Friday, October 20, 2006

David Cameron and Rhymefest



When politicians like Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, have their photo taken with a U.S. rap artist like Rhymefest, and the papers start calling it a Rap Summit, you might ask questions.

You might ask why a rap artist should want to give a right-wing leader such publicity. You might ask what Rhymefest meant when he suggested to Cameron that they meet to discuss ways to "come together with the community." You might ask whether there is an implicit contradiction in Rhymefest’s statement on Cameron after the meeting – “Whether you say that it was for the publicity or not, that's more than a lot of other politicians are doing."

And isn’t there something sad, even pathetic, about a straight-laced Tory politician trying to appear hip by holding talks with rappers? I can’t believe there is any other agenda, on Cameron’s part, for having the meeting in the first place.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"And isn’t there something sad, even pathetic, about a straight-laced Tory politician trying to appear hip by holding talks with rappers?"

Yes, very.

It's even sadder to think that probably the average young Tory voter will fall for it.

Rob

Rob said...

"the average young Tory voter"

It's worrying, isn't it. These people exist. The fact that a right-winger like Cameron can portray himself effectively as a centrist is the most worrying thing of all.

But leaving politics aside for a moment - as a leader, he is nowhere near Blair, and yet his image is moulded on Blairism. Will people believe the image or wake up to reality? The guy is a plonker.

Anonymous said...

Yes. The thing with Blair is that when he was elected I wasn’t at all sure he actually believed the Mandelson New Labour dream (I’m darned sure Brown doesn’t), but over the years I’ve come to think that he couldn’t have been acting a part and at the same time have stood up successfully to the assaults he’s had from the Left. Amazingly, I’ve actually come to respect the guy, which is rare for me and politicians.

Cameron on the other hand I had high hopes of, but really he seems little more than Maude’s puppet, and he’s certainly behaving like someone who is trying to paint an image that he doesn’t believe in. Like a poet trying to write a “dishonest” poem, such shallowness will eventually be rumbled by even the less astute.

If you’re gonna be wrong, at least be wrong honestly.

R