Bono should go “bye bye”?

Yesterday I read with mild interest Bono’s guest column in the NYTimes and even thought about blogging on it. Upon reflection I realized there was not much substance in it and the only thing I could comment about the column would be to say that it shows a mind that is always making connections and likes consonance. Otherwise his column seemed a bit self-serving (“They’ve asked me for a column. What should I write about? Anything I am thinking of at the moment! After all, I am Bono, who wouldn’t want to know what is going through my mind right now. Start the recording!” The audio is available in a side bar…). So, imagine my amusement when I read this column by Jeff Bercovici just now on Portfolio.com:

Jan 11 2009 7:18PM EST

Confidential to Bono, ‘New York Times’ Columnist

Dear Bono,

No doubt you are, as Andy Rosenthal describes you, “an extraordinary man who thinks deeply about his art and the major issues confronting the world.” To be sure, your work on AIDS and poverty is just great. Thanks for that.

But as a newspaper columnist, you are truly an execrable failure. “Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry”? Did you come up with that in a freshman writing seminar? It’s cool that you got to hang out with Frank Sinatra and all, but we really don’t care that much. You’re a rock star. It’s expected.

Bono, you don’t see us getting on stage at the Meadowlands butchering “Where the Streets Have No Name,” do you? So please return the favor and stay off the op-ed page from now on.

Respectfully yours,

Journalists Everywhere

I think Bono’s job is safe, on stage and on the op-ed page, if this is the best response that “Journalists Everywhere” can muster.

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