that he attacked. Carlin was a know-it-all teenager who never grew up. Adults were always money-obsessed lab rats running through the mazes created for them by the Establishment. He, he alone, had the purity of heart to see through the lies, and charged us big money to go to concerts so he could inform us where we were wrong.

But that was "the act." Carlin wasn't a clincial psychologist or a trained philosopher. He was a comic. You weren't supposed to take him seriously, even if he did. I have graduate degrees in philosophy; I can't ever recall telling a professor, "sure, that's what Aristotle says, but George Carlin argues that ..."

The man is dead. Out of respect, I don't want to dwell on my disagreements with him. But all I'll say is this: as a person who loves philosophy, it annoys me that the truly deep and mind-blowing geniuses of philosophy are barely noticed, and yet the hippy-dippy comic gets worshiped. And not just in philosophy: it seems that every real scholar is ignored, because reporters would have to open up a book, instead of surfing on HBO, in search of a rational thought.

• Willard van Orman Quine is perhaps the greatest mind that America has ever produced, and he died on Christmas day 2000, and yet his passing was completely ignored. He revolutionized the study of logic and philosophy, and yet, not a word about him.
• As a matter of fact, Dr. Henry Chadwick died just last week. Chadwick was an Anglican scholar whose studies of the early church have completely revolutionized our understanding of what was really going on, and why the church grew the way it did. Even on this website, I'll argue about points of Christian history and religion that are rooted in the experience of the early church -- and I got most of that knowledge from Chadwick. But his death received no fanfare or public praise. It was just a line in the obituary page. 

Yet, "perky" anchors praise a comic for "making us think." (Yeah, maybe, for about three seconds.) How about a little praise and recognition for the true scholars who don't just make you think, they make you learn and understand?

I was a big Carlin fan when he and I were both younger. But his material changed. He started making more political statements, which was his right. But I found him less funny as he became more like an activist. Observational humor depends on what you observe. When he was observing that you didn't get on a plane, but in a plane, that made me think about silly idioms. When he was opining that golf courses should be outlawed, and free housing built on them, I thought it was just another goofy socialist rant. Sarcasm would have helped that bit, but he evinced none.

He was a ground-breaker, and a good comic, when he eased off the leftist propaganda. But the hero-worship stuff is a little overblown. I think the old Carlin would have said, "Worship? I'm just some guy who tells jokes!"

To me Carlin just wasn't funny. I watched a show of his several years ago thought about a quarter of it was jokes and the rest seemed to be anti-Christian anti-American rant.

While his early work was funny, he went beyond humor as he aged and tired of life.

He's a pitiful example of what happens to the enlightned people of our Country.  They have no values, nothing that they can live for and everyone who enjoys life and the simple pleasure of life are to be riddiculed.

Sad ending for a once funny guy.  Hope he's nice and warm in hell where liberals like himself belong.  Sorry George, but you lived a lot longer than you were funny.

I was in Vegas the week of 9/11 for a formal wear convention
and went the MGM to see Carlin on the night of 9/10. I had a few drinks before
and during the show so I was in a good mood to say the least. Carlin was using
this gig to test the jokes for the HBO special mentioned here, "I Like It
When A Lot Of People Die." I remember him saying that exactly. The jokes
were more about how when there is a tragedy most people can not help but look,
like when you pass a bad accident on the highway, which I believe he had done
in a previous HBO special. His humor that night was offensive to some in the
crowd I am sure as his first joke was about the female anatomy doing strange
things. I was not offended but it was not funny at all, just shocking. The
jokes about a lot of people dying, believe it or not were funny in a morbid
kind of I’m only joking way. It was more about the reaction of those that did
not die in the tragedy or terrorist act then it was about those that had died.
It was not rolling in the floor funny but chuckle worthy. The 9/11 show was
cancelled as was most of the Vegas shows that night, but he had to totally
change his act for the rest of his appearance at the MGM since a lot of his act
on 9/10 had to do with almost exactly what had happened the next morning. I
will of course never forget that week I spent in Vegas, trying to have a good
time with all that was going on, how all the casinos were full of people just
watching T.V. and not gambling and just how sad I felt that whole week. There
was no way to leave so we just drank ourselves silly for 5 or 6 days until the
planes could fly again. And I will never forget George Carlin only because he
is part of my memory of all the things that happened that week, the week that
everything changed, including my happy go lucky, who cares 9/10 state of mind.

George Carlin was a smoke and mirrors act, but a good smoke and mirros act. Carlin was not genuinely funny but he could be amusing. He used psuedo-intellectualism (much like Dennis Miller has for some time) to impress the average ape who in turn (due to being an average ape) viewed Carlin as clever or as some naively characterize, a genius.

But Carlin was smart enough to know what impressed dullards and so he worked it. After his early days of modest and conservative attire Carlin reinvented himself into a hippie and the Carlin most knew as born. So Carlin worked this shtick because, that is just what he was, a hippie, well, an angry hippie with a few funny observations that needed a lot of dressing up.

Carlin was like a monkey that could tell a few funny jokes but at best could only mock most of the time. But to his credit, it worked. Anger and mockery was the mainstay for Carlin.

Why Carlin was NOT a great comedian (as opposed to successful) is simple, he was not a great story teller. Even on his best day he was a 7.5. People sometimes compare him to Pryor and there is no close measure there. Richard Pryor was a master story teller (some may point out that Pryor was at times vulgar for even general audiences and for adult audiences indulged greatly in the use of expletives and crude language but this does not change the fact of Pryor's outstanding and most important gift for greatness as a comedian, story telling and one could argue Pryor's use of such was not FOR humor but as part of the context as opposed to Carlin who relied on crudeness and vulgarity itself for a laugh). Carlin grunted out his stories and often was so pedestrian he would have to stop and cue the audience that it is time to laugh. On the other hand, Pryor's stories (and the stories of real masters), while professionally timed were also repeatedly blessed with smiles, roars, cackles and giggles simply because such true geniuses could take an audience to places and back almost unintentionally due to exceedingly superior instinct that came out even in the slightest facial expression, pause or reflection. Carlin did not have that. Where he went, you went and no further.

But he was SUCCESSFUL. He did find an audience. But then, people pay to see Rosie O'Donnell, David Letterman, John Stewart and so on. Carlin successful.... yes, gifted.... not so much, genius....now that's something to laugh at.

Next Please! If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.