Friday, November 25, 2005

Walk On

Please let this be the last time we have to listen to Bono during the election campaign. I like the man's music and I loved his speech at the leadership convention in '03 but, for the love of God, I am sick and tired of hearing about his relationship with Paul.

Bono has no place in the politics section of any Canadian newspaper (unless he starts dating Belinda Stronach).

posted by calgarygrit at 7:43 p.m.

10 Comments:

  • Belinda, is she a member of the organized crime party.

    Horny Toad

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:31 p.m.  

  • You know it's nice that Bono has such high regard for Canada...

    But don't we have laws specifically designed to prevent foreigners from incluencing our elections?

    (Oh, and incidentally, my word verification jumble this time around is "neocon"... scary!)

    By Blogger Ryan Ringer, at 10:01 p.m.  

  • One can only hope she'll at least wait until he showers.


    eww...

    By Blogger Candace, at 3:42 a.m.  

  • It doesn't happen often, CG, but I disagree with you here.

    Bono knows how the deal works. He has his hobby horse causes, and he has fame. He can manipulate the fame to help his causes. And that's what he was doing when he agreed to speak at the Liberal leadership convention.

    In that speech, he predicted, if you recall, that Paul Martin would soon regret having let him do that.

    He has no care for Canadian politics, never did. He cares for his hobby horses. He got what he thought of as a commitment out of Paul, and if he's not happy with the results, he can use his fame to hold the man accountable. And that's what he's going to do. And he's going to do it when it's most uncomfortable for him, which is during an election.

    Now, I don't think you should need to be famous before you can hold a politician to account for the promises they make. And we have a lot of work to do before regular Canadians get the power they deserve in that regard.

    But that doesn't mean that this one guy shouldn't use what he's got to push his own causes. More power to him.

    Maybe you agree with the causes, maybe you don't. And that should play into how much you care what Bono has to say about the Prime Minister.

    By Blogger Gauntlet, at 2:40 p.m.  

  • Although Bono blasting Martin's Liberal government for not fulfilling the .7% GDP goal Bono has been advocating for, has some credibility for the most altruistic of Canadians, it will not damage Paul Martin at the polls. The PM acknowledged that he would not, nor should he, commit to this level of Foreign Aid unless Canada could achieve it in the near term (next 5 - 10 years). Empty promises to the world's most vulnerable are not a solution.

    However, Paul Martin has worked for many years to reach goals of debt forgiveness to the developing world and as Prime Minister $.5 Billion new dollars in Foreign Aide have been allocated.

    I found it reassuring that Bono's remarks yesterday were followed by several newscasts with the story of the Aboriginal Conference. James Travers (The Star) also spoke directly to Paul Martin's actions on the Aboriginal School file as an example of courage and action.
    "This week, Martin is starting to respond to widespread doubts about the government's capacity to deliver progress.

    "In spending precious political capital on an issue with little public resonance or ballot box reward, he is leading, not following. " (Source: Political capital spent wisely
    Nov. 24, 2005. JAMES TRAVERS)

    Bono does not offend me when he asks my Prime Minister, my government, or every Canadian citizen to do more. I admire his advocacy, and respect his determination.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:12 p.m.  

  • If making empty promises aren't the solution to the problems of the developing world, then why did Martin promise to do everything in his power to ameliorate the situation in Sudan? That was one of a number of instances where the gap between Canada's rhetoric and Canada's actions, something that Martin has the power to strengthen, is not so much a gap but a gulf. One Liberal MP quit the party over this, and those Canadians who put their political emphasis on Canada's role in Africa and other potential failing states lost a lot of faith in Martin for making similar empty promises.
    Is it a major election issue? Sadly, no. In much the same manner that other foreign policy issues don't grab headlines, failure to live up to commitments such as the 0.7% pledge and Darfur doesn't register on many voters' radar. International Development Studies students will be infuriated, as will many political scientists, but for the average voter the token lip service paid to developing countries is enough to pacify them while they line up for the more substantive issues for Canadians, namely public health care.

    By Blogger RGM, at 5:28 p.m.  

  • 'Beautiful day' was somehow played at the BC NDP convention after Layton made an election style speech with the BC candidates nominated so far standing behind him.

    Is Jack going for irony?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:47 a.m.  

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