Another highlight was the 'Yes Men' - funny, and right on. They use mainstream media and corporate communications against its wielders, for example fronting on BBC in 2002 as a Dow Chemical representative promising to liquidate Union Carbide to fund justice for the victims at Bhopal. Dow's bungled response (even now it reads like satire) would bring a proud tear to the eye of James C Scott. And it shows that politics and protest don't have to be dour and uninviting processes. Not all the time.
Equally hilarious was the ass-hattery stylings of Mark Vaile, who managed to not even not answer a question, if you know what I mean. Despite my great exertion, his words defied assimilation. His double speak slid of my brain like silken tofu off Teflon. And his distracting impression of a man struggling with a very prickly turd is second only to you-know-who.
Tim Blair gave a good account of himself also, not failing to disappoint those of us who have come to love his defense of the indefensible, and simultaneous assertion of the ridiculous. His true genius is only apparent in the live performance context.
 | ||
 | Is protesting outdated? | |
|  Yes- it has little impact. | 32% |
| No- forms of protest are just evolving. | 64% |
| Maybe. | 4% |
As a bonus, the above poll confirms that many feel how I feel: that activism and protest aren't dead - just evolving. A heartening show, bravo! It seems we can almost just about let the forces of ass-clownery and bad politics squirm their way to defeat. My journalism school colleague Marty probably feels the same.
1 comment:
Indeed I do feel the same. I can't imagine double-speak and weasel words ever dying out in politics, but at least Rudd's new "angle" seems to be honesty and decency. Although it's in many ways a cynical move ("This whole integrity thing is a real hit with the voters!"), it's infinitely preferable to Honest John's divisive brand of politics.
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