State Department Doctors Bono Quote
State Department Doctors Bono Quote
A State Department release from Monday doctored remarks from U2’s Bono, twisting his quote to mean the very opposite of what he apparently believes. Here’s the State Department paragraph, two graphs below the lede [besides underlining, excerpt appears exactly as published]:
Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa . I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America.”
In fact, Bono only said the latter half of that quote during his appearance on Meet the Press last Sunday. The first part — “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa” — is deceptively transplanted from an interview Bono did with Time magazine that Tim Russert quoted on the show, and the State Department has taken it entirely out of context. Here’s the full quote:
Question: Which of the G8 leaders do you think remains the toughest nut to crack?
Bono: The most important and toughest nut is still President Bush. He feels he’s already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from far too low a place. He can stand there and say he paid at the office already. He shouldn’t because he’ll be left out of the history books. But it’s hard for him because of the expense of the war and the debts.
In other words, Bono was relaying President Bush’s claim (which he repeated during his press conference with Tony Blair this month) that his administration has tripled aid to Africa. Yet we know Bono does not believe that Bush has tripled aid to Africa. On Meet the Press, Bono said that while Bush has made a commitment to triple aid, that will only be the case “if he follows through” on that pledge.
This blatant dishonesty is even more relevant in light of the study by Susan Rice that Brookings released this week. Rice’s analysis showed that…
…U.S. aid to Africa from FY 2000 (the last full budget year of the Clinton Administration) to FY2004 (the last completed fiscal year of the Bush Administration) has not “tripled” or even doubled. Rather, in real dollars, it has increased 56% (or 67% in nominal dollar terms). The majority of that increase consists of emergency food aid, rather than assistance for sustainable development of the sort Africa needs to achieve lasting poverty reduction.
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Ouch – and just as the Bush-Bono love-in was getting steamy.
June 29th, 2005 at 4:00 pmI am thinking Bono is not going to get a coveted Crawford Invite.
June 29th, 2005 at 4:45 pmGotta wonder what dubya’s nickname for Bono is now.
But what would our names be to describe weasly (sorry all weasles) lying government employees? (rovian)
June 29th, 2005 at 5:05 pmWow, that’s really bad!
June 29th, 2005 at 5:25 pmHope Bono takes them to task.
Souter, Recruiter, Funeral Crashing, Bono Vox
At Eccentricity, the Supremes giving the OK to eminent domain gets a thumbs-down, but taking Justice David Souter’s home gets a thumbs-up.
* Scrutiny Hooligans smells something stinky when Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers says the Army…
June 29th, 2005 at 5:34 pmAnd that food aid that Dubya likes to count trashes the most successful local farmers in these countries, because the price for their produce tanks when all the “free” stuff arrives from the US.
June 29th, 2005 at 5:37 pmThe spin flies so fast, it’s dizzying! I just saw a right-winger referring to Bono’s support of the president.
I filed it under “irrelevant/whatever”…but, Jesus. Do I have to now track every single *celebrity’s* statements about Bush for accuracy??
June 29th, 2005 at 5:55 pmSue the freaks for all its worth…defamation is an offfence.
June 29th, 2005 at 6:27 pmDo I have to now track every single *celebrity’s* statements about Bush for accuracy??
Every statement PERIOD!
June 29th, 2005 at 6:29 pmWhat are they thinking? He can get every single media outlet to show up for a press conference, HE’S A ROCK STAR, and lamb base the hell out of these hacks.
Duck now it’s Bob Geldof, alert! alert!
June 29th, 2005 at 6:52 pmFrodo – The word is “lambaste.” (I can only presume that “lamb base” might be the stock for a soup.)
Kindness – Just because they sound alike, that does not mean that “weasels” is spelled the same way as “measles.”
June 29th, 2005 at 7:31 pmpropaganda from our friendly local fascists? Wow that’s so surprising… These guys in the WHouse are complete frauds!!!
