Re: pro Bono

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 19 May 2002 20:13:34 +0100, Chris Burford wrote:
>Did not Robeson once sing about an America that
>was inclusive?

Robeson was an outspoken critic of capitalism. Bono is a proponent of
capitalist handouts to countries that would be far better off if they
broke with capitalism altogether. Furthermore, the USA is currently
prosecuting a terrorist assault on numerous countries in the name of
fighting terrorism. When a nominally progressive rock musician lines
up with the murderers based in the White House, he is a sellout.
Robeson was broken because he refused to toe the line of US
imperialism during the witch-hunt. He never sold out. Bono, by
contrast, is spreading illusions about the world's biggest enemy of
social justice and human rights while wrapping himself in the
American flag.

The New York Times, February 4, 2002, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Singers Smoothly Merge Politics With Patriotism

By CARYN JAMES

"Live from Afghanistan" and "Super Bowl" are not words you expect to
hear in the same breath, but watching members of the American
military send greetings home from Kandahar was not even the strangest
part of the nonsports coverage yesterday.

There was an actor dressed as John Hancock signing the Declaration of
Independence and former President George Bush joining the coin toss.
Mariah Carey sang the national anthem in a wardrobe and performance
that were simple but elegant. (Two words you'd never expect to see in
the same sentence as Mariah Carey.) Her straight hair, unadorned blue
dress and diamond necklace suited her low-key, inflected delivery of
the song. (This couldn't have been an uncalculated way to start
turning around that nasty recent publicity about how her record label
bought her out, even though her song was taped.)

Most emblematic, there was Bono, fresh from the World Economic Forum,
where on Saturday he had a formal debate with Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill and lobbied for the cancellation of third-world debt.
Yesterday, he led U2 in a live performance during the halftime show,
a one-man walking, talking, singing symbol of how politics and
entertainment mixed here.

Recreating a scene from the group's recent tour, he sang one of U2's
most familiar hits, "Where the Streets Have No Name," as the names of
the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks scrolled on a screen behind him.
For a finale, he opened his black leather jacket to reveal its
stars-and-stripes lining.

Yesterday's pregame and halftime shows were, as they were meant to
be, jarringly different from most Super Bowl extravaganzas, but it
was easy to see where it all came from. Loyalty to sports teams is a
close cousin to patriotism; and after Sept. 11, the N.F.L. recast the
entertainment, adopting the theme "Heroes, Hope and Homeland."

--
Louis Proyect, lnp3@xxxxxxxxx on 05/19/2002

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