George Carlin died yesterday, aged 71. He was the link from the era of Lenny Bruce, but unlike Bruce (and Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison and others that came after) came past drug addictions and obscenity trials to be active, successful and, most importantly, funny well passed the retirement age.

Anyway, I picked this bit as a tribute because I love the build to the final punchline. At 64 years old, George Carlin was still balancing on the line between social commentary and clever word play. He never slipped into ranting for its own sake, nor do he tire of satirising America and Americans of all political persuasions. A genuine loss, to comedy and common sense.