73 Comments

• IrishAndProud | Sep 27, 2010, 02:42 PM EDT

  And btw, Dennis...when I say that the American people support Israel, I'm referring to the majority of this country (and which I am part of)...and which is reflected in any national poll on this matter, consistently.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 27, 2010, 03:37 AM EDT

  And I repeat, Dennis, ethnic cleansing (which Israel is NOT practicing towards the Arabs) is PRECISELY what you want done to the Jews, on their own ancient land, nonetheless (with as usual, no where else to suggest 'putting' them afterward -- unless of course you mean DEAD). How about YOU practice what you preach, and get off the Native Americans' land?

• IrishAndProud | Sep 27, 2010, 03:34 AM EDT

  And to quote Ronald Reagan (who this whole article was a bit more about): "There you go again" with the 'Israeli lobby.' Certainly they have one of the biggest lobbying orgazations in the USA -- which, last I checked, there is nothing wrong with, particularly since they merely reflect a majority of the U.S. populace, which like me backs Israel's existence on that land to the hilt. Why SHOULDN'T they harness that sentiment through lobbying, in the face of wobbly-kneed and hostile (re: 'progressive') politicians? They can't afford NOT to, as under attack as they constantly are. (Incidentally, the AARP, a domestic, liberal-leaning group, is larger than the Israeli's biggest lobbying group, AIPAC).

• IrishAndProud | Sep 27, 2010, 03:29 AM EDT

  Dennis, what Arabs are being 'starved' by Israel, and where? Surely you don't mean Gaza, with its new, glimmering shopping mall, spas, swimming pools and hotels (not to mention Iranian rockets, out the wazoo, ready to be fired at Israel, first chance). What Arabs are being 'harrassed' by Israel, and where? Raining rockets down on an Israeli town for months on end, with sudden death a continuous possibility...and making near-continual threats about wiping Israel off the map...now THAT is harassment.

• DennisQ | Sep 25, 2010, 10:50 PM EDT

  I'm an American citizen and I fix computers for a living.

• Monsoonman | Sep 25, 2010, 11:16 AM EDT

  Just curious Dennis: What is your nationality and how do you support yourself?

• DennisQ | Sep 24, 2010, 11:36 PM EDT

  Maybe we don't agree on the meaning of the term "ethnic cleansing," IrishAndProud. Israeli policy seems calculated to push the Arabs out of Israel altogether. It's not enough that areas designated for Arabs have been shrinking, but there's also an effort to starve, harass and even kill the ones remaining. I'd call that ethnic cleansing; there's nothing "false" or "silly" about such a charge.
  
  Over time we see the Jews taking over traditional Arab lands, replacing them with bantustans, the word the Afrikaaners used to describe the walled-in territories to which Blacks were relegated in the days of apartheid. Our three billion dollars goes to support a social structure in Israel that we opposed in South Africa; indeed, we led a boycott against South Africa.
  
  Why was the relief flotilla necessary this past summer? It's because the Israelis are starving the Palestinians, denying them food and medicine, trying to get them to leave. We should not be supporting Israel at all, much less giving that country a lavish subsidy of $3 billion a year.
  
  American politicians are afraid to pull the plug on Israel because they fear the Israel Lobby. I would frankly like to see a lobby for Ireland with the ability to inspire fear the way the Jews can. Very good arguments can be made to support Ireland at only 10% of the amount given to Israel. And the money wouldn't go to promote apartheid as does the money given to Israel. It would go for good things like schools, hospitals and old age pensions. Not for dropping bombs on the helpless people of Gaza.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 24, 2010, 07:20 PM EDT

  Dennis, no one said we 'owe' money to 'the Jews,' (interesting that you worded it that way instead of simply saying 'to Israel'). The USA CHOOSES to give them that money, and the majority of Americans support this. As for Israel 'being able to make it' on its own after 60 years since its RE-establishment on its own ancient land, you could make the exact same argument about ANY other nation, Dennis -- including Ireland, which you just got done saying would be a better place to spend money on, instead of Israel. Why can't IRELAND cut it, after so many eons on THAT land (although now you seem to be saying the $$ would be better spent in the U.S. itself, and neither on Ireland OR Israel). Yeah, in this Obama 'recovery' things are pretty tight and gloomy, particularly for his dejected and disillusioned former followers -- but that doesn't mean the USA should just cease funding our strategic ally on the far end of the Mediterranean, completely surrounded by enemies including one who's vowed to 'wipe it off the map.' It cannot just suddenly cease, because Obama's mucking things up here at home so much. If you simply dislike Israel (hence the false and silly charges of 'ethnic cleansing' -- which is precisely what YOU want to do with the Jews on their own land) and want it to go away, then why don't you just say so openly, run for office on it, and work your way up the power ladder until you can implement it? I can't say how receptive the voters would be to it, however...

