Several years ago, I thought Russell was kind of funny in a snarky way. He could make cheeky fun of himself, and I respected that. But he has fallen into a very unfunny sexist ditch. He aspires to irony, but he should stop trying to be a poor man's Christopher Hitchens.
JVL being the sort of truly decent person he is I hope he doesn't take the adverse comments here as detestation. Quite the opposite.
I and I think all of us here respect, admire, and hold you in our hearts. It is a rare and beautiful soul who humbly tries with all the (manifold) talents he has been blessed with to live these words of Thomas Merton:
"Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another."
Please accept as caritas the (hopefully) gentle words of your most sincere family.... all of whom are sinners ourselves. Including us atheists
I admire JVL but what the fuck was funny about the Russell Brand "joke" or "jest" about the apparently exposed mammaries of his interlocutor on some entertainment talk show or podcast or whatever it was we heard on the podcast?
Sorry luv but I'm only human? I have instincts?
That wasn't funny. It was revolting.
I happen to be male and I happen to appreciate that women are beautiful. (Also smart, wise, clever, foolish, obnoxious, delightful, corrupt and all the other virtues and follies of all genders of the species.) Not only for -- in fact, not even mostly for -- to a non trivial extent the arrangement of adipose tissue in the female human primate. Said arrangements of adipose tissue remains even at my advanced age something that does not escape attention.
This is because of evolution. It's fun and appropriate. And it's one which, under the right circumstances, such an appreciation properly expressed can be reciprocably appreciated. By the gender addressed.
But nothing is funny about a power situation under which a talk show female host has to make light of a stupid sexual reference as if it were not a grotesque appeal to 7th grade level yuck yuch boy girl misogyny.
If someone can explain what is actually humorous about this I will retract. In the meantime -- what did your spouse think of it?
I’m usually with JVL and am grateful for the frankness that he and everyone at The Bulwark speaks with.
And, I came here to say this. Having the instinct is human. What brand did was a reflection of his true character. It is exactly because we excuse this behavior as funny that it persists. In fact, that makes it even more sinister than the overt violence people that Tate and others like him champion. We still have a lot of work to do on this topic and I also don’t want to kick a person down. Let this be a collective lesson that we all need to examine and dismantle what keeps us stuck here.
No, guys: I ask you to reconsider. His stupid, obvious, cheap moment with Mika was not funny. It was no more than what women have to deal with again and again and again -- nothing novel or funny about it. No decent man would have done what he did -- and it does seem all of a piece with the allegations against him, doesn't it?
I hate it that women have to put up with this shit. And I am no paragon. I like women. I like the way they look. But I can't see anything funny about jokes about their anatomy. (My own anatomy, fair game -- I have mirrors in my house and honesty compels me to acknowledge that my own physiognomy presents a justly risible spectacle for the entertainment of the world.)
I find the Russel Brand faux I'm a Christian now so offensive. I wasn't there. I don't know if he raped these women, but he was admitted sex addict. I am a former fan, too.
No, JVL, that was not the funniest moment in cable news, or whatever. I hope you were being ironic.
It was not funny at all, in my opinion. It was Brand turning any moment with a female into a sexual encounter. He was completely on brand for being a cad and a sexual predator. I a word, disgusting.
Funny? ANY of this? Too much laughter, guys. This man is disgusting. A charge of rape and sexual assault doesn’t need us to remember anything at this moment that you might once have found funny.
Weird. I usually like transgressive humor but I did not find the way Brand behaved toward Brezinkski when she was just trying to do her job funny. Would you want your daughter treated that way at work (even if she “dressed like she was asking for it”?)
No excuse for treating a woman as meat. "Even" i n jest. Some jest. Make fun of her stupidity if you can, fair game. Condemn her for mendacity, lying, and hypocrisy . Jest about her clumsiness onstage. Gossip about her character resemblance to Cruella de Ville..
Otherwise-- just keep your piehole shut. Her body is no one's damned business anyone is entitled to refer to publicly. Unless she brings it up.
Even Bill Clinton of contemptible memory (as far as we know) never "jested" about the busts of the women he ... engaged with.
I have to confess I have more than once made contumacious remarks about the physical appearance of several prominent MAGA females. Not approbative— But only those who appear to me to have made an effort to leverage their appearance to generate interest to advance their political interests. A little conflicted on my part perhaps but the way we all dress and exhibit ourselves in public is not unrelated to our social objectives.
I agree that it’s not a cut-and-dried, black and white thing. But I also think we can agree that Russell was over the line. Maybe the line is fuzzy and there are a lot of edge cases. But this wasn’t one of those, imo.
Yeah, JVL, you rrally need to devote a column to explain what you think was funny on that Mika bit.
Several years ago, I thought Russell was kind of funny in a snarky way. He could make cheeky fun of himself, and I respected that. But he has fallen into a very unfunny sexist ditch. He aspires to irony, but he should stop trying to be a poor man's Christopher Hitchens.
That was weird. Was it me? No, nope cause I was just listening to podcast, it was def not me. Oof.
JVL being the sort of truly decent person he is I hope he doesn't take the adverse comments here as detestation. Quite the opposite.
