EMERGENCY POST: OFF Brand

Yesterday, after I absorbed the Russell Brand news, first by watching his speedy, jump-cut acknowledgment of coming accusations of rape and sexual abuse and his prediction that it's a coordinated attack on him by the mainstream media for being a "truth teller, maaaan," Then reading the actual story in The Times, and watching this preview of the Channel 4 Documentary,  I recorded a little video of me acting pretend shocked and stunned by the news, adding a little tearful Drew Barrymore drama and after a long, dumb pause accused "The Deep State" of being behind it. It was pretty funny and meant as a satirical jab at the chorus of chud men and right-wing hucksters that immediately jumped to Brand's defense.

I sent it to a few friends, asking, should I bother with this? I felt like it would get some laughs and appreciation from people who got what I was going for, but would likely also be taken literally by the wrong people and most importantly just not respectful to the very real people involved: the women who have come forward.  And so I kept it offline. I felt a real change in the way I should react to these stories and how I should use my voice in these situations.  

Not that it matters, but I've been OFF Brand for a more than a decade. Maybe since I first saw him creep into the LA Comedy scene, blowing up quickly - "you gotta see this guy. He talks so fast. Very clever!"  But something about his rock n' roll, big hair, leather jacket, Steven Tyler look signaled to me he was more concerned with his looks than with his comedy.  My early feelings on him are captured in this interview i did with Julie Klausner in 2012. 

 He's always sucked. 

Hollywood went on the Brand Train for a few years, giving him chances to be a movie star and eventually spit him back out to the UK, where he transmuted into some kind of spiritual guru influencer, then sliding into right-wing conspiracy peddler, always with a bit of truth about Big Pharm, Capitalism, etc etc... He was welcomed by the growing list of right-wing influencers:  Tucker, Peterson et al, as one of their own.  And because of this, clearly, he has now become a target for THE MAN, and must be swiftly taken out. 

But even with the most cynical view of how the big media works, if they did have some kind of vendetta out for him, which is silly to think it works like that -  as if there's some dark room where the orders on who to cancel are decided upon and then distributed to the outlets, they still may just put more effort into looking into his sordid past and finding real dirt. But would The Times, and Channel 4 risk making stuff up and risk getting sued over... uh... Russell Brand???  Would these women come out and talk, knowing how scrutinized they're going to be? Of course, no. 

And of course, the second wave of this story happened the moment every one of Brand's new buddies immediately jumped in to go on the record that naturally, this is the work of the DEEP STATE and their plans to silence anyone undermining the New World Order's carefully written script. Musk, Tucker, Peterson, and Scott Adams (Dilbert!)  all going with their own pre-written script of "see? this is how they ruin you!"  They're not interested in what happened - if, in fact, Occam's Razor applies - if Russell Brand who lived for years, as a self-described hedonistic lifestyle of drugs, sex, and depravity, which very well may have descended into real crimes, real damage and thus, real consequences. 

And then under their declarations of support for Brand came the new army of paid blue-checked pawns, all chiming in with their own calls for support for Brand and total agreement with the narrative that nothing is real, except their own conspiracy theories.  I'm doubtful they read the story or will follow up and DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH.  Elon and Company have declared this story to be just another example of the Elites using their puppet strings to control the world and that's all they need to know about it.  Just click on any one of Musk's, Tucker's or Peterson's tweets to see the rabbit hole of reactionary, dim-witted, and just plain sad replies.  It's a horror show. 

I'm naturally inclined to believe these women and the stories they've courageously decided to tell, but whether Russell Brand is guilty of rape, is for a judge and jury to decide. If the investigations by The Times and Channel 4 lead to a criminal investigation, charges, and a trial then Brand has the right to defend himself and should be considered innocent until proven guilty. This should be obvious and aligned with any ethos that values personal responsibility, and consequences for one's actions.   

But that's not important anymore to the small group now guiding a generation of men's minds. "Russ is OUR guy, and it doesn't matter what he did... he's ours and we've got his back." It's tribal and sick and probably much more rooted in keeping the influence business they've built humming along than any sort of political ideology. 

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's another side to this story I'm just not seeing. I, like you,  will be sure to tune in to the new season of "SCAB TIME WITH BILL MAHER" to hear the other side.