Louis CK is easily the funniest comedian around today. Via Sullivan, here's Monica Potts making the case for Louis as the "liberal comedian."
Unlike most other shows on television, in almost every episode Louie deals with a deep moral quandary -- whether it's ever OK to use the word faggot, for instance -- which is addressed from a fundamentally liberal point of view. In the first episode, Louis responds to a bus malfunction on a school field trip he is chaperoning by sending every kid home in a limousine. In the stand-up section that follows, he says, "There are people who are starving in the world, and I'm driving an Infiniti." In the third episode, a fellow comedian complains that white people don't stand a chance in the age of Obama, and Louis asks, "What is 10,000 years of unchecked prosperity? That's not enough for you?"
This is new. For the most part, people of color are the ones who initiate serious discussions about race and privilege in the public sphere -- and in the world of comedy.
If I were forced to choose an heir to Carlin's throne, it would be Louis. Easily. This, for example:
(NSFW)