Fairness, I think, serves as a more realistic standard than objectivity as a baseline for journalistic writing and reporting.

A recent letter to the editor in my newspaper reminded me of that stance. The writer took issue with a headline I wrote – on a brief about George Carlin admitting himself to a rehab center for the twin habits of pain killers and wine.

“Stand-up potty-mouth Carlin enters rehab,” is how it read.

I thought it fair. When I wrote it, a possible perception of bias didn’t occur to me.

Still, the writer decried the objectivity of the Star-Banner directly and – since I wrote the headline – me indirectly. “In case you don’t know Carlin has been a significant force in the world of stand up comedy for 40 years,” he wrote.

I’ve never, even accidentally, suffered an accusation of puritanical bias, so this episode stuck with me. And, since I have this rickety soap box to stand on, I thought I’d toss out a defense.

Carlin sits high on my list of personal heroes. Lenny Bruce tops him, but Carlin never let his excesses get to him and lived to leave a broader, lasting impact on comedy and the concept of freedom of speech.

I have an old beat up vinyl copy of Class Clown, which features an early version of the famous “seven dirty words” routine. He recorded a variation in 1973, the year I was born, which was later aired on the radio. The resulting indecency lawsuit brought him to a new venue: the Supreme Court. Though the broadcaster going to bat for Carlin’s routine struck out there, the case effectively established the broadcast decency standards we have today.

(Incidentally, hoping my nephews don’t read this, the seven words are: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. Try doing that in a newspaper…)

I loved Carlin’s performances in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Dogma and even Jersey Girl. If anyone deserved such high-profile introductions to yet another generation, it was Carlin.

And lastly, though I wouldn’t presume to speak for Mr. Carlin, I don’t think he would shy away from the moniker “potty-mouth.” He’s staked his career on it.

So, in writing that headline, I may have editorialized a bit. That’s what editors do; they make editorial decisions. I stand by that one. If I had a more generous space for the headline, I could have just as easily wrote: “George Carlin, one of the funniest men alive, shows uncommon strength of character by recognizing his failings and checking himself into a substance abuse treatment center.”