• snuffey | Sep 24, 2010, 01:59 PM EDT

  Remember right is RIGHT, left is WRONG!

• semperfidelis | Sep 24, 2010, 10:50 AM EDT

  Thank God

• Monsoonman | Sep 24, 2010, 10:47 AM EDT

  How about a great spin piece from our lefty columnists on two of our famed Irish American political puppet masters, rahm emmanuel and david axelrod. They both are resigning from our famous Irish American president O'Bamas administration. Could we get some "inside information" from our resident "political savant"? Is it because they want to spend more time with their families?...Or is it because they need to shred evidence 24/7?

• DennisQ | Sep 24, 2010, 02:33 AM EDT

  Three billion dollars would not go to waste if we kept it here rather than give it away. If you're going to argue that the Irish have no claim to American tax money, I hope you're not implying that Americans have no claim to it either.
  
  The point is that we don't owe money to the Jews. If they can't make a go of it after sixty years, it's time they made some compromises. But so long as they have us backing them up, they want the whole thing and the Arabs can go scratch themselves. It's not fair, and we would not allow it if it were any other nation.
  
  We can't avoid asking what's so special about these people that they get three billion dollars off the top of our tax receipts, and our own people do without. I've never heard a straightforward answer to that question, and I don't think that you've answered it either.
  
  When you say that the American people identify with and support Israel, I don't know who you are speaking for - yourself? I don't identify with Israel; in fact I'm repelled by the way that country treats its Arab minority. And my "support" for Israel is involuntary. It's a decision made by politicians who are afraid of the Israel lobby.
  
  Ah well, we'll just throw money away because we've got lots of it. I can be as sporting as the next guy. If you're giving away three billion dollars to Israel for reasons other than America's interests, why not cut the amount by a tenth? Give the Jews $2.7 billion, and give the Irish $300 million. To the extent that the Irish would not use the money to buy weapons for ethnic cleansing, it would be a far more moral use of our aid money.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 24, 2010, 12:10 AM EDT

  Dennis, the USA's support for Israel goes just a wee bit deeper than 'not caring' about the Irish. I know that amongst we Irish that's an oh-so-popular sentiment to fan (we just loooove doing it and reaaally get into it...we've made such good victims of ourselves, after all, and have incorporated 'victimhood' so centrally into what's popularly considered an 'authentic' Irish identity), but you really need to snap out of it. The USA feels differently about Israel than ANY other nation -- not just Ireland -- and it clearly isn't because of our national ancestry, either (since Jews are less than 2% of the U.S. population, and DROPPING, btw). The American people, by and large, simply (and clearly) identify with and support Israel, and recognize its historic, religious, and strategic significance, which is and has been inarguably greater than any other people or nation on this earth, especially considering how few of them there really are, in relation to all the rest of us (and there's been no shortage of effort to destroy them, either), and further we recognize its legitimate existence on its own ancient land, and the benefit to any nation which backs them (considering Who ultimately backs THEM)...and we are glad to be their ally. Israel's relationship with the USA is unique and incomparable to ANY other nation; Ireland is not being singled out, here. It's just a bit deeper, than that, and it's both overly simplistic and inaccurate to suggest that money going to Israel is somehow diverting what otherwise would be a juicy, socialist handout to Ireland's poor. LOTS of other countries could make the same 'claim', as well.

• McNamara31 | Sep 23, 2010, 08:03 PM EDT

  What do the likes of Hannity and O'Reilly and Fox News, who are nothing but an arm of the GOP, have to offer America or Irish Americans. They couldn't attack the Dem's on facts, so they had to take the low road to feed the nation a steady diet of smear, division and inferred paranoia about regime change. They have recently, brazenly supported candidates who won't debate and use Fox as a source to raise contributions while they don't have the caliber or intelligence to fairly debate other candidates. The facts remain, this country was bleeding 8 million jobs during the end of the Bush term and his policies of deregulation have forced the middle class into dire straits. The GOP continues to blow smoke of how they have to take their country back...Too what...To the people whose mismanagement brought us to the brink of financial destruction? And BTW, thanks to the “old Irish style” Dem’s, starting today, your college student can stay on your healthcare policy till age 26, your child with a pre existing conditions will no longer be denied health insurance, and your insurance company can no longer “drop you” if you become ill with cancer a hit your lifetime cap.

