Bono and Barack
An open letter to Bono the night before his meeting with Governor Palin:
Bono,
I hope that you hold dear to your comment that the meetings this week at the Millennium Development Goals summit will be "judo in a suit." I know you are a cagey and intelligent man. But don't be fooled by Governor Palin's crocodile tears and false down-home banter. The McCain campaign wants nothing more than a photo op and the chance to fool voters in the USA into thinking that you and your band have endorsed the McCain/Palin ticket. Bono, you are walking a tightrope here and the majority of the voters in the United States want to put an end to the Bush years and the Bush legacy. McCain is nothing more than George III. Please remember what America means. Please remember your inspiration to write and perform "Bullet the Blue Sky" as you watched the Reagan administration's support of Salvadoran death squads and Nicaraguan contras. America is not torture, Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. America is the promise of hope and liberty. Barack Obama is the promise of hope and liberty. As you well know, Senator Obama will lead the American people back into the world community. Be sharp tomorrow. Godspeed!
Thanks for writing this reminder to Bono. In the desire to be "even-handed," even wisdom runs amok. Bono undercuts himself and risks betraying the ideals for which he stands so publicly when he caters to naked bids for publicity and approval such as this one. He forgets, perhaps, that many impressionable young people are persuaded by image alone, rather than the rational arguments that might help put that unage in its context.
ReplyDeleteBono got the word ... CNN reports that "John McCain and Sarah Palin’s meeting with Bono was canceled Wednesday due to scheduling reasons, according to the McCain campaign. Instead, McCain and Palin will chat with Bono by phone this afternoon about the ONE Campaign, the U2 front man’s initiative to raise awareness of AIDS and global poverty."
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