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George Carlin's Values

Today I learned that Reagan had the largest number of criminal charges of any presidential administration. I actually learned it last night watching a George Carlin standup1, but I doubted it given the last administration and I had to double-check the reference this morning2. Sure enough, ole' George was just shooting straight.

I've been researching a bit of stand-up because I've been considering creating a comedy cookbook of sorts that, get this... is actually about cooking. The majority of Reagan's administration charges were due to selling weapons to Iran and funneling the money, but there was also rigging HUD grants, illegal lobbying, bribes at the EPA and military branches, or the bail-out of the late 80s savings and loan crisis... which I should note was mostly democratic Senators3. Somehow during the 1980 presidential election debates, the briefing papers for Carter were acquired by Reagan's team. I had sorta heard about this back in March when the New York Times published A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election and I wrote about how in the 'October Surprise'4 Iran held the hostages until Reagan was elected. I was far too young to understand any of this at the time, but I remember it. the timing and subsequent dealings were just far too coincidental. Here's a new clip from the election in 1981 👇🏼

Although I've listened to Carlin joke about politics for years, I've never really checked the details on them until the internet was in the palm of my hand. We had the Class Clown album in our house growing up and I think I first paid attention to it in about fifth or sixth grade likely just because I liked the album title. Seven dirty words wasn't exactly suited for kids in elementary school, but it was pretty enlightening and I kept the album in my room from then on. The only comedy album I think I played more often was Steven Wright's I Have a Pony 6. This was all right about the time of the Iran Contra affair. As I've gotten older, I have greater respect because I think I understand more now.

Carlin's last published standup was released posthumously because it's titled I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die and was an ill-timed performance on September 9th and 10th, 2001. He became the first posthumous recipient of the Mark Twain Prize in 2008. He subtitled the standup routine I watched last night as Reagan's Gang, Church People and American Values which is the first bit from an HBO special run in August of 1988. George Carlin has almost as much rhythm as Gil Scott-Heron talking about Reagan in B Movie 7. He mentioned this rhythm in a Jon Stewart interview citing his parent's emphasis on language and his grandfather's memorization of Shakespeare8.

I like this clip 👇🏼 because he juxtaposes the far right and left.

Another bit from last night was about banning toy guns, so I looked it up and voila, there it was. In 1988, a provision tucked into the Federal Energy Management Improvement Act (FEMIA), Pub. L. No. 100-615, § 4, 102 Stat. 3185, 3190 (Nov. 5, 1988). I'd take Carlin over Reagan at any imaginary dinner and it's not because of their values, but because one of them seems to be funny, smart, and a decent conversationalist. And since the stumping season is almost upon us, I can't help but notice the talking heads falling flat with attempted one-liners. One of our current candidates is in it mainly because he couldn't take a joke10.

“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” - George Carlin​

This got me wondering if the sense of humor is based on values or if it is objectively universal. What makes it good? Isn't a comedy just theatre with happy endings. Aristotle taught that comedy was generally positive for society while Plato suggested that it is destruction to the self.11 I sometimes bring up Saturday Night Live skits on the tennis court and I've noticed that some conservative folks are adverse to SNL because of bias. I see where there are some studies that suggest the conservative-minded are less appreciative of both irony and exaggeration12 which I think may hit at the heart of the matter because I have no way of objectively knowing if my tastes are related to my values other than reading other folks opinions on it.

I read a bunch of essays this afternoon some of which take the subject pretty seriously. Carlin said in an interview in 1990 about Andrew Dice Clay “The thing that I find unusual, and it’s, you know, not a criticism so much, but his targets are underdogs. And comedy traditionally has picked on people in power, people who abuse their power. Women and gays and immigrants are kind of, to my way of thinking, underdogs."13 The clip recently resurfaced related to Dave Chappelle dis'n on underdogs.

This video clip 👇🏼 is from George Carlin on Charlie Rose in 1996 where he summarizes some of his views on art, people, politics, and values.

It's a mature Carlin and I like how he emphasizes when talking about politics that the key is laughing at ourselves and squarely places the target on the 'we' as a group. So I think it's kinda a 'self-punch' versus a 'punch-up' or down. In that regard, both Aristotle and Plato were right with opposing views. Carlin saying "I don't like political jokes" is like George Bernard Shaw saying "My way of joking is, to tell the truth". I use the 'punch-up approach' enough so that it might be called a David and Goliath complex. I try to accompany it with plenty of self-deprecation, but I prefer it when the punch line is about ourselves... everyone. Given the considerations here and our current political climate, I think we desperately need a healthy dose.

Personally, I think your values only affect your taste in comedy if you can't laugh at yourself. I think the essence of good comedy is about laughing at ourselves and the best jokes are just truths that punch everyone. And the very best jokes not only punch everyone, but they also remain truthful over time.

  1. George Carlin - What Am I Doing in New Jersey? ( 1988 ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni9vJPY-1AQ
  2. Scandals of the Ronald Reagan administration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandals_of_the_Ronald_Reagan_administration
  3. Keating Five - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
  4. October Surprise - https://davidawindham.com/til/posts/october-surprise
  5. Class Clown - George Carlin ( 1972 ) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Clown
  6. I Have a Pony - Steven Wright ( 1985 ) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Pony
  7. Make America Great Again - David A. Windham - https://davidawindham.com/make-america-great-again/
  8. Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin ( 1997 )- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCGGWeD_EJk
  9. I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die ( 2001 ) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Kinda_Like_It_When_a_Lotta_People_Die
  10. Inside the Night President Obama Took On Donald Trump - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/watch-inside-the-night-president-obama-took-on-donald-trump/
  11. Comedy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy
  12. Psychology, political idealogy and humor appreciation: Why is satire so liberal? - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-51853-001
  13. George Carlin on Larry King ( 1990 ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8yV8xUorQ8
  14. George Carlin on Charlie Rose ( 1996 ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVZMifGcW64