American comedian George Carlin’s “American Dream” bit from his HBO special, Life Is Worth Losing , has been adapted into a clip that takes aim at Donald Trump and the Republican Party. As reported by Esquire , the video casts Carlin’s bit against the backdrop of Trump and America under his leadership. According to the publication, the film was uploaded by a Portland-based production company called Pattern Integrity Films.
“Say what you want about America,” Carlin begins the piece.
“Land of the free, home of the brave. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, and city halls. They got the judges in their back pocket.”
Carlin then takes aim at the “big media companies” purportedly owned by politicians to control the information that the United States population hears.
According to Pattern Integrity, they are “funded by the resistance” and linked to Portland Inc. , a documentary on Oregon. The producers claim affiliation with Eleven Films, which is responsible for various other political shorts. Notably, Pattern Integrity recently tweeted that its team is attempting to do everything in its power to “change our world for the better.”
Despite the video’s apparent attempt to link Carlin’s insight to Trump, many pushed back on the suggestion that the comedian would have supported either the Republican Party of the Democratic Party. Briahna Joy Gray, who was National Press Secretary for former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders , highlighted another piece of Carlin’s stand-up in which he revealed that he does not vote.
Looks like some folks really don’t know their George Carlin. pic.twitter.com/uysCHqnAlx
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) July 26, 2020
Others criticized the clip for co-opting Carlin’s message into something that opposed his actual values and beliefs, while some praised the clip as effective criticism of Trump and his leadership.
George Carlin was one of the only comedians in my lifetime who spoke truth to power, who called out corruption on ALL sides.
They’re doing exactly to Carlin what they did to Martin Luther King Jr, rewriting history to make it palatable to the establishment.
It’s grotesque.
— beth (@bourgeoisalien) July 26, 2020
lmao at that george carlin clip that just went viral, using his words that target the entire ruling class, including democrats and liberals, to solely be about republicans and right-wingers. here’s a thread on how he despised you too, starting with this https://t.co/6u5lsMVraJ
— ??? (@zei_squirrel) July 26, 2020
This video is completely devastating for Trump. George Carlin gives him the finger from the grave. Whatever you do don’t make it go viral! #AmericaWakeUp pic.twitter.com/vy2zz0j8DB
— Dark Brandon (@DarkBrandon2020) July 26, 2020
As reported by HuffPost , George Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, previously said in an interview with comedian Karith Foster that her late father would have viewed Trump as misogynistic and racist. Conversely, she said he was a progressive and would have been a fan of Sanders.
Nevertheless, Kelly Carlin said her father would have had an affinity for the “freak show” of Trump-era politics and noted that he “loved” the “freak show aspect” of U.S. politics. She also noted the comedy legend’s decision not to vote, a practice he reportedly began in 1972 when he was let down by former Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.
