Bono Bloody Bono
Dave Bleakney
Every generation has an Elvis. Being an Elvis is not only about shaking
your hips or making teenagers scream. When things are going bad in the
public relations department, a famous entertainer can add pop, sizzle
and glamour to the message. Performers sell soap, cars and coca cola.
And lately, rich corporations have been in need of a little sizzle to
sell corporate globalization.
Nixon needed Elvis. He saw a good 'ol southern boy that loved his Mama
cruise into the White house to join hands with the Administration in one
of the many wars on drugs. Elvis, heavily medicated, was more than ready
to expose his peers to extra scrutiny.
Mussolini had Ezra Pound. The Macarthyites had Ronald Reagan, who, at
the time a Democrat, spent his career at the Screen Actors Guild ratting
out so-called subversives in his Union.
Bono, the 80's inspired politico warbler is the latest in a long line of
performers who are trotted out on behalf of the power holders. Poor
Bono, he doesn't get it. At first I thought he looked silly. But now I
see him as dangerous. Okay, well, silly and dangerous. At least that's
how he looked at the World Economic Forum held recently in New York.
"Bono steals spotlight at forum," said the Globe and Mail byline of
February 5. While distribution of the Earth Times may have been banned
at the exclusive Waldorf-Astoria for the WEF, the corporate and political
elite made a home for Bono.
Admittedly, I have never been a fan. Bono has always seemed a little
pompous and overblown to me. But what the heck, pop music is aural
candy. The candy I can live with. What was more alarming was to see
Irish pop stars Bob Geldof and Bono praising the Canadian Prime Minister
in Genoa during the G-8 meetings last year. Meanwhile, on the other side
of the barricades Carlo Giuliani was shot and killed by a police bullet.
Police routinely attacked independent journalists, medics and
protestors, as has become a routine practice in crowd control.
Bono is a big fan of the Chretien. "These politicians keep taking the
lead on issues that really concern us, people who are what you might
call the movement for change in the developing world" offered Bono.
As working class activists anywhere know, picket lines mean don't cross
and, as working class Canadians know, there is little to praise about
Jean Chretien. Both of these notions are lost on Bono. Did he know that
the Prime Minister is known more for his arrogance and gaffes than
anything else? That he is known to experience sudden spasms of insanity?
A few years ago, for instance, he grabbed an anti poverty demonstrator
by the neck and threw him to the ground while passing through the crowd.
When demonstrators were violently pepper sprayed at the APEC summit in
Vancouver while in a designated protest zone, the Chretien government,
in an effort to shield Indonesian dictator Suharto from seeing any
visible opposition, turned loose the RCMP. The PM had a laugh, joking
later, "pepper is something I put on my plate."
One can see the hint of a smile whenever Chretien has the good fortune
to have himself photographed with the man with the long hair and wrap
around shades. The PM won't be grabbing Bono by the throat. The RCMP
will hold the pepper spray. Chretien loves these photo moments. He
revels in them, and there is Bono looking like nothing more than a prop
in a public relations exercise. Bono is not unlike the wartime
entertainers brought out for little more than their breasts and hips.
Bono for his gold records and an image.
The man Bono praises presides over the same government that has not
probed the political murder of Aboriginal activist Dudley George.
Chretien was a Cabinet Minister when Canadian authorities collaborated
in the railroading of Leonard Peltier. Today, while thrill seekers build
ski hills on traditional land of the Secwepemc Nation in British
Colombia, the Chretien government looks the other way. The government
recently passed a law criminalizing dissent and allowing unprecedented
abuse of the legal process by the authorities. Poverty protesters are
beaten and jailed routinely. Free collective bargaining is a privilege
granted by the government and not a right guaranteed under international
law. Some workers in Chretien's Canada, like those delivering mail in
rural areas, are forbidden to join unions under federal law. Good old
Bono, hanging with Jean Chretien, the man that has never seen an IMF
dictate that he didn't like. But lets remember that Bono is now a
statesman or a "superstatesman" as the Globe and Mail called him.
At least Africa is in good hands. Bono will join U.S.Treasury secretary
Paul O'Neill on the road to Africa next month where they will be
"gauging poverty". One can imagine millions of Africans in Rwanda or
Angola shivering with anticipation at the arrival of the pop star and
the U.S. politician. Imagine the peasants of Somalia or the Congo
celebrating this latest attempt to gauge poverty. Perhaps even a study
will be commissioned or a few token debts relieved.
But Bono is more than PR fodder. He actually talks. On drug companies
Bono offered this insight: "I think they need to make the profits, we
need to do the research". On the challenges of his career as a social
justice advocate he offered "It's more difficult than you imagine to get
attention for these issues"
Fortunately no one was shot at the World Economic Forum. Still, while
Bono pontificated, activists were routinely arrested and attacked in the
streets. At least one person was knocked unconscious. Many were pepper
sprayed or beaten. Twenty were held 12 hours in a police van without
water or communication. As has become routine, independent journalists
and medics were also attacked.
It is not uncommon for individuals to experience an inflated feeling of
self from time to time. Using entertainers to sell is not new. Doors
open when mutual interests are served. What a coincidence to find Bono
et al performing at the patriotic Super Bowl the next day. In this case
Bono, as many before him, was completely out of his element. In a
revealing display of the utter lack of analysis one would expect from
most aging millionaires, Bono offered, "I really believe if we gather
forces on this and we don't create easy bad guys and good guys on this
we can make progress."
He actually thinks they are listening and we can all be winners in the
universal concert bowl. The "superstatesman" should stick with tape
loops.
Dave Bleakney is a Canadian Postal Worker and musician
