To wonder why The Guardian seems to be totally in love with Russell Brand?

[fishdishwish]

It appears he's got the front page of the mag this Saturday, so doubtless we'll be hearing more tedious pseudo-radical posturing which has been trotted out umpteen times before, but is somehow deemed more palatable when it pours from the lovely lips of our Russell.

They seem to give him endless opportunities to peddle his self-aggrandising nonsense.

Dunno

But it gives me the chance to post this

He is a breath of fresh air, though, isn't he?

Fresh air?
Populist recycled wafts more like

It's intellectual lite. Spouts off about stuff without any actual peer reviewed rigour. Not terribly different to the old pub bore just with added backcombing and drug recovery. Politics has been reduced to soundbites Don't fall into believing comedians are really profound thinkers. He's not Tony Benn.

He's been giving is support to a group called FocusE15 Mothers, knowing that it will give them publicity - and it did, suddenly the campaign went global and all the main media picked up on their campaign.

I really went off him after the abuse he and Jonathan Ross directed at that actor and his family but I have forgiven him a bit for helping their plight.

No doubt he'll be using his word of the moment a lot it's scurrilous.

He is such a twat. I cannot bear the man. Ill informed, irritating man. He's not even nice to look at.

They're probably shagging him.

He's an idiot who doesn't vote.

The guardian is tedious.

Each up own arses.

He is just trying to impress Jemima isn't he?

I love him!. I get the whole politics lite thing but it makes it more accessible for people who aren't looking for a heavy in-depth version of politics, of which there are plenty. In my book, that's a good thing.

Both he and the Graun think he's a latter-day Oscar Wilde. They think he's edgy and dangerous and young and down wid da kidz.

He is, of course, an utter shit.

In between writing The Importance of Being Earnest and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, did ol' Oscar spend his time bullying an old man and his grand daughter by yelling filth down the phone? I don't think he did. Is that the behaviour of a latter-day spokesman for the people? No, it isn't.

Brand's supposed to be a man who we can learn lessons from about stuff. One lesson is "making harassing phone calls about your sexual conquests makes you look like a sack of shit", but apparently in Guardian land sexually aggressive harassment, with no sign whatsoever of the slightest contrition, is OK provided you've got a silly hair cut and were on the telly once (but no so often now, eh?)

He can't write, he can't act, and his idea of a fun night out is making obscene phone calls and boasting about it. The Guardian think this makes him a model for us all. They, and he, should stop confusing being a grotesque bully with being funny.

Oh, and I see from Wikipedia that Brand is a "national treasure" according to tax-avoiding racist Jimmy Carr. Well, that's me convinced.

I thought Jonathan Ross made the phonecall but may be misremembering.

I like hearing what he has to say. I think he's very talented.

He definitely can't write. It's like a B grade GCSE student fitting in as many big words and complicated sentence structures as they can (nothing wrong with getting a B when you are 16... Rubbish when you are a supposedly gifted adult). He doesn't appear to actually understand his subject matter at all.

I have no idea why so many intelligent people seem in love with him. I can't stand him and don't think he has anything worth listening to. I liked Jeremy Paxman's interview with him where he just let him ramble on and show himself up. I also think he is highly unpleasant as a person.
I think it is a question of 'the Emperor's New Clothes'- the only way to explain people's sycophantic approach.

Just me and you then, secret

If you misremember you can google and get the actual transcript of the call- they both made it and Russell Brand had a lot to say. It was very unpleasant- I can't see that he has changed.
And for someone who thinks 'profit' a dirty word he is certainly making a lot! ( you can also google the profits his company made and how much he is worth personally).

Seems that way, Maise! AND I fancy him

His stand up show made me laugh and laugh. I found his first autobiography fascinating and well written.
I don't agree with all his political ideas, but his thing is being a motormouth isn't it and he is making people think. Drawing attention to those women squatting is admirable.
As for that radio thing, it's the kind of thing all over the radiostill 8 years on and I hate it. I register my disapproval by switching off when it happens eg every Wednesday on the radio 1 breakfast show they prank call people. I am not quite sure why that one event got such publicity but the daily mail is good at whipping up a frenzy.He has said he is contrite, as has Ross who did actually do the call.
The Guardian knows people find him fascinating, they have always got the latest it person on their magazine cover- I think they're following the crowd rather than initiating the interest.

Of course they would say they were contrite- they are not silly!

He has said he is contrite

Whatever.

Brand was arrested while "defending" Kay Perry from Paparazzi.

It's left as an exercise for the reader as to why he jumped to the defence of someone on the receiving end of precisely the sort of behaviour he'd been engaging in a couple of years earlier. Why didn't he join in? Oh, Russell, you didn't like your girlfriend being harassed and felt all manly and protective? How convenient. Shouldn't you have instead just phoned up her father and told him that you'd fucked his daughter? At least the paps were doing face to face: Brand's bravery only extended to an old man's answering machine.

In some social contexts, Sach's family would have gone round and beaten Brand up. In others, he'd have been blackballed as a shit. Both responses are more reasonable than the adulation he gets.

He might have jumped to her defence, but he divorced Perry by text and never spoke to her again. What a charmer he is.

I find him unfunny, not particularly intelligent or talented and rather shallow. Plus he's a good deal of a sh*te.

He acts as an instant turn off for me and I wish he would disappear back into obscurity.

(and there is just something about him that reminds me of Rasputin - the manic look in the eyes, his unkempt appearance and the controlling tendencies he displays)

Does no one believe that someone can make a mistake and be genuinely sorry? Obviously we can't know he is but it's not completely out of the question surely?

For those who hate his political ramblings that's a different kettle of fish but one thing I think no one can deny is his passion for what he believes in, and i admire that. He's questioning the status quo and speaking up for people who have no voice.

Yes he's excessively verbose but you do find with alot of addicts when they're clean from their drug they still have that addictive personality and i think that comes through in how ' obsessed' he comes across when discussing certain things.

I'm looking forward to reading the guardian this Saturday anyway

I think he's all right. Perhaps I will buy the Graun tomorrow.

Yes, I believe people can make mistakes and be genuinely sorry.

What RB did was not a mistake - it was planned and deeply nasty. It was a deliberate attempt to deeply humiliate a woman and upset her grandfather. He did it on purpose and with malice aforethought. I did not see him display any real contrition, but I got the impression he was not expecting the backlash and was very sorry about that. Which isn't quite the same.

I can "deny his passion" - because IMO it comes across as wanting to regain the limelight and using a cause to do so. And because of his personality and previous doings his "passion" for a cause could actually be very counter productive.

I like him
It like his comedy and I think he is principled and fair
I'll look forward to the article