• maloney | Sep 23, 2010, 07:57 PM EDT

  kell...you are a good man

• zagloba | Sep 23, 2010, 03:53 PM EDT

  Really? Really? You hold these two up for admiring Irish glances? O'Reilly is intolerant and boorish, and Hannity is truly a right wing nut, who panders to the worst in America. They are fearmongers and dividers.

• kell7757 | Sep 23, 2010, 11:52 AM EDT

  Fred Thompson for President 2012

• kell7757 | Sep 23, 2010, 11:34 AM EDT

  Many of the people moving towards The Republican Party realize and see it's imperfections, but also realize that it's the best option for America, and it's a framework that we can work with an improve. The Democrats are destroying this country.

• FatherVol | Sep 23, 2010, 01:12 AM EDT

  It's about time.

• DennisQ | Sep 23, 2010, 12:12 AM EDT

  What I don't understand is why the Jews are so much more important than the Irish. Here's IrishAndProud defending the $3 billion will give every year to Israel by saying it brings "closer ties" between us.
  
  A measly tenth of that amount would help the Irish out a great deal. There aren't jobs in Ireland for young people - that's why they're coming here. But imagine the amount of good $300 million would do them.
  
  A Jew once explained to me why Israel gets $3 billion and Ireland gets nothing. It's because, he said, nobody gives a rat's ass about the Irish.

• heybuldog69 | Sep 22, 2010, 11:31 PM EDT

  Jesus was a Progressive Liberal.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 22, 2010, 11:00 PM EDT

  A stronger Israel, and even closer ties between them and us -- that's what we get, Dennis. And that's more than enough return, for me (since my $$ are also among that amount going to Israel, I think my opinion counts as much as anyone's). I'd much rather be supporting Israel than contributing to its destruction, and the driving of Jews off their own ancient land. Not a good thing. I just don't aspire all that much to be counted among the Jews' enemies; throughout history, they've not been a nice bunch.

• maloney | Sep 22, 2010, 10:45 PM EDT

  There may be some hope for the Irish American after all as more become conservative every day.

• maloney | Sep 22, 2010, 10:44 PM EDT

  Joe K. never ran booze during prohibition. WHAT A LAUGH!

• maloney | Sep 22, 2010, 10:42 PM EDT

  Ted was a drunk for many years. His son is a drunken drug addict.

• hancock | Sep 22, 2010, 10:10 PM EDT

  One, two ,three.... should I continue?

• irishgenebuf | Sep 22, 2010, 09:45 PM EDT

  I hope the pendulum swings back to liberalism some day. I can't stand to listen to the new breed.

• DennisQ | Sep 22, 2010, 07:32 PM EDT

  Can you count past one, hancock?

• 1IrishMedic | Sep 22, 2010, 07:24 PM EDT

  We have fallen to a new low in America when we list the group of Irish-Americans that worship at the church of Reagan. This group of anti-Americans and Right wing, wing-nuts have not the class nor the intelligence to represent America. They are best compared to the likes of Ian Paisley of Northern Ireland. I am ashamed.

• hancock | Sep 22, 2010, 06:17 PM EDT

  Teddy wasa a drunk, if you can't admit that you're stupider than I thought.

• DennisQ | Sep 22, 2010, 04:38 PM EDT

  Joe Kennedy was not a bootlegger . . . that's a myth. And the Kennedys were not drunks . . . that's also a myth. To the extent that these legends are accepted as fact among the Irish themselves, it's a case of internalized self-hatred.
  
  Joe Kennedy made a lot of money importing liquor after Prohibition. The Kennedys barely touched liquor; and most of them didn't drink at all. Visitors to the Kennedys had to ask for a drink; and if they wanted another, they had to ask again. Those are the facts.

• McNamara31 | Sep 22, 2010, 03:41 PM EDT

  kell7757…Sorry, I don't think a steady diet of smear, division and inferred paranoia about regime change, is a productive path to follow. I also remember when Americans didn't have to fit into narrow little boxes labeled: progressive, liberal, and elitist, or to the extremes, socialist or Marxist when the likes of Hannity or Beck, try to motivate votes by fear. I think most people have individual feelings about most topics however the conservative game now is to tell you if you don’t follow their “narrow” platform you’re un American.

