George Carlin: Warning Rated R

About 40 years ago, George Carlin fought for our civil liberties by challenging the ability of the FCC to censor freedom of speech. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Carlin stands as one of the greatest comedians and counter-culture critics of our time. He began his challenge with an unlikely monologue about the 7 Words You Can Never Say on Television. At the time, they were:

• shit
• piss
• fuck
• cunt
• cocksucker
• motherfucker
• tits

Now, some might say, but those words are awful. Yes, I somewhat agree, but awful belongs in the realm of poor taste and societal censorship should suffice on such matters. It should never be the business of the government to harass, arrest or otherwise intimidate anyone for simply having poor taste. Speech that directly threatens another person or group of people is another matter, but that wasn't the issue with these words. In the end, the FCC established limits on speech designed to limit the exposure of children, but 'adult hours' or 'late night programming' was liberalized, to a degree. The Christian right in the United States of America are fighting vigorously to undo the gains for freedom that were achieved in the 60s and 70s.

Here's a selection of some of Carlin's best quotes, and here's the box set of Carlin stuff from Amazon.com.

Government should be focused on actual problems, issues and threats. A society of grown ups can censor itself, if necessary. It doesn't need government to tell it what to do or how to talk. Carlin sadly passed away in 2008. Here's the famous monologue:



George Carlin is a hero of mine because no government should be able to curtail freedom of speech, no matter the pretense. The 1st amendment of the US Constitution is one of the single greatest pieces of legislation ever conceived. Freedom of speech is the foundation of freedom and worthy of a vigorous defense. There were none as witty to defend her as George. You are missed, but your legacy lives on. A youtube search of George Carlin yields hours of video.