Today’s post is a nod to George Carlin, the brilliant recently-deceased comedian.

Two days ago in New York state (black Friday, November 28, 2008) a Walmart employee was killed when a mob crashed through the doors of the Long Island store in a rush to start that days holiday shopping.

Here is a partial account of the incident from newYorktimes.com:

Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.

Some workers who saw what was happening fought their way through the surge to get to Mr. Damour, but he had been fatally injured, the police said. Emergency workers tried to revive Mr. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, at the scene, but he was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream.

Four other people, including a 28-year-old woman who was described as eight months pregnant, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries.

In my book that qualifies as astonishing.

Carlin had plenty of material making fun of our crazy consumerism-obsessed culture. A lot of it was hilarious. Some of it was painful. But it usually was insightful and (should have) made you think.

I can’t help but think of Carlin’s riffs on ‘the decrepit state of the American culture’ when I read of this incident.

Carlin lamented, in biting humor and commentary, what he saw as our sad state of affairs and really a collective lapse of responsibility for what matters in this world. That included (though wasn’t limited to) paying attention, asking questions of authority, being responsible, and generally conducting ourselves like adults should.

He was especially hard on America. He thought we were becoming fat, lazy and stupid.

When I read a story about a group of people stomping a young person to death in a frenzy of shopping madness, it is hard to argue with Carlin’s point-of-view.

That, in a nutshell, is what Carlin would classify as evidence that homo sapiens are ‘circling the drain.’ That aphorism was something he referenced in a video trailer called “Too Hip for the Room” contained in the recent DVD release titled “It’s Bad For ‘Ya.”

In the video segment Carlin is straighforward and direct. He says more or less that he is convinced that we are in an inexorable decline that will not have a good ending. And he sardonically adds that he is ‘removed from it all now, no longer invested in the culture and no longer interested in any of it.’

He says that all of us are ‘born into a freak show. And those of us born in the United States have a front-row seat.’

To get the full effect of Carlin and his comedy/philosophy check out the video. Or check out YouTube and spend a few minutes on any number of subjects he irreverently skewers.

George Carlin, you were “too hip for the room.”