Lock & Load

Bono cavorts with faecal matter? You’re shitting me!

There’s a story going round.

Rock group U2 will, according to some reports, be playing a $1000 a ticket fund-raising concert for Republican Senator Rick ‘santorum’ Santorum. The word ‘santorum’ has entered popular parlance as the term for – wait for it – "the frothy mix of lube and faecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex". The honour of having a sex-related definition linked to his name was inspired by gay columnist Dan Savage after the senator declared that homosexuality belonged to the same group of sexual deviancies as paedophilia and bestiality. He further stated that, in his view, there was no constitutional protection for privacy when sex acts were involved. But you can read all the details on Wikipedia.

Senator Santorum is an extreme homophobe and right-winger who consistently votes against civil rights reforms. He has an appalling voting record on a range of issues, not just limited to gay and civil rights. Surely Bono would at least take issue with his stance on welfare and poverty? For example, Santorum voted to put a cap on foreign aid at only $12.7 billion, making poverty his story, I guess.

So why is Bono doing it?

Well, here’s a theory: Bono is a staunch Catholic who once described the late Pope as "an Italian who knew the right person to get into heaven". (Of course, JPII was Polish, but never mind…) In a tribute to the Pope, Bono hung a set of rosary beads given to him by “the holy father” on his mike stand. And so is Santorum.

Here’s another (well, let’s change ‘theory’ to ‘fact’): According to the BBC, he’s not. Neither Bono nor U2 have anything to do with it. According to the BBC, they’re being used by politicians who book private boxes at stadium shows and then swap places in their boxes in exchange for donations to their campaign.

"U2 concerts are categorically not fundraisers for any politician," said a band spokesman.

The band issued a statement on their official website saying:

'Throughout the U2 tour, politicians from both sides have been organizing fundraisers at the venues or around specific shows. Neither DATA or Bono are involved in these and they cannot be controlled. The U2 concerts are categorically not fundraisers for any politician - they are rock concerts for U2 fans.'

This is good news. I’ve just bought Rattle & Hum on DVD and I’ve hated to have to bin it. I still miss my old vinyl Tea for the Tillerman, but one has to do what one has to do.

posted by Brett Lock @ 1:32 pm