I said he praised him and respected him for what he did with Africa. Whether or not what you quoted was the sum and total of what he said to Assayas is beyond my willingness to go dust off that book and read it again. From what I remember there was a bit of contention about the way he steered the interviews, but that might have been some other book. As for Google searches, what I found funny about those was the headlines (mostly from conservative outlets) that screamed "BONO HEAPS PRAISE ON BUSH" and then when you read the article or watch the video Bono's comment is literally one pretty carefully guarded statement of respect for Bush on that one issue (Africa). Agenda much, media outlets? lol
Anyways, you could have saved yourself all that typing by realizing the origin of this discussion: someone said that hating Bono is akin to hating Bush. They basically say that hating Bush is foolish because even Bono likes Bush.
Well here's the newsflash: I don't really give a shit whether Bono likes Bush. If he wants to find some common ground with who I consider to be a war criminal, that's his business. I can't abide people like Bush in my heart, period. I have no need to like Bono might, and I have every reason not to. Pretty much every murderous dictator in the world has probably done some nice things for some people, and you could probably, if you had a motive for doing so, sit down for tea with them and strike at least one common ground. You might even find something to like. Maybe for Bono, it's enough. It's not for me, but then again I'm not him. Common people don't need a million reasons to hate a US president. If we have a few really good reasons to, and for fuck sake there are many, we hate them. And no, I don't buy that these things would have necessarily happened under any other president. Obama said fuck Pakistan, I'm going in anyways. Bush? Don't even get me started.
Again, this is not really about whether or not Bono likes Bush. It would be if I were the type of person who blindly shapes what they believe based on what Bono says, but I'm not. I don't depend on him for my news. Therefore, I maintain that saying that Bush-hate is in any way akin to or as irrational as Bono-hate is a patently ridiculous and misleading statement. It's a horrible analogy, Bono doesn't have blood on is hands so hating him for his music, the way he talks, the campaigning for Africa, it's irrational and silly. Hating Bush for what he's done is completely and perfectly rational and understandable.
Be careful though...if you convince people any more (especially Bush haters lol) that Bono loves Bush, hell man, you might just give some even
more reason to hate Bono!
(note sarcasm. I won't hate him for it
)