George Carlin (1937-2008)

It's such a sad day. I'm a big big fan of George Carlin as far as I could remember and it's a sad day to see him depart right before he was to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (although, I can see that he might make a scathing critique out of that award as well). Carlin is what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wish they could be: entertainer, comedian, satirist, political agitator, and master of language whose work became the basis for the 1978 US Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation where Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" was aired at a radio station in New York City. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that limited civil sanctions can be levied against a radio broadcast of "patently offensive words."

I loved Carlin's political and cultural critique but unlike Stewart or Colbert, his work was not about innuendos or linguistic slights, that is, implied critiques. His comedy was open, in your face, dark, and punchy on topics that included Christianity, surveillance, politics, elections, excesses of American culture, materialism, and many other social issues and taboo subjects. It had a working-class roughness and his comedy was not for everyone. But that's what I liked about him and why I always thought of him as a political and cultural agitator of the best kind where his intents and motivations were clear cut and out in the open.

I last saw Carlin at a sold-out performance when I was vacationing in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I can't believe that's the end of another wonderful man with a truly historic career.