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Carlin is most definitely on the Liberal side of the spectrum, maybe even "Left."
He was funny and his messaging hit hard at the time when a lot of younger folk were starting to become much more politically active, even if they didn't vote much...
Honestly, though... His sociopolitical commentary doesn't really age well, today. Sure, it can be funny, but it doesn't hit audiences today like it hit them back when he was alive and in his prime.
Carlin rebranded himself and found a shtick that worked. He found an "in your face" "man shouts at clouds" presentation that caught a good many people's attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvdLV-5McNY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHFLTb9Fp18
Yes, that's Carlin. :)
I'm really glad he found a voice that worked. But, he was also joined by quite a few comedians that developed their own style of sociopolitical/cultural stuffs. He stuck with that "straight man" shtick for quite awhile, though. If he hadn't moved to something more controversial, nobody would remember who he was. :)
Just like... if Robin Williams hadn't gotten into movies... his "yukkity yuk yuk" brand of over-the-top presentation and wacky voices wouldn't have made him a household name. It was his "energy," not "controversy" that sealed his breakout success, but it wouldn't have lasted if he hadn't started getting TV and Film roles. (Dramatic ones, in particular)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHIcmoY3_lE
(Love that flick, which I why I led directly into a clip from it)
Anyway - Honestly, "comedians" can really do good work in bringing controversial issues into the light so that we can more easily see them and, hopefully, discuss them. But, they are not usually cut out for being leaders or icons. That's not their job. Their job is to make illuminating commentary that may, if that's what they want to achieve, raise some new ideas about social issues... or just make people laugh.
As a matter of fact I have more legal right to make them than the people attempting to censor me do to censor me.
Some "conservatives" like to paint themselves as "anti-establishment," so they cherry-pick from people like Carlin. (I know other people cherry-pick as well.)
UNEDITED POST:
He sounded pretty clear and direct, at least in the videos I mentioned above.
Then I guess you can share some of his stuff which you like.
I'd assume you'd like this
https://youtu.be/7n2PW1TqxQk?feature=shared
well, a white conservative might not like when he says "smug well-fed greedy white people have invented a language to conceals their sins", but I think most of what he says there crosses the political spectrum. But even then, to me he sounds like a leftist criticizing politically correct language, as when I hear a conservative to complain politically correct language, they usually complain that people are too sensitive nowadays and can't take criticism, which was not what where George Carlin was coming from.
I bet he wouldn't support either political party. But neither American party is left-wing, so his lack of support for either party doesn't imply he's wasn't a leftist.
Or he gave both sides equal amounts of both barrels.
He played to a 'moral heart,' and the issue is he did have vaguely misogynistic views. So that heart wasn't exactly in the right place.
Republicans claiming him is a transparent attempt to shift the country's moral heart towards misogyny. Just knock it a little bit further out of alignment.
His career arc was like the opposite of Sam Kinison's, in a way.
It's more about how these sorts of comedic icons emerge than anything else. And, of course, the fact that Carlin was very strongly Liberal, at least in his messaging, and likely far Left in his political influences.
And, while comedians are paid to be insightful, they're just not going to be the icons and figureheads that people should think should speak for them. That's not their task and that's not the job they're working at.
Even Jon Stewart, long held as a nice light in the dark for sensible, funny, commentary, isn't cut out to be some kind of sociopolitical leader/spokesperson. He's got a quick wit and generally appealing insight and comedy, but he can also go way to far when it comes down to practical discussions about "doing something about" whatever it is he's bringing up.
Comedians can be excellent canaries to sound out pressing issues that many may have overlooked or have refused to acknowledge. But, it's everyone else's job to take it from there, once it has been illuminated.
But I feel that clarifying that Carlin's Liberal views and his anti-second-wave-feminism views are not contradictory. Same as how he clearly struggled with misogynistic feelings in his life, independent of his criticisms of Feminism.
He isn't 'wholly wrong' or 'wholly right,' and he tended to present himself as a flawed person. His act often revolved around the reality that people are all flawed, often in humorous and absolutely relentlessly horrifying ways.
When I say the Republicans are trying to shift the heart out of alignment, I mean they're digging up his corpse and dressing it up in a tutu to dance for them.
Or maybe no sane human can back either side.
Here's the thing though. Comedians are usually self-aware enough to know what their role is and how much influence they have over an audience, which is more than can be said for the politicians and the people who idolize and worship those politicians, no matter who they are. Comedians for the most part at least try to get people to make up their own damn minds and see things with their own eyes and ears.
They don't claim to have all the answers, nor do they think anyone should follow them or that they should or could lead. If Joe Rogan insists on being "unbiased" and "fair", then perhaps he should insist that his viewers and/or listeners DON'T take anything he says at face value, because at the end of the day, it's just HIS opinion, and they should make up their own damn minds. Half of comedy is about being funny. So I would argue how successful he is at even THAT, if he doesn't actually make people laugh.