Decenthead
Oliver Kamm and Nick Cohen are big with the bass player out of Radiohead. It seems strangely appropriate.
posted by The Rioja Kid at 3/22/2007 05:11:00 PM
Thursday, March 22, 2007
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23 Comments:
Very good.
Here's a piece by Daniel Finkelstein
http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2007/03/brian_eno_is_an.html
"I'm still waiting for a centre right rock star with neo-con sympathies."
The waiting is over.
Somehow I think they will be less popular with Thom Yorke though, who I presume is less decent.
I was far too hasty in suggesting that Colin Greenwood falsifies the Finkelstein hypothesis, since it would clearly have been better to designate him an "honourable exception."
I note that Nick Cohen on his blog claims that Kamm's Democratiya review is "endorsed by Radiohead."
That's rather stretching the truth because the "endorsement" is clearly Colin's, not necessarily Radiohead's as a whole.
'Simplify, then exaggerate' - didn't a reviewer say that was Nick's whole methodology?
Colin Greenwood hasn't signed the Euston Manifesto (or at least, not under the names "Colin Greenwood" or "Radiohead" - he might have used a pseudonym like "Need more money 300 mg wellbutrin xl - ", which is currently the first signature in the list.
there is a signatory "johnny guitar", which may be colin's brother.
by the way I hear from the Harry's Place comments that at his promotional Decentiya gig last night, Nick Cohen had an "explosion on the weakening of the feminist movement by relativism". It sounds really embarrassing and I wish I was there.
Is it relativism if, when somebody mentions Israel, the HP people say "why you always go on about Israel, why don't you talk about Zimbabwe instead"?
A handy field guide to the difference between relativism and decency:
Decency: "Texas has a proud cultural tradition and they shouldn't be judged by European standards."
Relativist: "Morocco has a proud cultural tradition and they shouldn't be judged by European standards."
Probably been remarked on before, but this on the sign-up page of the EM is very fine:
How I would like to be described:
[for example: "Emeritus Professor of Politics, Manchester University, UK"]
Are we not Decent?
This comment has been removed by the author.
I get home from work and you're still bloggin in your dressing gown
Well what am I to do?
I know all the things around your head and what they do to you
What are we coming to?
What are we gonna do?
Blame it on Ken Livingstone
Blame it on George Galloway
Blame it on the pomo left ...
He He Captain Cabernet!
Yes, I think you are right Benjamin, Yorke is less decent, though even he bought into the imperialist propaganda for a while:
See here.
Yorke is vexed about Iraq, especially his own early views on the conflict. "I bought it," he admits, glumly. "I thought, OK, if he has these weapons, they should be taken off him. You'd think I'd know better."
I suppose we should cut him some slack in that case, but what an immense tosser. It was entirely obvious to any objective observer that the claims about WMD were false.
Another review of Nick's book:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/whats-left-how-liberals-lost-their-way/2007/03/23/1174597860124.html
The reviewer makes some interesting points towards the end of his review. It will be interesting to see whether Nick links to it and, if so, what he thinks of it.
There's no way he'll link to it: that photo shows how bald he is these days. ;-) And where's the Bruschetta on that menu?
Page two of that review is very fine.
An even more convoluted piece from Nick in the Observer this week (25 March). It looks like he and MacShane met up somewhere (an Iraq invasion 4th anniversary celebration?) and went off for a drink and a moan about the British Council. Has anyone de-coded the article yet?
It's a weird piece. Two-thirds of it is a denunciation of 'artists' very similar to the one he wrote a couple of weeks ago, this time apparently because they don't agree with, and don't want to be made to promote, government policies overseas. He seems to tell us that only an apologist for Islamofacism or a global warming denialist could take this view.
In the final third, he seems to change his mind, and decides that in fact the government determining artists' subject matter is a Bad Thing which would produce Bad Art. But he seems far less exercised by this than he does by the fact that 'artists' (a monolithic bloc, as always) don't share his political prejudices.
He's not exactly channeling Orwell, is he?
"He's not exactly channelling Orwell, is he?"
Orwell for people like Cohen is like the Bible is to some Christians. It is something you pay great respect to, but don't actually read (or understand).
This reminds me of the Guardian's April Fool spoof when they reported that Chris Martin of Coldplay had come out in support of David Cameron, and written a version of one of his songs to accolade him.
If Colin Greenwood is going to adapt a song for Cohen and Kamm, "Creep" might be an appropriate choice, "I'm a creep, and I'm a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here, I don't belong here".
WooW =)
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