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A George Carlin Special Too Raw After Sept. 11 Resurfaces Now
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: September 11th, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/arts/george-carlin-raw-pre...
On Sept. 10, 2001, George Carlin, the greatest political comic in history if measured only by stand-up specials, recorded a bracing hour of social commentary for his new HBO special. The next day, he shelved it. It wasnt only the title, I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die, that seemed in bad taste after nearly 3,000 people were killed a day later in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Carlin also told a joke about a fart so potent it blew up an airplane. You know who gets blamed? Osama bin Laden, Mr. Carlin joked. The F.B.I. is looking for explosives. They should be looking for minute traces of rice and bok choy. Fifteen years later, his lost special is finally being released. Its a polished hour of new jokes. Mr. Carlin, who died in 2008, had always been a left-leaning comic whose skepticism of government would be right at home with the Tea Party. In a 1999 special, he even ridiculed airport security as a pointless charade, saying Americans are always willing to trade away a little of their freedom in exchange for the illusion of security. But like so many other people, he was transformed by Sept. 11. He released an entirely new special only two months after the attack - Complaints and Grievances - in which he talks more about survival than freedom, setting up one premise by saying that dire events call for us to cooperate with unsavory people like George W. Bush. Mr. Carlins more tentative attitude toward the government is a reminder of the anxiety about even doing comedy after Sept. 11.
Note: Carlin's recorded comedy show will be publicly released on September 16. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing 9/11 news articles from reliable major media sources. Then explore the excellent, reliable resources provided in our 9/11 Information Center.
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