That may be true, but usually there's some sort of lame story trying to get around the whole thing. In the ISHFWILF clip there is no "oh shit did the circus midget or acrobat die?", the question instead is "would there really be any fun in hanging out with Bono in las vegas".
Good point. What I've always loved is how it really seems to have sweet fuck all to do with the song itself. I mean, I'm sure you can twist it into some saga about trying to find meaning in Las Vegas or whatever, but you really could put the video with just about ANY song and have it make the same amount of (non)sense.