George Carlin was somewhat of a genius. From what I’ve read, he would probably be the first person to smack that claim down, but it must be said, because it’s true. I came across one of his classic routines from one of his specials and I was blown away. Other then calling out the Reagan Administration for having enough people convicted and investigated to make Nixon look like a saint, he is speaking about the Republican Party of 1988, and everything he said then, is true today.
I am a huge fan of Carlin. While sometimes he crosses the line, intentionally, there is an intelligent core to his routines that is masterful. Comedy impacts the brain, it stimulates it in sophisticated ways, yet Carlin is also asking questions about society and what it is to be human. He rarely jumped into politics, though he could not restrain himself from calling out the hypocrisy of the moral majority, the Teamsters Union and the Reagan Administration.
The most amazing thing about this clip though, is that, thanks to the Republican worship of Reagan, virtually everything that Carlin says is a spot on description of the modern Republican Party.
- Right to Lifers support the death penalty? Check!
- Get big government off your back yet actually put government in your bedroom? Check!
- Republicans trying to tell Americans what magazines to read or what rock lyrics to listen to? Check!
- Republicans uncomfortable with sex and their bodies? Check!
- Telling women what to do with their bodies? Check!
- Republicans are crypt-o-fascists who don’t believe in freedom of choice? Check!
- Republicans are against street crime unless that street is Wall Street? Double check!
- Americans love war so much we declare war on social things we don’t like, ie: War on Drugs? Triple check!
Spot on! He had the Republican Party’s number way back in 1988 that is so accurate, it is still relevant 25 years later! Of course, he couldn’t have been such a prophet without the help of the changeless morons who run the Republican party and the dinosaurs that make up the rank and file.
My favorite part is when he proposes to tax the churches and it gets a huge reaction… back in 1988! I mean, serious! Why not? If religious institutions take money from their “flock” and then invest it in political lobbying and lawsuits that clog the system, the should, as Carlin says, pay the same fucking admission as everyone else!
And somehow, this moral majority is mad at the “illegals” that come into this country, who work their asses off in the fields so hard they have permanent neck damage, who pay sales tax like the rest of us, payroll tax like the rest of us, get very little government help, like the rest of us! Yet the church elders and priests and pastors and whatever fight to install a state religion that defies the Constitution (see North Carolina for their progress on that front) and they don’t even pay a god damned dime in real estate taxes, or payroll taxes or any kind of taxes?
Does that seem fair to you?
Worse yet, Bush changed the laws so he could give US taxpayer’s money to so-called “Faith-Bases Initiatives”, which are religious charities. So not only do these institutions not pay taxes, they were actually taking money from the government to boot! That is, until Obama put a halt to most of it.
A nation of takers, eh? And that’s just the moral beacon of the Republican Party. I won’t get into the businessmen and corrupt corporations that have bought and paid for the US Congress, take a huge socialist bailout, compliments of the US taxpayer, and then cry all day long about socialism when they actually have to man up and give the employees, who do the actual work or business while these assholes are out golfing and eating $50,000 luncheons with Mitt Romney, the common decency of health-care!
We are a nation of takers! Yet as is often the case. The one who cries the loudest is usually the one getting away with the crime! Classic diversion!
Imagine what the great Carlin would say about the Republicans today? He already pegged the entire system in his final special that I will link to one more time, because it deserves it!
Let this be your daily affirmation! Let this get you mad because it sure as hell should! The truth can set you free. Sometimes we need to be discontent to make a change. Like a mess we intended to clean up and procrastinated till it got out of control. Meditate on this anger and direct it at the politicians and their puppet masters, the billionaires and corporate overlords on Wall Street who took YOUR money and spent it on, yes, this is absolutely true, BONUSES that make your yearly salary look pathetic.
A nation of takers indeed! And they are taking YOUR money. No, not big government. Big Business, who continues to make a down payment on their purchase of Washington DC every time a stupid politician needs money. Oh and as long as we remain silent, they will continue to take the money and run!
Just as Carlin says, the system threw us overboard 30 fucking years ago. Democrats and Republicans both. That doesn’t mean there is no difference. In general, when it comes to politicians, a Liberal is a rich person who cares, and a Conservative is a rich person who doesn’t. The choice is yours, for now.
Then let’s get to work building a people’s party in this country! A party that is actually of the people, for the people and by the people. A party that will make government look out for the best interest of the people who pay for it: us! Let the Business of America is Business (with a capital B) people fall to the wayside. If they don’t like it, they can leave America’s rich resources behind and move to, uhm, China? Yeah, go ahead and leave us! In fact, we encourage you to leave. Another will take your place before you’re even on the plane!
See what Carlin can inspire? And I’m not talking about the fact that this routine contained one of the lines that inspired Louis CK, “have you ever noticed that the people at anti-abortion rallies are the last people you’d want to fuck!” I kid you not, Louis gets choked up about it, and he should.
It is this sort of love that has earned George Carlin a the first honorary title of “Grime Fighter”. Which is mostly a ceremonial title that I shall, henceforth give out to my heroes. While I worked out a deal with Denny’s to get these guys honored in particular states of the union during the correct phase of the Moon, the title remains mostly ceremonial, unless you account for the fact that Carlin was a great inspiration for me to speak out, to say what I felt and to say it in a way that made sense and leaned towards humor.
Beware of imitations! Yes, I have been personally sent, by a good friend, a long and rambling message about how we need more Jesus in our society that was supposedly an Op-Ed penned by none other than the late Mr. Carlin. Too bad for that author, whomever they may be, that Carlin made a specific point of calling it out.
To honor the great George Carlin, I will leave you with this Politically Incorrect dialogue from 2001 or so, before 9-11. Carlin is sitting next to a gnarly Republican spokesperson! The guy may sound like the Reverend Farrakhan, but he was a tool of Republican Whip and secret porn star Dick Armey.
Carlin did his normal duties. Part 1:
Part 2:
We miss you George! If you find a way to annoy God enough in Heavan, wink, wink, please come back!