Someone tell me this isn't real....
https://www.thejournal.ie/bono-bob-geldof-jared-kushner-5843360-Aug2022/
https://www.thejournal.ie/bono-bob-geldof-jared-kushner-5843360-Aug2022/
Come on now.....
- Thread starter pop_mofo
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
allaras
Acrobat
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mikal
Blue Crack Addict
In all fairness, it was back in 2007, well before Trump started the birther movement or ran for office. He wasn’t a good guy back then either but his public perception was a lot different in 2007, so I don’t take issue with Bono singing a song to his daughter and future son in law.
ascender_RS
Refugee
I mean, its 2007 and they're in the south for France just hanging out and socialising. I bet there's a lot of similar encounters each and every day at restaurants, people's mansions etc with friends, friends of friends, acquaintances and business people just dropping-by. Just so happens they're all incredibly rich and privileged and no doubt a great deal are also assholes or will do shitty things at some point in their future. Guilty by association?
Let me be clear, I love Bono. Just the timing and optics of this are icky to put it mildly.
bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
Why? It was something that happened almost 15 years ago. He has no control over what he did in the past.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I’m more offended by Bono and Geldof hanging out with Rupert Murdoch than Kushner and Trump. And he was already evil back in 2007.
womanfish
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
The timing? Ivanka and Jerod were 25 year old kids at this point, Trump was a Democrat and there are three musicians hanging out and start playing some music together.
DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
Billy Bob Bono
If this happened in 2017 it would be a deal breaker.
It happened in 2007, so it's a big fat pile of nothing.
It happened in 2007, so it's a big fat pile of nothing.
All my point was, was with respect to the timing of the release of this. Doesn't change anything for my Fandom and not saying it makes Bono some kind of villain. Just saying it's not a great look. That's all. Walk on.
Maybe the Trumps were just seen as mere clowns back then so I can kind of understand that if its the case.
But hanging out with Rupert Murdoch? Absolute disgrace. Sadly he's got form here: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/28/citynews.broadcasting
Fuck off Bono, you can take a run a jump on this one. Diplomacy with politicians you don't agree with is fine, but I'm not sure how you can preach what you do and molly coddle with the man who is most responsible for toxicity of the western world these days. Disgraceful behaviour.
But hanging out with Rupert Murdoch? Absolute disgrace. Sadly he's got form here: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/28/citynews.broadcasting
Fuck off Bono, you can take a run a jump on this one. Diplomacy with politicians you don't agree with is fine, but I'm not sure how you can preach what you do and molly coddle with the man who is most responsible for toxicity of the western world these days. Disgraceful behaviour.
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mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Looked like a bipartisan event to me.
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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Rupert Murdoch was evil long before 2007. He's arguably the most malignant human being of the last 50 years, totalitarian dictators aside.
Sickly Vulpine
The Fly
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Has the "Almost Finished With U2" poster heard about this yet?? Heads gonna roll....
Swell.
He also appeared on Fox News during that time frame. He spent time with W at his ranch. He was actively attempting to reach across party lines to bring attention to the AIDS crisis in Africa.
That he spent some time hobnobbing with Rupert Murdoch during this timeframe shouldn't exactly be a shock to anyone.
pacemaker
Refugee
Bono gets a lot of shit for his politicking and charity, while also being held to impossible standards regarding them. There's a lot about this meeting we don't know about. Intentions could have been ill for all we know, but every indication we have points to Bono being an eager, opportunistic, well-meaning dork. Like Headache said, this shouldn't be shocking - Bono hangs out with war criminals.
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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Shocked? No. Disappointed? Yes. Though since Bono is friends with the Bushes nothing he does should be shocking or disappointing at this point.
Dealing with vile politicians to achieve goals is a necessary evil, but remaining friends with them is...questionable at best. And yachting with and serenading Rupert Murdoch is inexcusable.
I suppose you're almost done with U2 now then
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
I would also assume that Bono’s bastard is not on board (the boat).
All Ivanka's You
Hollow Island
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Lol, no. I'll defend most of what Bono does and think he's misunderstood and admirable. He's also a super rich man who keeps questionable company, and he isn't beyond reproach.
This! And without recounting the obvious damages the W administration did to the country and world, many of which persist to this day, he did go against many in his party to continue and expand work on AIDS and global health.
So what, Bono likes the guy as a person? I never quite got the whole "I'd rather get a beer with him than Gore/Kerry" analysis, but he's proven to have some humility and kindness in him.
The relationship didn't stop Bono from speaking out quite loudly when it came to Iraq, torture, etc. Or making pretty clear where he stood politically over the years.
Let's be mature adults here!
He isn't at all beyond reproach. No one is. However, I still see Murdoch as Bono subordinating his personal politics to his broader goals on AIDS, etc. Murdoch had tremendous power and as the article states, was going for the Wall Street Journal at the time.
As someone mentioned up thread, this kind of thing happens all the time in these circles. Bono's mansion is nowhere near as intimate as us inviting people into our homes. Murdoch was probably with someone else who was hanging with a neighbor, etc, etc and by the end of the day, these people all find themselves together. I'd question his judgement more if he was a close friend or frequent associate of Murdoch, but this is the only instance we have.
Was Bono supposed to say "get the fuck away from me" or use an opportunity to talk to someone with that kind of power?
