From Christianity Today, an evangelical magazine, we learn that Bono has a new book coming from the conservative W Publishing Group. It’s 64 pages, Bono’s snapshots of Africa (“Africa is sexy” has become one of his new slogans) interspersed with the text of his 2006 address to the National Prayer Breakfast. From lefty CounterPunch, meanwhile, we learn — via Bruce Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh — that Bono is peddling bullshit: ” ‘”The crucial role that commerce will play’ as a new thing,” is one of Marsh’s examples. “That has been the barking sales pitch of imperialism and its missionaries from the first day that Europeans landed in Africa.” Indeed, but most of the press — including The NY Times‘ normally savvy David Carr — is buying it yet again. Except, ironically, for Advertising Age, which presumably knows something about snake oil. The argument goes like this: Bono has supplied far more value in good publicity for corporations and politicians that screw Africa than he’s been able to squeeze out of same for his causes. True? Hard to say. What’s unquestionable, though, is Marsh’s assertion that it’s time for the press to stop fawning over Bono and start taking him seriously as a political player — which will require looking past his public prayers to ask real questions about his politics.