Posted on 03/14/2005 4:11:51 AM PST by elhombrelibre
Irish-American Politicians Drop Sinn Féin, Finally
Americans of Irish descent have always had a soft spot for the old IRA and Ireland's struggle for freedom. Not only do they see the Irish as a parallel to the American revolutionaries, but most of their ancestors fled Ireland as a result of British colonalialism, maladministration, and outright oppression. This has led us to keep blinders on to the nature of the modern conflict in Northern Ireland. American politicians of Irish descent have proven to have a soft spot in their head for supporting the modern IRA's political wing, Sinn Féin, despite the IRA being little more than an American-style street gang -- opposing Loyalist groups of exactly the same timbre -- more reminiscent of a Baader-Meinhof without the discipline.
Those days have come to an end, at least for now. CNN reports that Gerry Adams has finally been shunned by the American government, even those politicians he once counted on for influence and power in Northern Ireland:
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy has called off talks with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams set for St. Patrick's Day. ...
Adams has already been refused a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House and will not be attending the St. Patrick's Day lunch hosted by U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert. ...
One of Sinn Fein's top supporters in the U.S. Congress, New York Republican Sen. Peter King, also has called on the IRA to disband. King said the IRA had made a series of poor decisions that had sparked anger in Irish-American circles.
I'd say it has. First, the IRA engineers one of the largest armed robberies in UK history, making off with £22 million ($50 million US) with which to fund itself. Given the nature of the IRA, which had promised to disarm itself and go legitimate but never actually complied, this sudden influx of funding portends more violence and illegal operation. Shortly after that, a number of IRA operatives killed a man who tried to stop a bar fight in a Catholic neighborhood in NI. Some of these murderers are rumored to have a high rank in the IRA.
Instead of turning these geniuses over to the police, the IRA and Sinn Féin stonewalled, and then the IRA offered the family a deal which sounded like someone had watched The Godfather too often. They met with the family of the victim and offered to shoot the men responsible, although it remains unclear whether that meant killing them or merely kneecapping them, a favorite IRA method of disciplining its members. Horrified, the family declined the offer and instead told the world about it. Sinn Féin defended the offer, proving to the world that they would forever remain apologists for terror and gangsterism.
Most Americans of Irish descent know better than to involve themselves in The Troubles. We understand that Northern Ireland isn't 1922 all over again and that the only solution to NI's problems will be found with the people of Ulster, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK. If nothing else, 9/11 taught us not to deal with terrorists. However, some among us continued to celebrate Adams, Sinn Féin, and pour money into their coffers, and politicians like Kennedy and King lent that credibility. Shame on them for not stopping it before, but at least give them credit for doing the right thing now.
But the best credit should go to the White House and George Bush, who had to put up with Adams for the first four years thanks to Bill Clinton's useless entanglements with Sinn Féin. This year, Adams will find himself outside the White House on St. Patrick's Day while Bush hosts the family of the IRA's latest victim instead. Now that's a move for which I can raise a pint of Guinness in support.
There is an inverse relationship between actual ties to Ireland and support for Sinn Fein / IRA on this board - some rather desperate characters think that supporting said Marxist terrorists and thugs actually brings them more in touch with their ancestry, when the truth is, that their forefathers would have likely smacked them one for supporting an organisation that is so inherently anti-church.
Regards, Ivan
Too bad, you will never know the flavor of being an excellent American.
Or even more sadly, anything else.......
And I drank at the Guinness Brewery everytime!
Brox and I are fine being British. We have no need to replicate the implied schizophrenia of being a plastic facsimile of one country's patriot while being citizen of another.
Ivan
Shore leave binges would explain much of your perspective on things.
Ivan
I couldn't agree more MadIvan.
These people haven't a clue about the real Ireland, only what they have read in books, or have seen from a weeks holiday in Dublin.
It is mightily strange that many FReepers support marxist chid-killers who are best buddies with the PLO, Libya and FARC.
