Bono was on Charlie Rose last night in a short, taped segment. He compared what we could do in Africa - in terms of stopping poverty, pain and suffering - to going to the moon (i.e. a lofty, generation-defining goal we could achieve). Bono said over and over again that this is our time and our cause - our civil rights moment. Charlie Rose asked if he thought America should do this for the PR value and talked about the cost of the war. Bono said it was 1% of the cost. There was a funny moment when Charlie and Bono had to figure out what war they were talking about - the war on poverty or the war in Iraq. Bono said that what they are asking for from the US - an additional $4 billion--is 1% of the cost of the war in Iraq. I heard that Chairman Bob Geldof has been asking folks to not bring up the Iraq War or criticise Bush, but rather bring Bush into the tent. That's a great goal, but I gotta think that a couple of artists - especially outside the US where dissention is more acceptable these days - will take some shots at Bush on Saturday.
What do you think? Should the artists stay on topic (debt relief for Africa), or should they voice their issues with Iraq as well?
1. Iraq has no place in this event. Any Bush bashing is totally unwarranted. Democrat I am, but Bush has really helped Africa with AIDS cash and support, debt relief, and more than likely, additional debt relief, cash, and help for this cause. Let the music be the source, the light, the call to heed...not Iraq or Bush.
Posted at 8:47PM on Jul 1st 2005 by SirCellsman