Tag: U2

Springsteen and U2 as Liberation Theologians

~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment

Their day jobs as rock stars have made them fabulously wealthy.

That’s held against them by people who think the President’s net worth is a sign of his virtue.

But Springsteen and U2 are also liberation theologians. That might sound like an unhinged thing to say about 5 wealthy white men, but their origins on margins have never been far from their chief concerns or best work.

I suppose instead of calling them liberation theologians, I could say they’re Christians who understand a lot about what the message of Jesus really was.

I don’t know what they do with their wealth, and perhaps that’s a good conversation to have. But I do know what they do with their platform and their public witness.

For some, high ticket prices and half-a-billion-dollar catalogues are disqualifying planks in the eye, but again, most folks saying that don’t blush at the gutting of Medicaid, the defunding of schools, the evaporation of food stamps.

So, I mean, they’ve got some planks in their eyes, too, don’t you think?

I love this song from U2’s new Days of Ash EP.

Ross Perot Was Not My High School History Teacher (The Election’s Not Achtung Baby)

~ Chris Cocca ~ Leave a comment

Ross Perot at the United States Department of ...
Not my 11th-grade history teacher.

This grew out of a response to comments by Mr. Salk and Chad Hogg (not a friend of Buddy Roemer, necessarily), but I thought I’d share it here, lest ye forget, lest, as my 11th-grade history teacher used to say, ye be bored.

Before Perot left the race in ’92 (only to come back later), he was polling double digits nationally, leading many or most of them. He was at 39% at one point in the cycle. In a three-way race, obviously, that’s saying something. Yes, his numbers started to fall as the summer went on and he made some critical blunders (or was compromised by outside forces, which he claimed).

Could he have ever won in the first place? It’s not likely, but it’s conceivable. Had he not dropped out of the race under bizarre circumstances, only to come back later, I do believe he would have polled the 20 percent nationally required for federal funds. That whole process itself is out to lunch, but it would have made enabled Perot to build what could be, by now, a truly viable third party. If if if if.

Incidentally, Perot advocated for electronic town hall style democracy 20 years ago. That’s actually possible now. Nevermind the fact that he owned an IT/data company with government contracts at the time…

Around here, we all know I heart the 90s.  But this “we’re really done with you, Republicans and Democrats” thing isn’t just some flight of nostalgic fancy.  It’s not that Legends of the Hidden Temple marathon you watched a few weeks ago or the forthcoming Achtung Baby reissue.   Still, the changes in the air in early 90s Europe resonate with me here, and that’s not just because of how hard the Scorpions rock.

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Recovering Pietists In Good Company: One of Many Lessons from the U2 Concert

~ Chris Cocca ~ 3 Comments

Thanks to my sister and F. Bil (future brother in-law), my wife and I got to go to the U2 concert in Philly on July 14.  I have many thoughts, pictures, and reflections to share, and this post will be the first.

The show was great and, in a good way, exhausting.  There was so much content beyond the music, and I found myself analyzing every bit of video, every factoid on the massive screen before the show, every partnering of song-choice, faith, hope, and activism.  It was really, really great.

I’ll offer the cartoon below as my first bit of commentary.

I feel like I should say more, but I won’t.  We can do that in the comments. Or when I get around to writing about the thin line between (oops, there I go.  I said I wouldn’t say any more!)