Many Irish songs praise the "bold IRA", but I suspect that they were written before the Marxists co-opted the organization. A lot of "BICs" (Bronx Irish Catholics) used to visit our part of the Jersey Shore in the 60's and 70's, and Irish rebel songs were very popular.
From "The Patriot's Game":
'Tis nearly two years since
I wandered away,
with a local battalion
of the bold IRA;
I'd heard of our heroes
and wanted the same,
to play my own part in
the Patriot's Game.
This Ireland of ours has
for long been half free;
six counties are under
John Bull's tyranny;
so I gave up my boyhood
to drill and to train
and now I'm a part of
the Patriot's Game.
This is all about being "special." I'm "Irish" and you're not. My parents were from Europe and I was born here. I'm an American. If I ever doubt it, I just ask my relatives overseas.
I have had many pleasant trips to Ireland, on both business and pleasure, and I am much happier to deal with the Irish directly than with the faux-Irish Sinn Fein supporters in the States. The former actually are interested in finding solutions to the remaining issues in Northern Ireland. The latter engage in mindless sports fan-like behaviour that regard so many British corpses as being points on Sinn Fein / IRA's scoreboard.
Regards, Ivan
The IRA is a bunch of thugs but they exist because the Brits decided that Ireland was nothing more than a plantation and the Irish good for nothing but starving or being forced to fight overseas against people who happened to be already living in a country that held resources that the Brits thought was their's by some cosmic right.
This history is not just centuries old. British gun trucks still keep the Catholic majority down by force in Ulster.
Nobody I know ever supported the IRA but you know what...we all agree that any Brit trying to tell the Irish anywhere how things are or should be can do what Fireman Moran (any idea who he is brox?) told bin-laden to do....kiss our royal Irish ass.
My first post stated that the Bronx was different, didn't it?
I saw that too!
There were so many Irish soldiers in the Brit army those days, they let us have our parade so we wouldn't kill them.
And that is why the NYC Saint Patrick's Day Parade is almost if not more than 400 years old.
Even Ireland doesn't do it like NYC!!!
Actually it is the main topic when I joined up that concerns Britain, but if you want to know I am from Irish background myself, have many Irish relatives and friends and have visited many times, so maybe according to your criteria I am more Irish than most here.
The IRA is a bunch of thugs but they exist because the Brits decided that Ireland was nothing more than a plantation and the Irish good for nothing but starving or being forced to fight overseas against people who happened to be already living in a country that held resources that the Brits thought was their's by some cosmic right.
That is a disgusting argument that is used by the palestinians and Ismaofascists in general to blame the USA for their trouble. Just change IRA to bin laden and Brits to America.
This history is not just centuries old. British gun trucks still keep the Catholic majority down by force in Ulster.
That is a lie, shows a lack of historical knowledge that it was the catholics of NI who asked for the troops, and also the fact that it is a bit strange for Tony Blair who has Catholic children to oppress catholics.
Nobody I know ever supported the IRA but you know what...we all agree that any Brit trying to tell the Irish anywhere how things are or should be can do what Fireman Moran (any idea who he is brox?) told bin-laden to do....kiss our royal Irish ass.
How Irish are you mate? Are you as Irish as me?
Yes, King dropped them.
_____________________________
Hey, brox, how about supporting that statement. You've been here a total of one day and you are accusing "many Freepers" of supporting terrorists.
I've been to the UK dozens of times and I've met scores of brits here in NYC. I have seen a strong prejudice against the Irish run through almost everyone I've gotten to know.
Ivan, considering your close embrace of a day old newbie I can only assume thast you know this person already or that his claim to be british is all you need to throw him a hug.
When were you in Ireland and when was the last person born and what is the fastest land mammal?
I have lurked on this site for years.
How Irish are you friend? When was your last ancestor who was Irish?
As for FReepers who support the IRA, just ask MadIvan.
Could you leave me out of the child killing?
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