(05-29-2003) Bono Gives Credit Where Credit Is Due - Washington Post *

[HelloAngel]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Bono's Blessing
By Lloyd Grove


Denizens of the Bush White House regard curmudgeonly former Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill as a burr under their saddle, happily extracted. But O'Neill, who was forced out of his job in December, is fondly remembered by that all-important Irish rocker lobby.

Chatting with The Post's Paul Blustein on Tuesday, U2's Bono warmly praised O'Neill, who exactly a year ago took the rock star on a two-week trip through Africa to highlight the problems of poverty and AIDS.

"There are people who are true-blue conservatives in the Midwest, who are offended by the wanton waste of life in Africa and want to do something about it," Bono told Blustein from Italy, where he was visiting Luciano Pavarotti and hoping to personally persuade Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to open Italy's wallet to help fight worldwide AIDS. "But the thing that set it up and got Africa into people's homes was Paul O'Neill asking me to go on that trip. And whilst it might have torched my image as a rock star, I think it gave a sense . . . that we were serious and that we knew what we were talking about -- we weren't just bleeding hearts."

Bono also had sweet words for President Bush, who just signed into law a $15 billion global AIDS program. "It's a surprising message for me to bring to my community -- that people did not mislead me, and people made good on their promises," Bono said. "I remember the carping, I remember the cynicism. I had some of it myself. So you have to give credit where credit is due."

 

[TheFirstBigW]

Bono also had sweet words for President Bush, who just signed into law a $15 billion global AIDS program. "It's a surprising message for me to bring to my community -- that people did not mislead me, and people made good on their promises," Bono said. "I remember the carping, I remember the cynicism. I had some of it myself. So you have to give credit where credit is due."

Those who have been so quick to jump on the anti-American bandwagon and to participate in hate speech towards President Bush (e.g.- calling Bush "Hitler") could learn a thing or two from Bono's example...just because someone disagrees with your political perspective does not make them the devil incarnate.
President Bush not only made good on his promise to Bono to help with the AIDS crisis, but he actually championed the cause and got the ball rolling in Congress with his State of the Union address.

 

[LPU2]

Yes, personally, I have a lot of admiration for Bono's open mind and his willingness to praise those with whom he might normally disagree. He really has a gift for illuminating common ground and bringing opposing sides together. What he did with Jesse Helms, for example, was nothing short of miraculous.

Could a Washington liberal use the same approach (the Bible) and be as successful? Absolutely not. When it comes to the business of politcs in America, no one hears truth, only opposition. That is why an outsider like Bono--someone who isn't immediately recognized as "the opposition"--can actually get people to listen. America needs a guy like Bono to fill the divide before the bitterness between left and right rips this country apart.

I try to be open minded and I do praise President Bush when he does something I think is worthy of praise. And I obviously agree with your statement that "just because someone disagrees with your political perspective does not make them the devil incarnate."

But wouldn't you have to agree that, over the last few years, the right has been far more active in demonizing the left than the other way around?

 

[TheFirstBigW]

But wouldn't you have to agree that, over the last few years, the right has been far more active in demonizing the left than the other way around?

Good point...President Clinton was demonized (and still is, for that matter) by Republicans on a regular basis.

Yes, Bono sets a fine example by going out of his way to show respect towards other people as human beings before expressing his disagreements with them. For example, while some critics of Tony Blair were derogatorily calling him "Bush's lapdog", Bono first stated that he thought Blair was a great politician who sincerely believed what he was saying, and only then did Bono go on to say that he disagreed with Blair.