Don't mind if I intrude here for just a split second. I'm not trying to pick on anyone or opinions but...come on. Think about when you were in school. When someone picked on you and you stood up for yourself, it never really made a difference. Those people will pick on you no matter if you made them look like a fool or not. Once someone dislikes you, they dislike you. Nothing you can do about it. Critics are going to pick on Bono. It's a fact. Nothing you can say or do about it because that's what critics use celebrities for. And Bono is a good target more or less. He's smart, he's rich, he's bigger than the world itself and people are intimated by that. He's a rock star who sips tea with politicians. Not something you see everyday.
And like Galeongirl said, if Bono we're to strike back to all his "haters" so to speak, where would he have free time to do anything else? He might as well rent out FOX for a night and give one big long speech! Besides, Bono, and the rest of the guys for that matter, are BETTER THAN THE CRITICS. They don't NEED to sink as low as all those other people. They know that they can't please everyone, just like how we, the "normal" people, know that we can't please everyone. Even Gandhi had his critics.
And in my opinion, if Bono or Edge, Larry, Adam, took time out of their lives to "dis" their critics, I'd be angry! Because they would be going against everything they have taught us, the fans, and that's to be ourselves and dream out loud and "don't let the bastards drag you down". I think Bono has stood up for himself: in his music. No point in making a fool of yourself just because a journalists dislikes you because you're short, old, wear glasses, whatever. Bono knows that his fans adore him.
And as for this whole "left wing" thing, isn't that being a little judgmental? I'm surrounded by both republicans and democrats. I live in one of the most republican states in the US and I have yet to meet ONE person who agrees with Bono. But if I go back to Ohio, or New York, where a lot of democrats are, they LOVE Bono. On the other hand, I've met republicans who like Bono and democrats who hate him. I'm not saying that all democrats love Bono and all republicans hate Bono or vise versa. People are people. They will like who they like and they will hate who they hate. That's the world for you.
Sorry for the rant...