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Title: Tim Russert & George Carlin - Birds of a feather RIP
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Published: Jun 24, 2008
Author: Jeffersonish
Post Date: 2008-06-24 12:20:44 by Jeffersonish
Keywords: comedy, journalism, intellectual
Views: 196
Comments: 4
During the last week or two, the country lost a couple of national treasures. First Tim Russert, then George Carlin passed within days of each other. At first glance, these two icons couldn't seem more different. Russert was a devoutly religious, serious family man while Carlin was an extremely irreverent single comedian. Russert was overweight while Carlin was chronically skinny. So what was the tie between these two that made both signficant losses in my mind? Words. Words that made a difference. You see, although Carlin was a comedian, he had a way of pointing out absurdity, often on the national stage. Sometimes he was very funny, but even when he wasn't funny (unintentionally) he was often trying to make a point that his audience would remember. In his own way, he was trying to make the country a better place. Russert's efforts were much more transparent. He didn't pull any punches or disguise his attempts at exposing the absurdities, or I guess more accurately, the contradictions foisted upon us by politicians and those surrounding them in Washington D.C. One of the people responsible for preparing candidates to appear on Russert's show, Meet the Press, James Carville, has repeated in retrospective shows these last few days that Russert was the easiest show for him to do preparation for because he knew what Russert was going to do... he would look into the candidate's past in search of contradictions, quote to the candidate the original statement or vote and the more recent statement or vote, and ask the candidate simply to explain themselves. Those who prepared for that usually did well. Those who didn't looked like fools. Even some who did prepare for it, because there was no plausible explanation, looked like fools. Russert prepared for his show and conducted it in a way that nearly all observers could agree did not expose or favor his personal bias which was apparently liberal. One notable exception was Michael Savage who reportedly lit into Russert within hours of his death, "exposing" his liberal bias, backing it up with Russert's background as a "liberal political operative." Even if Savage's accusation of bias on Meet the Press were true, he showed his complete lack of class by spewing such a venomous attack so soon after Russert's death. Carlin made his impact in different ways. One of his most memorable routines was about the seven words one may never say on the public airwaves. In this routine, Carlin would rattle off the seven, P***, S***, F***, C***, C***S*****, M*****F*****, and Tits as easily as people at one time rattled of, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," the famous McDonalds quasi-tongue twister. He did so in a way that inspired people, myself included to practice saying the line so they too could rattle it off with the greatest of ease. I first heard the seven words in 1979. Last year I was in the green room of a radio station, waiting to go on air, being prepped when I was told their were seven words I couldn't say. I replied without hesitation with the rapid fire recitation of Carlin's seven preceded by, "You mean?" And of course, that was exactly what they meant. As Carlin pointed out, tits doesn't even belong on the list. It's such a friendly sounding word. I don't think anyone yells "Tits!" euphemistically upon hitting their thumb with a hammer or when trying to insult another human. In fact, it would be funny for someone to exclaim, "Ah TITS!" And maybe that one isn't on the list today (is it?), but Carlin had made it easy for me to remember what not to say. The point Carlin made was, although not explicitly stated, that no words, not even those seven should be off limits. He was a strong believer in civil rights. He took the constitution at its word where it says, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." As much as I admired both these men, they probably wouldn't have been able to stomach each other for long in person. Russert was a devout Catholic who wore his love for the faith on his sleeve. Carlin on the other hand never held back in his comedic assaults upon Catholicism. From his early piece about the Catholic church and school he attended to his more recent appearance in DOGMA as a caricatured Catholic priest (played against Alanis Morrisette's portrayal of God) Carlin never missed a chance to lampoon the oldest Christian church in existence. In the end, I can only dream of being the intelligent journalist Russert was or the spot-on comedic critic Carlin was and I will miss them both.
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#1. To: Jeffersonish (#0)
Russert was a globalist asset. He might have been treasured by the establishment he protected, but I don't weep when politburo propagandists kick the bucket. Russert hid the relevant truths from people and shilled for the world socialists, both R & D brands of the National Party. Carlin, on the other hand, called it straight as he saw it. His passing I take as a true loss.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
His stuff will always make me laugh :)
I guess he'd never heard some lout yell "Hey FATSO! Nice TITS!" at an overweight guy?
#2. To: Jeffersonish (#0)
As Carlin pointed out, tits doesn't even belong on the list. It's such a friendly sounding word. I don't think anyone yells "Tits!" euphemistically upon hitting their thumb with a hammer or when trying to insult another human.
#3. To: Jethro Tull (#2)
I don't think anyone yells "Tits!" euphemistically upon hitting their thumb with a hammer or when trying to insult another human.
 | Gold and silver are REAL money, paper is but a promise. |
#4. To: Elliott Jackalope (#3)
Good point. Being a Bronx kid, Carlin no doubt met a few "husky" kids who would have nailed him with a right to the chin if he got too far out of line :)
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