Maybe we could all learn from Bono. Seriously. He seems to have a great ability to compartmentalize and look at things with a nuance that is so sadly missing from so many aspects of life these days. Let's take a step back here. Look at our own lives. Unless someone is an ax murderer, a known violent criminal/fugitive or someone that has done us wrong personally, are we going to refuse to associate with them in a large group setting?
And at the end of the day, we know next to nothing about how this meeting came about. Never mind what was or wasn't discussed!
As much as I fault Fox News and feel nowhere near enough attention is given to the role they've played in breaking our democracy, this ain't a spectator sport!!! It's known to anyone who doesn't have amnesia that they're a straight propaganda outlet, the likes of which are unmatched anywhere else. Yet still, I see people, all ages, but mostly older, glued to it! I see it on at gyms. Restaurants. Doctor's offices. The list goes on. SHAME ON US!! Who is doing more damage? The people who keep eating from that sewer, or Bono having one, let's face it, probably drunken conversation with an asshole?
And to make matters worse, people have been studying this stuff (brainwashing, ,etc) for a long ass while and NO ONE that I've heard has any idea how to stop this FOX madness. I'll take criticism of Bono's one off meeting seriously when just a fraction of the people who we all know in our own lives stop taking a twit like Tucker Carlson seriously. With 35-40% of the American public, it doesn't matter what Biden does, their view of him is already wrapped up in what they've been told by this outlet. Even when he does something objectively good like Veterans' benefits or finally allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices. Things that would objectively help the Fox viewing demographic. Anyone that fires a shot at Bono for this better at least have some idea (and I've yet to hear one from anyone) of how to address the real problem of their OWN neighbors, not Bono's in Eze, gobbling this shit up every day!
As for any criticism of the Trump association, that's patently ridiculous. Trump was just viewed as the resident clown back then. The man himself was not even present. The Clinton's were far more acquainted with the Trump's (mostly Ivanka but including Don) than Bono ever was or will be.
Anyone who needs to know exactly what Bono thinks of Donald Trump as a person need only watch the SalesForce Bullet performance or any version of Staring At The Sun from 2018!
Trump got the kind of personal, direct attacks (as opposed to just implying or focusing directly on issues) that I thought Bono was done with somewhere in the ZooTV days. I was not shocked, but definitely mildly surprised how hard he hit him at that SalesForce show!
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A separate thought. People saying "it's understandable but not a good look" are 100% right! But what the hell is a good look for U2 these days? The image has been wounded for a while, and they need to not give a shit about that. Keep selling out stadiums, keep putting out quality work (and they are). Lean into the back catalogue, because no one else alive and together today can match it. The legacy is absolutely secure and will take care of itself.
They aren't without fault for this (biggest band in the world fatigue, the Apple debacle), but for some reason, U2 hate and criticism has really become "cool" and even expected of anyone 30 or younger. I will never lose sleep worried about 4 almost billionaires who will be the first to say they're the luckiest bastards alive, but it has been blown way out of proportion!
They aren't without fault for this (biggest band in the world fatigue, the Apple debacle), but for some reason, U2 hate and criticism has really become "cool" and even expected of anyone 30 or younger. I will never lose sleep worried about 4 almost billionaires who will be the first to say they're the luckiest bastards alive, but it has been blown way out of proportion!
Hollow Island
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You're making a lot of assumptions here. All we know is that Bono serenaded Murdoch (with Billy Joel ?), and that's a far cry from "associating" with him at a large group setting or whatever serious thing you imagine he was doing. It was probably just a gathering of random rich people, and Bono debased himself before a monster. It's the most embarrassing thing that he's on record as having done.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Am I the only one that doesn't care?
Like Brett Favre is my favorite NFL player of all time and he's a MAGA idiot. But still my favorite NFL player of all time.
Like Brett Favre is my favorite NFL player of all time and he's a MAGA idiot. But still my favorite NFL player of all time.
Insult Bono for hanging with Murdoch? Fine.
Laugh at Billy Joel? Prepare to have Long Island smite your ass.
Laugh at Billy Joel? Prepare to have Long Island smite your ass.
I didn't imagine he was doing anything. Certainly nothing serious. I was responding to the people who (quite ridiculously in my opinion) are making this out as any kind of knock against or somehow embarrassment for Bono.
You're quite right about what is on record. No one had the room bugged. And I was well aware of that, too. I was speculating, as we all do with most things here, that if any thought whatsoever went into this encounter beforehand, Bono would've likely looked at it in the context of his work at the time and the people on all sides he was reaching out to. That doesn't require much imagination. As Headache pointed out, it's square in line with how Bono rolls on these things.
How is hanging out and singing not "associating with?" LOL. Splitting hairs much?
I'm not looking to minimize anything Murdoch or Fox have done to this country and the world. However, the far bigger issue is the people that exist in ALL of our daily lives, who we ALL know and associate with, who are swallowing their shit up hook, line and sinker. The deprogramming can't come close to starting until we understand the cult like tendencies they've been able to tap into. With all of these people around me who should know way better, I just can't bring myself to go at Bono in any way whatsoever on this. Especially when, as you stated, all that is on record is him having a nice human interaction with someone who sucks.
The only tiny contribution I make to change this is to change the channel or turn off unattended TV's left on Fox in common areas like gym locker rooms, offices, hotels, etc, etc. I'm doing nowhere near enough to start pointing fingers at Bono. Unless he went and endorsed the Fox agenda, started advertising food on there or bought an ownership stake in the network, I'm all set......
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