Russell Brand and Question Time

Russell Brand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For a long time now I've had zero interest in politics. I suppose I had the stuffing knocked out of me by the incessant stream of left of centre associates that seem to be striving to get their credentials for joining the Soviet Union's League of Militant Atheists. Sadly some people when hearing about 'faith' or 'God' or the like compartmentalise it all into some 'God box' that demands the most strident ripost. They seem to lose the ability to reason and discern whenever God gets mentioned and treat everything linked to faith as a monolithic entity, which it isn't. And in turn they appear to me to become more infantile and stereotypical in their behaviour and manners. One or two excepted of course. But that's why I've had no interest in politics for a long time now.

In the same vein the whole concept of celebrity bores me to tears. Take a 'celebrity' and it all comes down to behaviour to get media coverage and all the while the scenario is being manipulated behind the scenes by Svengali-like men who play the system to line their pockets.

So when Russell Brand appears yapping on about 'revolution', 'occupy' and other lefty mantras my blood freezes. The conjoining of celebrity, infantilism and a new book is just too much for me to bear.

Last night I caught the final few minutes of BBC's Question Time and saw Russell Brand looking rather deflated and perhaps sad amongt the Lab and ConDem clones who were spouting their parties mealy mouthed mantras. I certainly didn't see anything that got mentioned in the reviews or on Twitter regarding clashes and audience heckling. However I did look at Brand's Twitter feed and actually followed the link to his latest blog post where he talks about the show. And I have to say I now see him in a different light. Not the vacuous celebrity and, dare I say it a 'bit of a cock' but someone who underneath the veneer of the media circus actually cares about people. He was able to talk about Christians and people of faith without subconsciously turning into Uncle Joe, and he shows a real passion for humanity and people, as he says:

The Britain of the future will be born of alliances between ordinary, self-governing people, organised locally, communicating globally. Built on principles that are found in traditions like Christianity; community, altruism, kindness, love.

It's a breath of fresh air to find that sort of ethos amongst the left and it's really made a mark on me. So much so that I've even resurrected my Twitter account @lansburyslido.

Heartening.