Posted on 06/21/2005 5:40:29 PM PDT by blam
Leave Bush alone, Geldof warns stars
By Hugh Davies
(Filed: 21/06/2005)
Bob Geldof has reportedly warned a top recording artist not to publicly criticise the White House during the worldwide television broadcast of the Live 8 concerts next month.
The warning came after Geldof insisted that President George W Bush had done more for Africa than any other American leader.
The manager of the singer was quoted as having been told: "Please remember, absolutely no ranting and raving about Bush or Blair and the Iraq war. We want to bring Bush in, not run him away."
Geldof was said to be determined not to lose control of the central message of his concerts of putting pressure on the G8 leaders meeting at Gleneagles, although it will be difficult for him to stop artful performers like Will Smith, Eminem, 50 Cent and P Diddy from speaking out if they want to in Philadelphia.
Geldof, often the most trenchant critic of politicians, was sympathetic towards Mr Bush in an interview published by Time magazine. He sat with the U2 singer Bono, who recently publicly shook hands with the president.
Bono was exceedingly pro-Bush, calling him "the most important and toughest nut", a stance that has annoyed singers such as Billy Bragg and Sinead O'Connor, who think he is risking his credibility by getting too close to the leader.
But Bono seems to have influenced Geldof, who insisted in the interview that the United States had no "lack of empathy", adding that Tony Blair ("once a young git with the worst haircut save mine") was also "in tune with where we've come from".
Geldof confessed that he had been forced to defend the Bush administration in a visit to France, where "they refuse to accept, because of their political ideology, that he has actually done more than any American president for Africa". Geldof said: "But it's empirically so."
The musician who was reportedly warned by Geldof to "stay on message" was anxious not to be identified, possibly noting the backlash that followed a comment by Natalie Maines, of the Dixie Chicks, at a London concert, when she announced: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
Radio stations boycotted the band's music and their CDs were smashed by bulldozers before Maines publicly apologised to Mr Bush.
Smith is to the right of much of the demonratic party, but he's still a leftist.
Who is Billy Bragg? Honestly I don't know. I remember Sine-Aid, but of the other toss, I've got no recollection.
Will Smith trashed GW, very recently.
It doesn't suprise me that much anymore. Much like getting elected to a national office, popculture fame usually raises their IQ 100 points in their own minds.
Chris Martin's problem is that he refuses to acknowledge that GWB has done more to make trade fair than any other American President. These hollywood types can not get past the label of Republican, Christian, or conservative because their narrow minds won't allow them to.
There's a tolkien ping list, and I'm not on it?
Impossible.
I voted for a guy who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. Please point out to me something in that document that authorizes such an expense.
I don't know either.
It doesn't authorize a standing army either, should we dispense with all of that too?
I voted for Badnarik, too
:-)
You're right. I just read that a few minutes ago about Will Smith trashing GW. What a shame. He used to have some fairly conservative beliefs when he was younger.
I think Bono's take on Bush is interesting. Say what you want of his pet causes, and they aren't really my pet causes, but he is honest enough to not let the hate-politic of the left get in the way of advancing his cause.
He may be a liberal, but he seems to be an honest liberal. I have more respect for that than the dweebs of the DNC today.
What did he say?
Country Music Television (CMT) kept trying to revive the Chicks' careers, pushing their videos on the viewers. Don't think it worked. The country community isn't going to forget.
Never heard of Billy Bragg. It's prob. all for the best.
Funny how the leftist musicians want Uncle Sam to forgive foreign debt but despise us for our Christian charity.
We were told that this is what we could expect from the world for modeling our lives on Christ. The world overall has not changed in 2000 years.
Do we live every aspect of our life in the straight and narrow? No. Has ANY nation in history shown such charity as America has to nations we never went to war with (e.g. ignore post-wartime reconstruction absolving debt in a rebuilding effort)?
How about these millionaires taking a vow of poverty and signing over their mansions and cars? David Gilmour actually did something along these lines 2 years ago when he realized he had dozens of cars.
The left bites the hand that feeds them. They are parasites and if they are not careful, they will bleed the host dry and kill themselves as well in the end.
How many times has Sinhead O'conner retired from the music industry now? Didn't she become a lesbian, a nun, and a mother? Or was that Madonna?
Have the two ever been in the same room, at the same time?
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