In Memoriam: George Carlin

By Isaac Fitzgerald, AlterNet
Posted on June 23, 2008, Printed on December 9, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/89112/

George Carlin, whose routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, died yesterday evening in Santa Monica, CA at the age of 71.

George Carlin was so much more than a stand-up comic. He was a subversive public figure who sought out controversy in order to bring to light issues of free speech, political corruption, and the dangers of consumerism.
Carlin used humor and vulgarity to try and wake people up to the hypocrisies around them, reminding his audiences that "it's called the 'American Dream,' because you have to be asleep to believe it." He will be missed.

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