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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| U2's Bono Backs Anti-Chavez Video Game |
| 2006-07-11 |
| Liberals are sounding a sour note over U2 rocker Bono’s backing of a video game that depicts Venezuela as a banana republic led by a power-hungry tyrant. The "Venezuela” in the game is a fictitious country, but lefties are distressed that it demonizes Venezuela’s real leader Hugo Chavez, known for his Marxist domestic policies and virulent anti-Americanism. A private equity firm established by Bono – the Irish star who has been touted for a Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign for Third World debt relief – invested $300 million in Pandemic Studios, maker of the video game "Mercenary 2: World in Flames,” according to the New York Post. A player assumes the role of a mercenary sent to Venezuela, where a dictator has seized control of the nation’s oil. One left-winger sounding off against Bono’s investment is Jeff Cohen, author of "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media” and a recent visitor to Venezuela, who told the Post’s Page Six column: "It’s hard to fathom why an artist who claims to be about new paths to justice for developing countries would be mixed up in a computer game that glorifies stale, old mercenary approaches.” And David Lindorff, co-author of the new book "The Case for Impeachment,” said: "This kind of right-wing war game plays to the propaganda message that the Bush White House has been pushing for years: that Chavez is a dictator oppressing his people . . . Bono should use his financial interest in the company to kill it, or better, he should pull out entirely as an investor.” Lindorff called the video game "imperialist garbage.” As for the "propaganda message” supposedly being sent out by the White House, it might be noted that since taking office in 1998, Chavez has, among other things, seized control of the nation’s broadcast media, rewritten Venezuela’s constitution to enhance his powers, purged critics in the military and sent thousands of young Venezuelans to Castro’s Cuba for indoctrination. Even Venezuela’s highest Catholic prelate has called Chavez a dictator. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #13 I will say for Bono: no matter where his politics are, he is pragmatic, and he callls 'em as he sees 'em - an admirable trait the Kossites and nutroots should learn. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-07-11 20:14 |
| #12 I give Bono credit where it's due. And, I plan to check out this video game (only wish it was real). |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-11 18:52 |
| #11 does anyone really give a shit what bono thinks |
| Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 2006-07-11 16:29 |
| #10 Oh, I see now, the agent, Jeff Cohen. (Duh-oh!) |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-11 14:03 |
| #9 Jeffy? |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-11 14:01 |
| #8 bigjim-ky, well, as long as he only hates them as a race or ethnic group, it's ok as long as he likes individual Jews. Especially the self-loathing, morally equivocating kind. Then, pardon me for putting it this way, it's kosher. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-07-11 12:50 |
| #7 Does Jeffy know that Hugo doesn't like Jews? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-07-11 10:40 |
| #6 Bono, Man of the Year! |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-07-11 10:27 |
| #5 It's interesting that videogames are one of the few entertainment media where this sort of thing can be done. The implicit anti-Chavez tint may be less ideological than the result of "narrative imperative" (a video game about UN gabfests would be kind of boring after all), but they did choose to call it "Venezuela." If more of this sort of thing comes out from video game producers, you can expect to see video games become the Left's new Great Hate. If there's one thing leftoids can't stand, it's conservatives horning in on what they view as their territory. Hence the special loathing reserved for Rush, Fox News, etc. |
| Posted by: Creling Glaving6065 2006-07-11 10:17 |
| #4 Well, chavez is a dictator and a nutjob. Proof that Bono hasn't completely fallen off the face of sanity like his liberal pals. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-11 09:25 |
| #3 My only question; is this available for playstation2? |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-07-11 09:16 |
| #2 When Lefties stop emoting and start thinking they have to shift right wing. Why? Right wing works. Or as Lady Thatcher (PBUH) says "the facts of life are conservative" |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2006-07-11 08:11 |
| #1 I'm really becoming a U2 fan these days. First "vertigo" and "All Because of You," now this. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-11 07:12 |