This is why I don't get on the "Carlin is God" bandwagon

[Montauk6]

Brilliant comic but he is so all-kinds-of-wrong on this, sorry/not sorry.

And that so many people embrace this outlook is a major reason why things have gone downhill, IMHO.

[Tommy Carcetti]

1. Not a big fan of Carlin's style, personally.

If other people are, that’s fine.

But I enjoy regular, observational stand up.

Stand-up that was meant to be edgy or topical was never for me. I like to be able to get away from those things. And edgy/topical stand-up feels too much like “That guy with a mic.”

I like topical humor in certain formats (e.g. Last Week Tonight) and edgy can still be extremely funny in non-stand-up context if it’s done well, but for stand-up, not a big fan.

[Renew Deal]

8. Have you seen Johsh Johnson from the Daily Shoe?

He’s doing observational standup at a pace like no one else, and he’s really good.

[thebigidea]

2. he had impeccable delivery but didn't have flawless judgment

What I thought was amazing and not talked about much was that he was REALLY into a lot of basic California new age woo in the 90s. He was really into weird futurist BS and would be donating a lot of money to fly by night crackpots. He would claim he was really into science, but he would be reading junk science and obvious scammers.

There was a lot of the cliche of a gullible romantic underneath the cynical pose. So not surprising it was like that with his politics too. Of course, spending years with a crippling pill addiction didn't help much either.

So yeah, definitely not a god. Just a working pro with a tight act, lots of experience, and great timing. But I wouldn't have been deferring to him for political or scientific insight.

Besides, Neil Hamburger is God.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. Honestly, things were different when he said this. I don't agree with him, but I respect his views.

He was one of the smartest people alive.

[Think. Again.]

4. I've never come across...

....anyone who thought Carlin was a god.

He made some excellent points through the years, and people appreciate that, but there certainly isn't any significant cult following that I've seen.

But I do have to admit the "outlook" he expresses above is pretty popular around here. I've seen A LOT of posts denigrating pretty much every subset of the American public, mostly magats of course.

[sunnybrook]

5. I thought he was very funny

But he often said things that were completely false. He was occasionally very sexist. Definitely not a god. Very gifted comic. But not fully enlightened.

[Mike Nelson]

6. Agreed...

... I was off the bandwagon years ago... liked some of his opinions and attitude, but I thought he veered into stupid. I did wonder if he got on the "outrageous" treadmill and felt obligated to make more "show."

[Festivito]

7. There is a hole in that logic he glosses over.

We get representation of who we are, bad people, bad representation, implying, good people, good representation. (Okay)
We get greedy reps because we are a greedy people. (Logical, flawed, but logical)
He says he retains the right to complain because by not voting he did not create the greedy mess.
So, he uses his grandeur of attended spokesperson to imply he is above the greed.
Then he says his non-voting has "nothing" to do with the result.

Well, if you convince all the good people like himself and his attendees not to vote, they you get the representation of what is left, the greedy bad people.

And, to say you have nothing to do with something you had something to do with -- is wrong, logically.

[Renew Deal]

9. I'm not offended

It’s a point of view, and he’s not wrong about the voters. That’s how we get the MTG’s of the world.

[marble falls]

10. He was wrong about a lot.

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil

is for good men to do nothing.

So Carlin is advocating to do nothing.

[edhopper]

12. To say something George might have said

If you are looking for wisdom and life choices from a comedian, you're a fucking moron.

[Cf402]

13. Article detailing his take on voting and politics

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/george-carlin-american-radical/

[Dave Id]

14. Was a time

Really enjoyed Carlin's early material. His later material came across a bitchy old man. For the record I'm a bitchy old man. IMO he wasn't funny in later years. He did have a right to express his opinion. I just wasn't interested in hearing them anymore.

[Takket]

15. people who don't vote are a huge part of the problem

about 36% of people didn't vote. we focus so much on the literal few thousand people in swing states that are the only ones who decide elections, but more than 1/3 of the country does not even vote.