"If you think you do have rights, one last assignment for you: next time you're at the computer, get on the Internet...in the search field at Wikipedia, I want you to type in Japanese Americans 1942, and you'll find out all about your precious fucking rights."
George Carlin
1937-2008
The Constitution spells out rights, but they're like a medieval city wall. If nobody's fighting to hold onto those rights, they'll be taken away, just like the city wall won't protect anyone for long if nobody's manning the ramparts.
This is my fundamental problem with the Democrats. There are a lot of people in this country right now who are willing to raise a ruckus to defend those rights. But unfortunately, when push comes to shove, all of us people have to work through the Democrats in Congress to do so - and the Dems have precious little interest in fighting that battle for us, even when we flood their offices with calls.
This is why I believe we progressives need our own party: we need our own legislators, we need our own voice.
Like I've said before, I don't think such a party should field Presidential candidates, and I don't think it should run candidates in House and Senate races where splitting the center-left vote between two candidates would allow a Republican to win with a minority of the vote. But we could run candidates against Dems in safe districts, and we could run candidates against GOP Congresscritters where the Dems hadn't fielded a viable candidate.
Even if Obama wins in November, the millenium won't have arrived. The Dems will still move too slowly, too cautiously, with too much trepidation in the face of not just the 41 Senate Republicans who can block any vote, but in the face of the Broderellas of the press who will speak words of warning at the first hint of a desire to roll back any but the most stupid things Bush did.
We need a party of our own. We really do.
Posted by: low-tech cyclist | June 23, 2008 at 01:15 PM
What is the date of the above quote? I did just what he suggested and went to Wikipedia. Tons of information about Japanese American internment camps.
Posted by: Donna | June 23, 2008 at 01:52 PM
What is the date of the above quote?
Donna, I transcribed it directly from Carlin's stand-up routine as excerpted in the YouTube I've posted--specifically, at the 6:49 mark; this was part of his last HBO special It's Bad for Ya, taped in Santa Rosa, CA, which premiered earlier this year.
Posted by: litbrit | June 23, 2008 at 03:04 PM
I don't think the point was that you won't find anything on the issue. It's that you'll find tons and tons of information about the government arbitrarily interning its own citizens without any process and for no cause, just in the last century.
Posted by: ResumeMan | June 23, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Eh, I don't think there is any point in progressives getting their own party. Then they have to fight against not just republicans, but democrats as well. As it is, there are plenty of progressives (Does that mean anything, or is it just code for liberal?) in Congress, even in the senate, and they are Democrats, though not all Democrats. I doubt if you had a Progressive Party you would get any more progressives in Congress. In fact, you might have more, because Democrats would have to attack those to their left (well, spend more time attacking those to their left) as well as those to their right. I think the ultimate effect would be to marginalize the left, or progressives, or whatever you want to call whatever it is we are. Personally I think it is easier to weasel our way into the existing power structure while shifting the power structure in our direction. And I think this has been happening over time (on social issues—the country has spent the last 50 years or so backtracking on economics). it just that there never will be some moment, some revolution, at which we become ascendant. But that's ok, because history will judge us right, and our opponents wrong. Really asking for more than that is just greedy.
Posted by: Corvus9 | June 24, 2008 at 12:52 AM
And I hadn't seen this latest routine yet, and it is awesome and hilarious.
I have been thinking about this earlier today, and I thought that maybe this is the way Carlin would have wanted to go out. I don't mean that he would have wanted to go this early or anything, but Carlin seems to be the kind of person who would have placed a particular value on their mind. Even up until the end, the man was sharper than a tac. I think he would have felt acutely mistreated by the kind of slow mental deterioration that accompanies so much of aging, whether dementia or Alzheimer's, and would have preferred to be spared such an experiance.
On the other hand, there is also something incredibly sad about losing him now. I feel like, as the clip shows, that, regardless or age or physical condition, we lost Carlin in his prime. He was just as good as he has ever been at doing what he does, and having him die at 71 feels like something being cut short.
Posted by: Corvus9 | June 24, 2008 at 12:59 AM
Corvus9, I agree, and I also agree with the statement at Sadly, No--that Carlin was the rare performer whose edge actually grew sharper as he aged.
KO had a lovely tribute to him last night, playing a clip of the last interview he did with Carlin. At the outset, Carlin was very complimentary of Countdown and told KO that he was doing good work, and that his producers should be aware of this and appreciate him. Before the clip, KO said that Carlin frequently sent him stories and assorted bits of information, for his use on-air, with the stipulation that KO not reveal who'd sent them.
I am really, really sad about Carlin's passing, in case it isn't obvious.
Posted by: litbrit | June 24, 2008 at 09:18 AM