From what I gathered, that's Sean Borg's dog, not Richie's.

I think it keeps on being brought up as a way to attempt to 'explain' a reason why Richie might leave the tour. For some, there is /no/ valid reason, apart from physical illness or rehab, that would justify Richie leaving the tour. The comment Jon made about The Edge seems to link back to the idea that Jon 'constantly belittled' Richie. This idea, if true, makes me think 'mental health' would be a justifiable reason. Maybe Richie's mental health suffers while on tour, if these sorts of belittling comments are the norm behind the scenes, but away from the tour, he's fine.

EDIT: On the flipside, Richie's comment about Jon wanting to see if he can play stadiums by himself, and Jon's acknowledgement of that comment in a later interview, along with "I don't want to talk about it" --points to what seems like a childish spat/power play between them. If this issue boils down to a 'who-is-more-important-to-this-band'-style argument, my respect for both of them will go down quite a few notches.

Wouldn't that be a slap in the face if it turned out to be just that, a fuss between two grown men about who has the bigger cojones. After 30 years.

The norm?!? Puh-lease, the man's always complimented Richie and has a deep bond with him.

That's what I'd always thought, too. Hope the theory I outlined previously turns out to be false.

Jon said Richie was replaceable AFTER Richie left and had to be replaced--AGAIN. It may not have been the nicest thing in the world to say, but it's not as if he made up some giant lie to knock Richie down.

No, to say he's replacable wasn't so bad, since he clearly was replaced and the tour still went on... But to say that The Edge on the other hand couldn't have been replaced.. that's the nasty part. Ah well.

I have an idea. Why don't we call a moratorium on both the Edge comment AND "F***ing great!" Neither comment shows Jon or Richie in the best of lights. And both are clearly hot-buttons for some of the people here.

I've had to retract statements or say things a different way to get at what I really meant in the first place. I wonder how many times these guys would like to go back and say, "No, no, no... I didn't mean it like that!"

Video interviews are the only things that give clarity. All these web articles are so of embellishment that the truth is hard to find (if theres any to begin with).

When does the tour end ? I fear if nothing is revealed before then, we will be left in the dark indefinitely.