I am forever grateful to live in such an interesting time and place such as in the middle of the United States in 2018. The more things that focus the attention of both brilliant less gifted minds weighing in on daily happenings in America and the World, my calling as a chronicler of the events that illuminate our time here and the people who color it becomes ever more apparent. Sadly, not everyone from our formative years has survived and many that have not are sorely missed, both those who lacked fame and particularly those whose fame preceded them with a presence and message that was larger than life. There are a few entertainers now gone whose messages were forebodingly prophetic such that it still occupies a significant space in the collective psyche. Few could read the writing on the cosmic wall and analyze it with devastatingly accurate precision and let everyone know via a commanding stage presence as to what was coming. It is hard to believe that comedian George Carlin left us ten years ago. Given the number of times I’ve quoted him on this blog, it feels like his presence is still alive and well. His suggested epitaph remains appropriate to this very moment:
“Gee, he was just here a minute ago.”
More than a couple times over the last ten years I have found myself pondering the possibility that George’s exit from this grand existence known as life was scripted. When you think about it the world and the nation, as dysfunctional as both were ten years ago, changed drastically not long after his departure. Since George left us we have had the 2008 Presidential campaign that brought an unknown Alaska governor into the limelight, we have had the Obama presidency and we have had the Tea Party and all the associated shit show. Here in Oklahoma we have had nearly a decade of one-party rule and the trimmings that come with rightwing conservative government that George warned us about. You know, things like the Ten Commandments monument on state property. Remember what George told us about the Ten Commandments?
George Carlin on the Ten Commandments
For a guy who had no advanced education you have to admire how George figured out what was really going on in the World and especially in America. He had a track record of getting kicked out of organizations and institutions like schools, the Boy Scouts, the Altar Boys and the U.S. Air Force. When the internal rebel that was the core of his essence was finally allowed to emerge and blossom without restriction, his talent really began to take off. That was not until his mid-30s but what a talent it was for pushing back against long accepted social norms. What’s more, he eventually found an audience that totally got his analysis of America, the World, ubiquitous issues and life in general. I am proud to say that I am one with whom his take on all those things resonated greatly and, for the record, still does. There is no other-worldliness to what may appear to some as prophetic statements. George could see the direction of the nation was sliding before he left us and I would venture to guess the MAGA Cult of Personality would not be much of a surprise to him if he were here now.
George Carlin on God, America, Rights and Hats
This may be old news but George described Conservatives and the base supporters of the 45th *President to a tee years before it became relevant. This is why to his subscribers it feels like he has never left. Have a listen to how he describes the Reagan years.
George Carlin on the Truth about Republicans
George figured out the entire premise of America long before it became popular to highlight in political campaign adds. If anyone likes plain-spoken descriptions, Carlin should top their list. Few entertainers or politicians can match his tell-it-like-it-is style. If brutal honesty is the currency of credible celebrity, George remains a first ballot all-American. As the man said, “They call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it!”
George Carlin: America is a lie
Toward the end of his life, George disengaged from the fray and in one of his last interviews he really knocked it out of the park. Around the 3:10 mark in the below YouTube video, he speaks directly to people like myself. “When you’re born in this World you are given a ticket to the Freak Show and when you are born in America you are given a front row seat. And some of us get to sit there with notebooks…” I am definitely a notebook kind of guy keeping my notes on the freaks. “Oh, they say if you scratch a cynic you’ll see a little flicker of an idealist…..” FYI, I’m not quite there, yet anyway.
George Carlin’s greatest monolog
Amongst other things, George underscored the sentiment that it isn’t where you start it is where you finish that matters. He left us ten years ago today and his fans and subscribers are still quoting him as if he never left. Once in awhile a rare soul makes a mark that lasts. Such is the memory of one who totally got life, the World and America and his place in it. For that he rates that coveted award, or at least just a bit of it………..IMMORTALITY!
George Carlin: 1937-2008
The thing I admired best about George was that he wasn’t just funny to be funny – he was always funny for a purpose. And it was usually to wake people up, as well as make them laugh…