Hating Bono has become a cottage industry. There are whole websites devoted to his anti-fans. Like the I Hate Bono site (“Hating Bono Isn’t an Obsession, It’s a Way of Life”) or an entire forum at Cracked.com (typical forum entries: “I think we all hate Bono because he is a pretentious wanker with a sense of self importance” and “Here’s the punchline: even if you have a good message, being a pretentious twat who lives the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do lifestyle means you are, at the end of the day, a cock-slapping wank. Deal with it.”).
And now Bono’s proved once again why he’s a fit object for derision – along with Hope ‘n Change. From Irish Central: “To Obama’s Delight, Bono Admits He Sidestepped a Hug from George Bush”:
You’d think that any rock star would relish a chance to get a public embrace from the President of the United States, even if they didn’t agree on everything.
But not Bono.
On a BBC program last night, the superstar U2 singer recalled how he he stiffed President Bush out of the photo op in 2006 at the National Prayer Breakfast.
The former President was on the stage with Bush when “Dubya” tried to hug Bono.
“There were all kinds of people in the audience,” Bono recalled on Jonathan Ross’ talk show.
Bono admitted he didn’t feel like being the recipient of a hug from a man with whom he had so many political disagreements.
As the affectionate President neared, Bono tried to “dodge the hug” by jumping behind a podium.
The sidestep worked, and just about nobody in the audience knew it happened — though it was all captured on camera.
But — there was one sharp-eyed Senator in the bipartisan crowd who saw it all.
“When I was sitting down I was beside Sen. Obama, the star said the future President whispered to him, ‘Nice work with the hug dodge.’”
Bono admitted he passed on the embrace because he didn’t get along with Bush, and told the former President of his strong stance against war — although he did praise him for tripling U.S. aid to developing countries.
I hate Bono for the same reasons as the commenters above. I think he’s a pretentious, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do poseur. And I wish he’d take those stupid pimp glasses off.
But like Hope ‘n Change, he’s also a cheap shot artist.
I guess they were made for each other.
UPDATE: Here’s the BBC video.
