[Marxism] George Carlin, American Radical

[Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx]

George  Carlin, American Radical 

By John Nichols

TheNation.com 

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.
 
full article --  AlterNet Posted on June 23, 2008
_http://www.alternet.org/story/89120/_ (http://www.alternet.org/story/89120/) 
  




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