George Carlin is Gone

One of the sharpest wits in American history, George Carlin, has died at 71 of heart trouble. He and Shelly Berman were my two favorite comics and I'm a big fan of comedians and comedy.

"Coincidentally" this morning's email brought me a reminder of one of his best lines. Commenting on Martha Stewart's legal problems:

'Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. O. J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the ONE woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her off to jail.'

One of the things about getting older is you watch a lot of your friends -- and people like Carlin who only *seemed* like a friend -- move on to what's next. I'm not sad for them, but I *am* sad for me.

Give 'em Hell, George.