Sting isn't a religious man, but he says President Barack Obama might be a divine answer to the world's problems.
"In many ways, he's sent from God," he joked in an interview, "because the world's a mess."
But Sting is serious in his belief that Obama is the best leader to navigate the world's problems. In an interview on Wednesday, the former Police frontman said that he spent some time with Obama and "found him to be very genuine, very present, clearly super-smart, and exactly what we need in the world."
"I can't think of any be better qualified because of his background, his education, particularly in regard to Islam," he said.
Sting told AP he was fascinated by American politics, and also by Obama’s opponents on the right. (Oh, so Sting listens to Limbaugh?)
"It's aggressive and violent and full of fear," he said of the backlash against Obama. "They don't want change, they want things to feel the same because they feel safe there."
Sting, 58, said he's hopeful that the world's problems can be dealt with, but is frustrated that "we seem to be living in a currency of medieval ideas."
This is a weird complaint coming out of Sting, whose last album was a basket of medieval ideas: medieval music, to be precise. He was pitched to do a "Christmas album" -- kind of a funny concept for someone who's not religious -- so he pitched a wider "winter" album. In a promotional video, he claimed he wanted an "ambivalent" album, since that's how he feels about winter and Christmas.
Sting suggests he's "fascinated" by the right, but he seems to think the religious conservatives are hemline-obsessed racists:
"My hope is that we can start talking about real issues and not caring about whether God cares about your hemline or your color," he said. "We are here to evolve as one family, and we can't be separate anymore."
We need to "evolve as one family," wow. Isn't it nice how those intellectual musicians can avoid cliches?
[Hat tip: Vicki McKenna]