• edmundburke | Sep 22, 2010, 03:36 PM EDT

  As a first and second generation Irish American (myself, Da, and GrandDa all conservative Republicans) I find this article spot on and good news.

• DennisQ | Sep 22, 2010, 03:24 PM EDT

  IrishAndProud, what do we get in return for the $3 billion a year we give to Israel, no strings attached?

• kell7757 | Sep 22, 2010, 03:11 PM EDT

  I'm not liberal. I'm conservative. I came from a liberal family, but like a lot of Irish Americans have come to see that liberalism is not leading this country to a good future. That is what this article is about. Many have moved away from liberalism. Find out about the quality of life in the UK if you want to know where liberalism can take a country. It's not about how we were treated in the past, or if we were victims, or who's the victim now. It's about where America is now and the direction we want America to go in in the future.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 22, 2010, 02:56 PM EDT

  Dennis, someone could write precisely the same thing about a typical 'progressive' such as yourself, and your Hamas Jew-hater heroes. You don't think THEY can do any wrong.

• IrishEddy | Sep 22, 2010, 02:45 PM EDT

  The Irish in America sure have come a long way, Once we were victims of Hate Groups now we're members. America is a great country.

• FastEddy | Sep 22, 2010, 02:36 PM EDT

  Son of a bootlegger, drunk ... what else?

• McNamara31 | Sep 22, 2010, 02:36 PM EDT

  kell7757..Your Irish ancestors came to the States for religious and economic freedom, and to provide a better future of education, healthcare, and the dream that someday they would be treated as an equal, that had been impossible in Ireland under British rule. The narrative coming from the conservatives of today, like Hannity, sounds very close to those who “victimized” rather than allowed the Irish immigrants to pursue their American dream. The further Irish Americans get from their own history as immigrants they seem to forget that reality.

• Watchman | Sep 22, 2010, 02:24 PM EDT

  Kell7757: I'm not reaching for insults, I'm reaching for good sense. I don't doubt for a second that you are both liberal and Irish-American. You are not unique in this. My objection to the Irish-American response to America and its politics is that it is endlessly mired in ethnic irrelevance. By all means – especially as a first-generation U.S. citizen – be proud of your Irish heritage. I am of mine (and I was there as recently as yesterday). But if your grandchildren are still indulging their origin, to the detriment of an American viewpoint, then all that I have said previously is valid. Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans, even Ukrainian-Americans, give up on the "Old Country" after fifty years. Only the Irish hang on in there, constantly reliving the distant past as if it were yesterday. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are not Irish idiots, they are American idiots and should be judged as such. We need to move on.

• Verum68 | Sep 22, 2010, 01:33 PM EDT

  Niall, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire Really, Niall was it necessary to call them "flaming" liberals? Is civil discourse still possible in this country or has name calling taken it's place?

• kell7757 | Sep 22, 2010, 12:53 PM EDT

  You're reaching for insults, because that doesn't even make sense. As a first generation American, it would be impossible for me to not be influenced by my heritage, and have that shape my values and beliefs. If you see that as something negative, that's too bad. Americans of all backgrounds are equal. I come from a very liberal family who, like many liberals, are extremely approval-seeking, and afraid to take a stand. My politics are very much my own, as I am constantly critisized for what I sincerely believe. But no, matter, conservatism is the wave of the future for Irish Americans. If you don't like me or anyone else thinking of themselves as Irish American, why not find another forum to haunt, where everyone can be blandly stripped of any heritage or culture you may consider unAmerican.

• Watchman | Sep 22, 2010, 12:29 PM EDT

  My political views are diametrically opposed to those of the "Tea Party lady". But at least she refuses to be led by her ethnic nose. Her politics are her own, as an American.

• kell7757 | Sep 22, 2010, 12:25 PM EDT

  Another Irish American conservative here. The values that attracted the Irish to this country are threatened by the liberals. Our ancestors came here because of what this country represented, and want to preserve that way of life and those ideals. They are being eroded by the liberal victim mentality.

• jdi2269 | Sep 22, 2010, 12:25 PM EDT

  WE ARE NOW BLESSED~NEXTY WE NEED TO RID AMERICA OF THE LATEST FAKE IRISHMAN MR.O'BAMA

• caseuoffspring | Sep 22, 2010, 11:19 AM EDT

  All that you have described in your article is Irish people of the left liberal leaning. I am an Irish American Tea Party lady. And I stand for the Constitution of the USA. It's time we get back to our "Law of the Land" and the will of the people of the USA - NOT the politicians.

