Carlin Kicks the F*cking Bucket

Mike Riggs | June 23, 2008

The guy whose raunchy lines your prudish friends hated you for reciting in crowded restaurants, George Carlin, is dead of a heart attack at 71 years old.

CNN misses him so much that it's hosting an ever-so-lightly censored version of the “Seven Dirty Words” sketch on its site. The sketch (which grownups can view uncensored below) led to Carlin’s arrest and the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case, FCC v. Pacifica Foundation. Fortunately, the 5-4 ruling let Carlin off the hook on the grounds that his monologue was "indecent but not obscene"; unfortunately, it also gave the Federal Communications Commission some guidelines on how to censor the airwaves without violating the Constitution.

Carlin refused to vote, calling the electoral process the "delusion of choice." Ironically, one of the last times he publicly discussed politics was during an interview with the late Tim Russert.

For your pleasure, a compilation of reason-esque Carlin quotes:

"Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong."

"I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death."

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity."

"If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him."

"Think off-center."

And of course, the video:

Nick Gillespie on Carlin's American Spirit, here. Jacob Sullum writes here on two decades of post-Seven censorship.

UPDATE: Check out Jay Dixit's thorough and fascinating interview with Carlin on the Psychology Today blog.