After a year-long "Don't Vote!" campaign, Russell Brand backs Ed Miliband

Hypocrisy, change of heart, shill, or optimistic hope for incremental change? Russell Brand has decided, after a week-long spotlight of various British political parties, to throw his hat in with Labour and Ed Miliband. His interview with Miliband is interesting; on the one hand, the Prime Minister candidate is charismatic and says exactly the sorts of things that a revolutionary like Brand would like to hear. On the other hand, it is fairly easy to believe that Miliband at least personally believes what he is saying. It would come down to a question of the actual power to follow through on promises, which is where all politicians seem to fall short. Miliband himself seems to hedge his statements with phrases like "don't expect change to happen all at once".

It's difficult to say. I'm not a British citizen, but I can certainly relate to the hype behind certain fair-seeming candidates. I fell for it in '08 with Obama, and I'm cautiously optimistic about a Bernie Sanders presidency now.



I suspect this thread could get ugly. I happen to like Russell Brand quite a lot, but this is certainly a shift in message. I'm torn on this.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

I suspect this thread could get ugly. I happen to like Russell Brand quite a lot, but this is certainly a shift in message. I'm torn on this.

Eventually, revolutionaries who won't use violence as a means of change, will always choose to effect change from within the system they rail against.

That's all Russell is doing. His rants have certainly woken up a few people to what's going on, but eventually you have to stop complaining and actually start supporting real, effective change, as opposed to fluffy rhetoric.

~Tenth

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

I suspect this thread could get ugly. I happen to like Russell Brand quite a lot, but this is certainly a shift in message. I'm torn on this.

Eventually, revolutionaries who won't use violence as a means of change, will always choose to effect change from within the system they rail against.

That's all Russell is doing. His rants have certainly woken up a few people to what's going on, but eventually you have to stop complaining and actually start supporting real, effective change, as opposed to fluffy rhetoric.

~Tenth

I'd prefer to agree with this. Worst case scenario, Brand has been a Labour shill all along, and has been using his manic charisma to charm people to following his view. I don't think this is the case. What a strange way to go about luring people to Labour that would be. Best case scenario, Miliband really IS a figure that could and would affect change, however incremental, from within, and Russell is genuinely convinced of this. That's what I'd like to believe. The most likely scenario, however, is that Russell was taken in by Miliband by meeting him face to face. I suspect Russell likes to think he's a good judge of character; he's declared many people to be "decent" after meeting them in person. Miliband then gets into office and does none of the things he proclaimed on the Trews or elsewhere. That's what I think will happen. I guess I'm cynical.

Edit to add: Actually most likely, UKIP will end up in power, because way too many people are frightened closet racists, in which case gods help the UK.

he's a known tool. Unfortunately one whose age all but insures we'll be treated to periodic doses of his vapid pseudo-intellectual glossalaia for many many decades. Most idiots like this have the decency to be old enough to give thier victims hope that they will shuffle off this mortal coil and thus grant us relief from their drivel.

originally posted by: tothetenthpower


That's all Russell is doing. His rants have certainly woken up a few people to what's going on, but eventually you have to stop complaining and actually start supporting real, effective change, as opposed to fluffy rhetoric.

~Tenth

And the labour party are full of fluffy rhetoric.

And thats at there best.

It was Labour that helped start the Iraq war.

It was Labour in power when the banks collapsed.

Labour destroyed my local area, it shut down hospitals and nearly turned my town into a ghost town in the early-mid 2000's. It was labour that turned my town into a crime hotspot.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Even if Millband is not the slimy career politician he appears to be and is a decent guy it matters little.

Most of the top labour MP's are still the same scum that were around in the reign of Tony Blair.
And a PM is only as good as the MP he relies on for support. Until the likes of Harriet Harmon and Ed balls are gone Labour is still the same as the Blair bandits.

Anyway it matters little:
Vote Labour you get out of touch Oxford scum

Vote Conservative you get out of touch Cambridge scum.

Most the Tory cabinet went to Cambridge

Most the shadow Labour cabinet went to oxford

See the pattern?

originally posted by: AshOnMyTomatoes


Edit to add: Actually most likely, UKIP will end up in power, because way too many people are frightened closet racists, in which case gods help the UK.

No they wont.

At most they will win a few seats in coatsal towns.

And ist not because people are "frightened closet racists".

Its because Labour betrayed them and the Torys have ignored them, they want a voice.

Labeling these people racists and dismissing there concerns just pushes them further into UKIP's camp. Unchecked immigration has literally destroyed some of these towns as Labour did not bother to upgrade the infrastructure to keep in line with the increased population and the Torys have ignored the issue due to them having # all money. Its resulted in alot of desperate and bitter people.

But that not everywhere. I live in Tory heart land in the south and were UKIP has its most chance and I don't see them winning more than a half a dozen seats maybe a dozen if lucky. And you know what? If it gives people on the coast a voice then more power to them.

Red Ed with his messianic stone tablet carved ready for number 10 will get messianic,recovering heroin/sex addict/wannabe marxist revolutionary russel brands vote!

Well whoop dee freaking doo!

It would all seem so funny if it wasn't the future of Britain we are talking about..

It all looked a bit like theatre to me. Miliband just said what Brand wanted to hear, and the talk about communities just reminded me of Cameron and his 'Big Society' stuff from the last election which was just electioneering. That said, if people want to vote Labour to keep the Tories out I can understand that.