June 29th, 2005 at 7:33 pmThe elite all wipe each other’s asses. Bono is no different. Watch Bono and Geldof try to hijack the antiglobalization protests at the G8. Any care to wager if they’ll get arrested? Or if they’ll do any more than act as whores for the G8 spinning the Africa buyout/debt enslavement? Bono is simply the bone the G8 is throwing the protestors. Chomp chomp.
June 29th, 2005 at 7:41 pmJust emailed Bono/U2 to let them know about this.
June 29th, 2005 at 9:28 pmhttp://www.u2exit.com/contact/
It will piss Bono off but he won’t get up in arms about it unless he goes and chews some officials out in private. It sounds hilarious to say of a rock star but he is such a consummate diplomat. And I mean that in a good way, he wants to influence things from the inside, while being wary of being used as a prop by the wrong people for the wrong things.
June 29th, 2005 at 11:39 pmThe Bush Administration is the most dishonest I have seen since Richard Nixon’s. This behavior by the State Department only proves that the Cult of Bush has permeated the entire government. Cult members believe that the truth is whatever serves your political ambitions.
June 30th, 2005 at 3:12 amWith Condelisa Rice, Laura Bush, Rummy, and Cheney, Laura Ingram, Rush Limbaugh, Shawn Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly as President Bush’s spokespersons, he manages to get Karl Rove execellent words to rewrite for the press. UH-Ohhhhhhhh!! Margie
June 30th, 2005 at 5:55 amI wonder if the State department had this quote from Bono, the same interview :
“And that’s not a place Americans want to be, one-eighth. And that will be Europe doing four times as much as America”
June 30th, 2005 at 9:55 amI watched the interview with Bono on MTP. He did a great job overall. But I couldn’t help notice the way he chose his words. He wanted to show what Bush was doing wrong but not totally antagonize him at the same time. Definitely sounded like a politician. :)
But hey, he’s doing what has to be done. The G8 is so close to formally wiping out that African debt, and sending more aid. Bono doesn’t want to blow it now.
Whatever the case, he should win a Nobel Peace Prize.
June 30th, 2005 at 11:16 amI think Bono is smart enough to trick the Bush administration into doing the right thing.
If he antagonized W like he did his father, W would starve those kids just to show Bono who’s boss.
June 30th, 2005 at 11:59 amBono is such a great man, and Bush is such a small, incompetent man. Bono is very bright, and surely, he’ll find a way to make sure that his viewpoints are made clear in the press.
June 30th, 2005 at 12:52 pmNothing suprises me about this administration. They would stoop to all kinds of lows to accompish what they desire.
June 30th, 2005 at 8:51 pmSadly, this is why I do not believe a single thing coming from the Bush Administration. Years ago, people I know said I was paranoid…now everyone I know doesn’t believe a word from the Bush Administration’s ministry of propoganda. OOPS! I’m not supposed to make Hitler references, according to the controlled mainstream media!
June 30th, 2005 at 10:12 pmJoseph Goebbels is alive and well in the White House.
July 1st, 2005 at 11:45 amnicholas, that email will never reach Bono or U2 at that address. It’s a fansite. Higher-profile U2 fansites generally do not provide ways to contact the band, and neither does the official site, u2.com.
People concerned about this should notify the band’s management- Principle Management in NYC or London or Dublin. Writing to fansites unfortunately won’t help- at least not in the way you want.
July 1st, 2005 at 1:15 pmLet it be duly noted that this quote was not contested:
“I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America.â€?
July 1st, 2005 at 1:36 pmI just can’t think of anything to add to these ‘Internets….’ but ‘bring ‘em on’ and ‘good job’ (to Tony Blair) …. and like rush would say, his mind is ‘on loan straight from GOD……’
July 1st, 2005 at 11:14 pm“Joseph Goebbels is alive and well in the White House.”
Not for long.
Stock up on soap-on-a-rope, Turd Blossom.
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Think Progress »…
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