The "Come On" Treatment, Indeed

I think of all the things I have read today, the Supreme Court fucking union pensions and home care workers, the Oregon House of Representatives failing to pass a cigarette tax wherein all monies would go to funding health care for children without it, a way of life ending so that some exploiters can exploit in Africa, Barry "the Juicer" Bonds coming one step closer to breaking the home run record, this story is the most depressing:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If you saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers whispering to Al Gore when they accepted their Grammy Award for best rock album in February, that's the moment they committed to playing Live Earth.

Gore said he met with band members for more than an hour before this year's televised awards show, trying to persuade them to perform at one of the concerts.

While receptive to the idea, they weren't sure they could fit the July 7 concert into their schedule, Gore said Friday.

"I was pushing and pushing them that no matter how difficult it was, that it was important," he said.

The former vice president, who lost the 2000 presidential election to George Bush despite winning the popular vote, is promoting the Live Earth concerts to raise climate change awareness.

Gore, who presented the Grammy for the best rock album with Queen Latifah, said that amid their celebration for winning the award for "Stadium Arcadium," band members "came over to me on stage and whispered in my ear: `We're in.'"

"That was the greatest place to get a confirmation that I've had yet," he said.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the headliners for the London concert. Other shows are slated for New York; Tokyo; Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Hamburg, Germany; and Istanbul, Turkey.

Organizers have also promised an event in Antarctica.

Now just picture Al Gore spending an hour with these boys, begging them to play a freaking concert. The guy should have been the most powerful man in the world and is, instead, reduced to begging a group of former heroin addicts make room in the schedule for him. And an hour. That's a mighty long time to spend in any negotiation. Maybe there were some pretty serious caucuses.

And just to other hand it. I'm also disturbed that the boys who bragged about fucking 'em just to see the look on their faces spent an hour listening to Al Gore beg them to play a show for the environment. I know Anthony always did the "I'm part native America, and therefor more spiritual than your average rocker," but that should indicate that it should have taken less than an hour. Maybe there was some sticking over a "no killing coyotes" policy.