The man is an idiot. Telling people to not vote as a mass message to 'the man' is by far the stupidest words to have ever came out of a 'revolutionaries' mouth. It literally goes against everything that should of been said and done. Sure he could run as a MP himself, but I honestly don't believe that there is a snowballs chance in Hell that he would get put into power. He's a fad, same as many other political persons and parties have been in our recent years. Within the last 10 years the British National Party were a major threat and a danger. Their leader was doing TV debates and interviews, now this election, nothing. All the views that party had, x is bad, y is worse, has all gotten worse. However now the BNP are gone, and a more refined and less radical version has popped up, UKIP. They share many similar views, but UKIP actually puts brains behind them and not just sheer racism. Brand will go out of favour and another will replace him in time.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Russell Brand is an idiot parading around as some intelligent human specimen--apparently he's better at acting than I thought, because people seem to believe him.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

I'm from uk. Bottom line is the conservatives are destroying this country. And what Russel brand says for the most part is bang on the money. I tend to think people are put off by russel brands approach to communicating his point..

Why you think he is an idiot seems rather strange to me. The fella ain't no fool.

originally posted by: DigitalResonance
a reply to: SlapMonkey

I'm from uk. Bottom line is the conservatives are destroying this country. And what Russel brand says for the most part is bang on the money. I tend to think people are put off by russel brands approach to communicating his point..

Why you think he is an idiot seems rather strange to me. The fella ain't no fool.

I dont think he is a idiot but I think him a fool to trust Milliband or to think Labour the party that brought as Iraq and the 2008 Crash is the answer!

Milliband is not a private educated Cambridge career politician toff like Camron, no he is a career politician toff from Oxford instead. Whoopy #ing do what a big difference.....not.

Remember Brands last "anti banker" film was actually funded by bankers in the city of London,as a tax write off no less...
www.telegraph.co.uk...
Who is he taking his wages off for this latest round of BS-Milliband I wonder?

"Lets get down with the kids and tell them not to vote,then at the last minute tell them to vote for Ed-the commie-Wallace."

The guy is a tool for those he claims to be against..
Don't do Heroin people-ever.
It fubar's the mind.

I was shocked to see Marxist Jesus throw his hat in with labour myself, Im a 25 year old English male so suppose i fit his demographic, and are in no way ashamed to say i watch his videos (pinch of salt, sometimes whole cellar, at the ready).

I have voted Labour before, doubt i will vote them again, and as Crazyewok said, the coastal areas are in favor of UKIP for the very reasons i shant be voting labour again. I wont be voting UKIP either, myself, though i know the majority locally will be. UKIP may be neither racist nor zenophobic, but the majority who support them locally dont even do so for the fishing regulations under the EU as many have no intention of ever working, but hate to see johnny foreigner doing so. Brand doesnt understand this, nor does he understand he isnt the sole holder of 'rebellious' views for the under 30's, but i have a grudging respect for him, even after the 'dont vote, oh but i may vote labour' ploy.

Whats the saying, 'Change the system, or get changed by the system'?

But for the positive, he has been vehement against establishment coverups, abuse, paedophilia and generally aimed to be a thorn in the old boys network's side. Much like the occupy movement was uncorrectly branded an anti-capitalist protest, Brand had been branded (see what i did there?) a communist,Particularly a champagne socialist also. He has a nice flat, cant deny it, but does that really detract from his values (whatever they may be, i dont claim to know)

In short, i dont think his favour of Labour will sway many young people, even those that view him as the Shoreditch messiah.
Nor does it really ruin his image in my eyes, as the critical people were rather skeptical of him at every moment.

Whatever goes down, heres to hoping we dont have another few years of blatent backpeddling from whoever sits on the lavvy at number 10

I'd say that if Russell Brand's apparent change of heart on voting has really come about in the last week since he's been interviewing various candidates, he's perhaps swayed fairly easily by hucksters.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Either he planned, it, was paid, he thinks this is for the 'Greater Good', or, more likely in my eyes, as you put, easily swayed by well thought out speeches by snot practicing having personality. Did you catch the repeated 'Aint's' by Millipede? Enough to make a Northerner like me snort my Newkie Brown through my nose.

a reply to: twfau

Sorry as i know its not really on topic, and could me by ignorance, but did we ever actually see or hear of this 'big society' bullschmidt they were touting back then? it sounded kinda good till you realise it distills to 'look after it yourselves, but oh, no, you still dont have the freedoms to do that, so just toe the lign. maybe you can have an allotment?'

originally posted by: Learningman Did you catch the repeated 'Aint's' by Millipede? Enough to make a Northerner like me snort my Newkie Brown through my nose.

I did catch that. I kept thinking "yeah, he's an ordinary bloke all right." There was a point when Miliband was doing the little Kennedy fist-thumb thing, and Brand noticed and started doing it too. I was all over the place trying to figure out what Russell was thinking during that interview.

The next few episodes of Trews should be interesting.

or the green party as rticle below lol

link

from the article

Russell Brand has revised his anti-voting stance and called for people living in Brighton to vote for Caroline Lucas of the Green Party.

The politicised comedian, who caused a row in 2013 when he said he did not vote, said Ms Lucas was obviously a “decent” person and worth electing to Parliament.

“People that live in Brighton Pavilion should definitely vote for you,” he told Ms Lucas in an interview on his YouTube channel.