• mayoman | Sep 22, 2010, 11:15 AM EDT

  Christine O'Donnell, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Mike Pence: I thank the dear Lord and my good common sense that I have absolutely nothing in common with the reactionary lot of them.

• patconrey | Sep 22, 2010, 11:13 AM EDT

  THE IRISH ARRIVED IN THE USA, AND SAW THIS PLACE AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE "WE THE PEOPLE' PROCESS. ONE OF THE THINGS THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM FROM "THE SOD" WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE UNDER THE ENGLISH WHERE GOVERNMENT WORKED AGAINST THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL POPULATION! WITH THE ABILITY TO EXERCISE POWER IN ALL AREAS OF THE COMMUNITY THE IRISH ACTED TO CREATE CONDITIONS IN OUR COUNTRY THAT ADVANCED THE COMMON GOOD. ERGO, THE IRISH EMBRACED THE UNION MOVEMENT THE THE NEW DEAL! A RESULT OF THE SUCCESS OF THESE IDEAS, THE IRISH PROGRESSED TO THE POINT THAT THEY NO LONGER IDENTIFIED WITH THE UNDER CLASS.

• Searlit | Sep 22, 2010, 10:52 AM EDT

  President Reagan is synonymous with exploitation, to me.

• CaptainTom | Sep 22, 2010, 10:17 AM EDT

  No I am not speechless but I could be. Elevating any of those listed just because they are of Irish descent to a status of leadership is ridiculous. Their views and positions do not represent those of all Irish Americans let alone the rest of our population. Only those who do not recognize hot air or B.S. when they hear it are likely to fall for their Malarkey.

• chesapeake | Sep 22, 2010, 10:04 AM EDT

  You mourn the Kennedy's as stalwarts of American politics? A hard-drinking, womanizing, liberal family that owed their wealth to bootlegging and organized crime? I have to agree with Watchman... what difference does it make? Irish, German, French, native American,black, white, yellow or green... American are Americans, and they don't vote their nation origin.

• Fran Connor | Sep 22, 2010, 10:04 AM EDT

  If JFK made his "Ask not.." speech today, the socialists who have taken over the democrat party of today would run him out of town.

• Watchman | Sep 22, 2010, 09:37 AM EDT

  Who cares who the top Irish-Americans are in politics? What matters is who thinks what and what they can do about it. The idea that there should be an Irish-American lobby for anything other than issues affecting Ireland is outdated and absurd.

• etig1130 | Sep 22, 2010, 09:29 AM EDT

  If John F. Kennedy were alive today, his policies would be strongly republican.

• DennisQ | Sep 22, 2010, 03:40 AM EDT

  Mike Pence is one of these Christian politicians who believes Israel can do no wrong. He's been so fervent for such a long time that it's likely he's planned for many years to use Jewish money to pay for his presidential ambitions.
  
  Here's one way to identify an Israel firster - you don't even need to ask questions. If you even speculate what we're getting in return for $3 billion a year in direct aid to Israel, people like Mike Pence will call you anti-Semitic. And God forbid you should express any sympathy at all for the people trapped in Gaza while the Israelis dropped bombs on them. Mike Pence is more than a dullard in the tradition of George Bush; he's simple-minded and fixated on Israel's interests - even when they directly conflict with America's interests.
  
  There will never be an end to conflict in the Middle East so long as Republicans continue to rubber stamp anything and everything the Israelis do. The Zionists can't run a Jew for president, but they can run Mike Pence.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 11:54 PM EDT

  Uh, Warrenpoint...Reagan made that remark in 1984, during the presidential campaign. Gorbachev did not come along until 1985. On top of your facts being wrong, you're insane. Oh, and that's 'Reagan,' not 'Regan.'

• SouthBendNative | Sep 21, 2010, 11:09 PM EDT

  Warrenpointless00 you are a gigantic boob. Do you really doubt that Reagan was joking about bombing the Russians? Pull your head out of your arse. eirghamach, quoting Obama only confirms your lack of sense. Anyone who believes that liberalism spurs the economy needs to be drug tested, post haste. Progressivism will be the death of any economy that embraces it. Look at the Irish economy for proof.

