Foil or Fool

When mixing with celebrities, and especially comedians, politicians tend to come off quite badly. They look foolish for trying to be cool and funny as well, or just become the foil for a joke they do not always look like they understand. Not sure which is the case here, aside from whether Walliams should have turned up and confused the children who attended the Treasury's charity party as his 'ladyee'. Darling had the guts to play along with the engagement and laugh it all off, which does take nerve when the cameras are on you and there are a bunch of kids demanding to know if they are married and why the ladyee has a beard.

Charity Idol

Gordon Brown as made an appearance on American idol by way of a pre-recorded video that asks the audience to donate money to an appeal to supply mosquito nets in a bid to stamp out unnecessary deaths from malaria. Opening with "All year on Idol, it's the talent of the American people we admire. But tonight, it's your generosity" and telling the 30 million strong audience that there is "nothing more amazing than saving a life" he then signed off with a very American blessing: "Thank you and God bless you all." The media seem a little critical of this as a stunt, and certainly it ties him to the uber-cool show that seems to have global popularity; but is the most important point of this actually getting the message across to, and money out of, this huge audience? Are Brown's motives all good, is he seeking to enhance his poor image, are people just cynical to suspect the latter?