A lot of stuff gets said about Bono. Some people think he’s smug, self-important, an ego-maniac, etc. etc.
However, it’d be tough to fault his campaigning to bring world poverty, and particularly the disastrous situation in Africa, onto the global media stage.
This article in the Guardian talks a bit about what he’s been up to lately. I doubt there’s a person on the planet who has the kind of access that he has, the kind of left/right influence that he has in the US or the size of platform.
Obviously with that kind of appeal comes some compromise (He’s not, as far as I can see, been as critical of the war in Iraq as he might have been if he wasn’t hanging with the president), but it’s tough to fault his resolve to use his pop-star profile to make a difference. He’s said a number of times that it’s nuts that he should have access to the G8 leaders and finance ministers around the world, just cos he’s a pop star, but he’s taken the challenge seriously, done his homework, and will no doubt go down in the history of our lifetime as one of the most tireless campaigners for justice issues.
So hurrah for St Bono.