# We Could Really Use George Carlin Right Now.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438 "2017-02-10T03:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/1 "2017-02-10T03:14:20Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tVlkxrNlp10/hqdefault.jpg "George Carlin - List of people who ought to be killed") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVlkxrNlp10) We need a man who isnt afraid to piss off the right and the left; A man who tells it as he sees it with complete integrity; A man who would get his ass kicked by Hillary Bernie and Donny. Above all, we need to take a long look at our culture and laugh at it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/2 "2017-02-10T03:34:17Z")
Yup, I’m not sure who the modern next best thing would be. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/3 "2017-02-10T03:37:43Z")
See…I feel George would rapidly run into the same problem I did. I loved taking the piss out of the “left” for a while…but it’s simply stopped being funny. And even when Trump DOES say something true, maybe worthy of discussion like “Do you think we’re angels??” (or whatever it was)…it would be like saying “Hitler was great on animal rights! And anti-smoking!” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/4 "2017-02-10T03:41:08Z")
I thought that Carlin was pretty much a hack for his last 20 years or so. None of his supposedly trenchant observations had any real insight or import to them. And half the time his facts were wrong or at least questionable. He was just a cranky old man. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/5 "2017-02-10T04:05:53Z")
_Gee, our old La Salle ran great…_ ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/6 "2017-02-10T05:25:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I thought that Carlin was pretty much a hack for his last 20 years or so. None of his supposedly trenchant observations had any real insight or import to them. And half the time his facts were wrong or at least questionable. He was just a cranky old man. Or, love him when he gored the other side, hate him when he gores us. And he was usually 80-20 making fun of conservatives and the religious. But at least he didn’t try to kiss up to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/7 "2017-02-10T05:33:52Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > See…I feel George would rapidly run into the same problem I did. I loved taking the piss out of the “left” for a while…but it’s simply stopped being funny. > > And even when Trump DOES say something true, maybe worthy of discussion like “Do you think we’re angels??” (or whatever it was)…it would be like saying “Hitler was great on animal rights! And anti-smoking!” He takes the piss out of both sides. He is basically vibing on the hypocrisy of humanity. His voice was an important counterpoint to establishment voices. As Wesley Clark noted, there is no one out there playing that role in our polarized times. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/8 "2017-02-10T06:12:36Z")
Jon Stewart came close, even though he leaned left. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/9 "2017-02-10T06:40:11Z")
Too much straight weather reporting, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/10 "2017-02-10T13:02:04Z")
To quote George: > [@](#): > > “Now, there’s one thing you might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. 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.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/11 "2017-02-10T14:57:59Z")
'70s George- great. '90s George- forget it. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/12 "2017-02-10T15:04:22Z")
I can’t recall Carlin criticizing the left beyond superficial cultural issues, like PC language policing, self-righteous environmentalists, or white liberal guilt. When he made fun of the right he called them crypto-fascist warmongers, hypocritical religious nutbars, or business criminals. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/13 "2017-02-10T15:11:49Z")
we have Lewis Black, no? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/14 "2017-02-10T15:21:50Z")
Actually, given my druthers, I’d rather have Molly Ivins back. She was ruthless on George W. Bush (“Shrub”). She’d have been ten times rougher (and funnier) on The Donald. I’ll have to dig through my copies of her stuff to see what she wrote about him in his pre-political life. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/15 "2017-02-10T15:37:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, given my druthers, I’d rather have Molly Ivins back. Preach it, brother. And Mike Royko up in Chicago. And Jimmy Breslin in his prime in New York. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/16 "2017-02-10T15:39:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, given my druthers, I’d rather have Molly Ivins back. > She was ruthless on George W. Bush (“Shrub”). She’d have been ten times rougher (and funnier) on The Donald. I’ll have to dig through my copies of her stuff to see what she wrote about him in his pre-political life. Does that make her witty or just mean? Easy to do mean, hard to do witty. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-could-really-use-george-carlin-right-now/779438/17 "2017-02-10T15:51:51Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Does that make her witty or just mean? Easy to do mean, hard to do witty. Ivins was witty, without a doubt. Read some of her stuff. If her lib’rul leanings bother you, you can read her non-political pieces about Texas culture and the like.