U2 vehemently came out against politicians using their concerts for partisan fund-raisers.
I love it!!!
AFP reports:
Rock giants U2 have expressed outrage that US politicians from both main parties, including Hillary Clinton, are using their concerts to fill campaign coffers.
"The U2 concerts are categorically not fundraisers for any politician. They are rock concerts for U2 fans," a statement from the group's publicist said.
Senator Clinton has "invited" 18 people to join her on October 19 in a luxury suite at Washington's MCI Center to see U2 play during their sold-out Vertigo tour, as long as they contribute 2,500 dollars to the Democratic Party.
Luxury suites at the center cost 7,000 dollars and offer a close-up view of the stage.
"We do a meet-and-greet with the senator, and then go in and listen to music," said Ann Lewis, the former first lady's spokeswoman.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum is holding a 1,000-dollar-a-head fundraiser at U2's show in Philadelphia this weekend.
I have no problem with artists doing benefits for candidates or causes, as long as they are clearly staged and billed as fund-raisers.
For example, many entertainers got on the John Kerry bandwagon to lend a hand during his FAILED presidential campaign. Bruce Springsteen joined Kerry on the stump, playing in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 28, 2004, before a crowd estimated at 80,000.
CommonDreams.org described it this way:
Springsteen, who is traveling with the Kerry campaign for the last five days of the election drive, opened his two-song set with "Promised Land." In the song, he urges people to "blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and broken hearted."
Then he spoke directly to the audience. "I've been writing songs about America for thirty year, about what America stands for, and what America fights for," he said. "The essential ideas of America's identity are what is at stake November 2."
He praised Kerry for honoring America's ideals, for addressing issues of economic justice, health care, civil rights, the environment, for advocating "a sane and responsible foreign policy," and for "safeguarding our precious democracy."
He said Kerry has "an adult view" of our place in the world and "understands that we are not infallible." He said Kerry has helped America face its "hard truths" and find a "deeper patriotism" and will "make our world a better and a safer place."
Springsteen invoked the name of Paul Wellstone, mentioning that the late Senator from Minnesota had a saying, "The future is for the passionate." To that, Springsteen added: "Well, the future is now, and let your passions loose. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."
He ended with Kerry's anthem, "No Retreat, No Surrender," which contains the line, "I want to sleep underneath peaceful skies."
After the song, Kerry bounded onto the stage and clasped Springsteen's hand and praised him for singing about real people. "The people he sings about," said Kerry, "are the people we need to fight for and have representation for in the White House."
Then Kerry cracked a joke: "When George Bush heard the Boss was going to be with me today, he thought I was talking about Dick Cheney."
Ha Ha. That Kerry is SO funny.
Now, obviously Bruce was campaigning for Kerry. He chose to get into the political fray. There was no question that he wanted Kerry to win the election.
Although I don't like it when artists decide to push their personal politics on fans that paid big bucks to attend their concerts to hear them perform rather than bloviate, I think it's perfectly acceptable for an artist to support political candidates and appear at fund-raisers.
Of course, they must accept the risk of alienating some of their fans when they take a very defined political stance, but that's their choice. I respect the artists' right to express themselves and say whatever they want.
However, when politicians use an artist's performance as a fund-raiser, without permission, I most definitely have a problem with that.
I love it that U2 strongly condemned Hillary Clinton and Bill Frist for turning their shows into opportunities to rake in campaign dollars.
Now, this is nothing new. I'm sure the luxury suites at sporting events and concerts are regularly used to raise money for politicians. However, that doesn't make it right.
In effect, they are scalping tickets. I know such behavior is illegal where I live. The reselling of tickets is also illegal in the District of Columbia.
Hillary is charging $2,500 a ticket for the chance to attend the October 18, U2 concert with her. Will the Senate investigate Hillary’s dismissal of the DC anti-scalping law?
Frist, while offering a better deal, is still getting $1000 a head. Pennsylvania is generally hands off when it comes to ticket scalping, so the legality of his actions are a bit murkier compared to Hillary’s clearly illegal behavior.
I don’t know what the exact amounts are, but there’s no question that the prices these politicians are charging are way over face value.
Don’t you wonder what Hillary and Frist think of “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”? Do you think they’ve ever heard it?
Whatever, I’m glad that U2 chose to call attention to the politicians’ exploitation of their performances.
As U2’s publicist said, "The U2 concerts are categorically not fundraisers for any politician. They are rock concerts for U2 fans."
Yes, they are.
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