Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin, R.I.P

George Carlin, skeptic, atheist, and Jedi master of comedy and social commentary, died yesterday, June 22, at the age of 71.

He was known for many things, including the Seven Dirty Words you can never say on television. When his monologue on these words was aired in 1973, it set off a kerfuffle that led all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court, whose narrow ruling (5-4) formally established indecency regulation in American broadcasting.

Since then, American children who have grown up hearing these words from their parents and each other have been spared that special moral degradation that comes from also hearing them on the air. As Carlin told the Associated Press earlier this year:
So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of.
Rest in peace, friend. May your words ring on in the Internet forever.

No comments: