Its not at all bad. The homage that U2 is playing seemingly went over a lot of peoples heads causing the illusion that they were comparing themselves to rock and blues greats when, really, they were thanking them.
I think the real dividing line here, however, is Bono. You either love him and almost venerate him as a saint among rock stars, or you hate him for the exact same reason, that is, you hate him for caring. And that is why I believe so many people walked away from this document...