Bono and Foreigner

The long and remarkable reign of the celebrities in foreign aid shows no sign of abating. On a May 1 CNN special on TIME magazine’s new selection of the world’s 100 most influential people, according to a press release, “George Clooney — a four-time honoree — will sit down with U2 frontman and activist Bono to chat about fame and politics.”

In a desperate attempt to give some balanced perspective, let me be fair and point out that Bono’s organization, ONE.org, is supporting something I totally agree with, a campaign called Publish What You Fund (PWYF), which believes “Everyone can request and receive information on aid processes; Information on aid should be timely and accessible; Information on aid should be comparable; the right of access to information about aid should be promoted.” A million Amens to that. All you Bono fans, please agitate on behalf of PWYF.

I also confess that I LIKE the music of U2 and find many of their anthems to be genuinely inspirational. When I told my kids this, unfortunately, they pointed out that my credentials as a rock critic are pretty shaky. They know that I also like the band Foreigner.