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When Politicians Should Just Say Nothing. And Do Their Job

June 28, 2009

When Politicians Should Just Say Nothing. And Do Their Job Alex Nekrassov writes: There was no doubting of Michael Jackson’s global appeal and unrivalled ability to entertain at the peak of his career. And yet ,even in his prime, he was no Mozart and even no Elvis. I for one found his music karaoke-esque and the man himself odd and even weird at most times.Jackson was clearly a deeply disturbed man, especially over the last decade. His rapidly deteriorating health, due, as we are told now, to his addiction to surgery and prescription drugs, his strange life style, his child molestation charges and the loss of a multimillion fortune combined a spectacularly potent mix that brought down a man whom some people still call the King of Pop. As opposed to Elvis, who was just The King.

Jackson was on the verge of launching his ‘great comeback’, with a 50-date performance in London, when he died. It had nothing to do with the revival of his career. It all had to do with a desperate attempt to earn money to pay off his gigantic debts. It now transpires that he would not have been able to repay them. His debts were simply too high and even a world tour would not have made him that much money.

We can talk forever whether Michael Jackson was a real superstar or a product of cunning marketing and spin. I favour the latter, although many people will disagree. But I think that the most embarrassing role in the charade that unraveled after the singer’s death was played by politicians who stand accused of promoting themselves with meaningless tributes, having collectively jumped on the on the ‘grief bandwagon’ to show ordinary folk that they are truly ‘men of the people’.

I can understand a brief statement coming from U.S. President Barak Obama, considering that Jackson was a hero among black Americans and an icon to many of his countrymen. But going as far as having a minute’s silence in Congress was frankly taking it a bit too far. Just like it was very bizarre for the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, to join in the public grieving, presenting Jackson’s death as some tragedy for the French people. In Britain, both Prime Minister Gordon Brown and leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, expressed their ’sadness’ over the singer’s death. Given that Britain is in a total mess economically, Brown especially should have been better off expressing his sadness over the jump in the number of home repossessions in Britain and the rise in the official figures on unemployment that he knows perfectly well do not reflect the real situation. And as for Cameron, who is preparing to become the next British Prime Minister, it would have been better to keep a dignified silence, to at least not seem as hypocritical as the Labour leader.

The new touchy feely world of international politics has become a strange place. Politicians mix up their priorities all the time and rush to trump some politically correct causes with the gusto that could have been channeled at something else. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was one of the leaders. who had introduced that sort of spin into politics. Everyone still remembers his embarrassing comments on the death of that other pop icon, Diana, Princess of Wales, three months into office, when his popularity among intelligent people fell for the first time, never really to recover. Throughout his undistinguished career Blair constantly barged into the world of celebrities to score points with the Great Unwashed Ones. Brown kept that fine tradition, expressing sadness about the death of reality TV star Jade Good and sympathizing with that strange woman, Susan Boyle, the contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, who had had a nervous breakdown.

The funny thing is that the grief circus will not end with Jackson. The next big name in pop music or the film industry to go will cause an ‘outpour of grief’ among the politicians all over again. It is all about ‘being in tune’ with ordinary people, innit? And scoring cheap points with no effort while ignoring the real problems. Jackson’s death and the reactions among the politicians tell us that our leaders are weak and indecisive and basically should not be where they are. The current economic crisis in the world demands politicians with a serious approach to matters. People would much rather hear their leaders talk about day-to-day issues that affect them and offer solutions to the existing problems. Or better, not say anything at all and just do their job. And let the dead bury their dead, as the good book says.

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