I and I think all of us here respect, admire, and hold you in our hearts. It is a rare and beautiful soul who humbly tries with all the (manifold) talents he has been blessed with to live these words of Thomas Merton:
"Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another."
Please accept as caritas the (hopefully) gentle words of your most sincere family.... all of whom are sinners ourselves. Including us atheists
Feet of clay
I admire JVL but what the fuck was funny about the Russell Brand "joke" or "jest" about the apparently exposed mammaries of his interlocutor on some entertainment talk show or podcast or whatever it was we heard on the podcast?
Sorry luv but I'm only human? I have instincts?
That wasn't funny. It was revolting.
I happen to be male and I happen to appreciate that women are beautiful. (Also smart, wise, clever, foolish, obnoxious, delightful, corrupt and all the other virtues and follies of all genders of the species.) Not only for -- in fact, not even mostly for -- to a non trivial extent the arrangement of adipose tissue in the female human primate. Said arrangements of adipose tissue remains even at my advanced age something that does not escape attention.
This is because of evolution. It's fun and appropriate. And it's one which, under the right circumstances, such an appreciation properly expressed can be reciprocably appreciated. By the gender addressed.
But nothing is funny about a power situation under which a talk show female host has to make light of a stupid sexual reference as if it were not a grotesque appeal to 7th grade level yuck yuch boy girl misogyny.
If someone can explain what is actually humorous about this I will retract. In the meantime -- what did your spouse think of it?
I’m usually with JVL and am grateful for the frankness that he and everyone at The Bulwark speaks with.
And, I came here to say this. Having the instinct is human. What brand did was a reflection of his true character. It is exactly because we excuse this behavior as funny that it persists. In fact, that makes it even more sinister than the overt violence people that Tate and others like him champion. We still have a lot of work to do on this topic and I also don’t want to kick a person down. Let this be a collective lesson that we all need to examine and dismantle what keeps us stuck here.
No, guys: I ask you to reconsider. His stupid, obvious, cheap moment with Mika was not funny. It was no more than what women have to deal with again and again and again -- nothing novel or funny about it. No decent man would have done what he did -- and it does seem all of a piece with the allegations against him, doesn't it?
I hate it that women have to put up with this shit. And I am no paragon. I like women. I like the way they look. But I can't see anything funny about jokes about their anatomy. (My own anatomy, fair game -- I have mirrors in my house and honesty compels me to acknowledge that my own physiognomy presents a justly risible spectacle for the entertainment of the world.)
I find the Russel Brand faux I'm a Christian now so offensive. I wasn't there. I don't know if he raped these women, but he was admitted sex addict. I am a former fan, too.
No, JVL, that was not the funniest moment in cable news, or whatever. I hope you were being ironic.
It was not funny at all, in my opinion. It was Brand turning any moment with a female into a sexual encounter. He was completely on brand for being a cad and a sexual predator. I a word, disgusting.
What I wrote too. Funny? Revolting.
I just have to say that the thumbnail of JVL seemingly looking askance at ol' Russell is pretty great in its own right. Kudos, Hannah!
Englands Charles Manson
He can find Jesus in jail. Penance motherfucker.
This so tracks. I know a MAHA person in town who loves Russell Brand and I can’t wait to stalk her to see how she posts about this.
all the tin foil hats have migrated to MAGA...MAHA
Yes. It’s so weird to see the transformation.
Funny? ANY of this? Too much laughter, guys. This man is disgusting. A charge of rape and sexual assault doesn’t need us to remember anything at this moment that you might once have found funny.
Not funny.
Weird. I usually like transgressive humor but I did not find the way Brand behaved toward Brezinkski when she was just trying to do her job funny. Would you want your daughter treated that way at work (even if she “dressed like she was asking for it”?)
No excuse for treating a woman as meat. "Even" i n jest. Some jest. Make fun of her stupidity if you can, fair game. Condemn her for mendacity, lying, and hypocrisy . Jest about her clumsiness onstage. Gossip about her character resemblance to Cruella de Ville..
Otherwise-- just keep your piehole shut. Her body is no one's damned business anyone is entitled to refer to publicly. Unless she brings it up.
Even Bill Clinton of contemptible memory (as far as we know) never "jested" about the busts of the women he ... engaged with.
Yeah I was a little disappointed to see JVL insisting this was “absolutely hilarious”. Maybe I’m just a woke lib after all 😉
I have to confess I have more than once made contumacious remarks about the physical appearance of several prominent MAGA females. Not approbative— But only those who appear to me to have made an effort to leverage their appearance to generate interest to advance their political interests. A little conflicted on my part perhaps but the way we all dress and exhibit ourselves in public is not unrelated to our social objectives.
I agree that it’s not a cut-and-dried, black and white thing. But I also think we can agree that Russell was over the line. Maybe the line is fuzzy and there are a lot of edge cases. But this wasn’t one of those, imo.
Agreed.
So this means Russell Brand now possesses all the prerequisites deemed necessary by the administration for a Cabinet post? In case Hegseth goes?
If not a Cabinet post, at least a few gigs at the Kennedy Center.
That was the first time I’ve seen that cable bit. Cheesy line that might have played on the
Borscht belt. And just makes him sound like a perv, which he clearly is.