• warrenpoint00 | Sep 21, 2010, 07:45 PM EDT

  Oh my god .Ronnie Regan an Irish descendant. Absolutely hog wash I say old boy Niall. He was a senile nutty precedent for the nutty tea baggers. Remember when he foolishly declared that dropping the A bomb on the Russian people was an audio sound check.If Gorbachev,s predecessors had been in office at that time we would all be extinct today. Thank god this nut is in his hole,along with Stalin, Kruschev,Hitler and hopefully soon Maggie

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 07:11 PM EDT

  Uh, eirighamach...if you're going to try to counter my assertion that it is in fact a MYTH that Irish-descended Americans are liberal by default, then you'd best find some other examples than the ones you listed. Building cities in a capitalist, free-market economy that allowed it to happen has nothing to do with left-wing politics (quite the reverse). To suggest that all of these Irish were liberals because they....BUILT things...??? I'm not following you; your argument makes no sense. And...the only ones currently carrying on any witch hunts around here are the critics of fellow Irish person Christine O'Donnell. They're pathetic, carrying on about an irrelevancy like that whilst of course pretending that they're so much better, smarter and personally more important than the rest of us, the great unwashed masses who just happen to form the conservative majority and backbone of the USA. If they're so 'smart,' why are they nitpicking on so little -- with utterly no benefit for them, in the process?

• DennisQ | Sep 21, 2010, 06:50 PM EDT

  Christine O'Donnell cancelled appearances on TV news shows this weekend, apparently in hopes the dabbling in witchcraft will die down. However, she has agreed to go on the Hannity show because he won't ask tough questions. Hannity has become the go-to guy for Republicans who are afraid to meet a real journalist.
  
  Is Hannity maintaining his audience? In recent photographs he looks like the stresses of life are taking their toll on him. For a guy who didn't have that much going for him in the first place, he can't afford to look like he doesn't get enough sleep. Maybe he's starting to need his guests more than they need him; that's why he asks softball questions.
  
  One thing we know for sure is that O'Donnell's going nowhere. She'll probably benefit from a backlash against all the ridicule, but it's difficult to believe there are enough low information voters to keep her in contention. When this is over, she'll write a pro-chastity book and every library in America will order five copies in hardcover.

• eirighamach | Sep 21, 2010, 06:20 PM EDT

  Some of Irish America took a stroll down the seductive path of demagoguery with Joe McCarthy in the 1950s too. Does anyone think that the arrant populism promoted by Hannity, O'Donnell and their pals Beck and Palin could have a better outcome for America than the McCarthy pogroms? Thank God that JFK and Robert Kennedy arrived on the scene to snap a segment of Irish America out of its obsession with the fundamentalism of the flag and the fundamentalism of the cross (phrasing borrowed from Richard Hofstadter, 1962, Kennedy-era thinking). The Reagan era saw a resurgence of simple-minded solutions to over-simplified problems, ahh, but weren't people happier with that than they were when they wrestled with civil rights and inevitable post-colonial "conflicts" like the Vietnam War? And surprise, surprise, here are the heirs of Senator Joseph McCarthy and Governor George Wallace arriving on the scene, and Niall O' Dowd is ready to march to their tunes! Anyone who thinks that Irish America's progressive politics is a myth has repressed the history, not only of the Irish building cities like NYC, but of the union movement that built the American middle-class, the flourishing of Irish spirit in American music, theater, literature, the arts, the affinity of the Irish for a political system that puts liberty and tolerance at the center of life. . . . As Obama would say, let's listen to our better angels. For me, those are the spirits of my Irish ancestors, and it's for sure they are not whispering names like Hannity, O'Donnell, and O'Reilly into my ears.

• Rebelforce | Sep 21, 2010, 06:12 PM EDT

  It is noteworthy that the two most popular and beloved Presidents of the USA in the second half of the 20th century, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, were both of Irish-Catholic ancestry. Ronald Reagan was certainly a conservative, but John Kennedy (and particularly Kennedy patriarch Joseph Patrick) would have balked if described as "liberals".

• manhattan | Sep 21, 2010, 06:04 PM EDT

  My family were all Roosevelt Democrats. It was a mortal sin to ever vote republican. But when the Democrats went to the left we went to the right which was the Republican party. We didn't leave the democrats, they left us.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 05:40 PM EDT

  ...and it's a great way to see the Irish-descended Reagan take on a snively little English twit, if that's your goal.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 05:32 PM EDT

  Typing 'rfk Reagan' into You Tube will work, better. The link I mentioned should be the first one, at the top.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 05:08 PM EDT

  Oh, and Reagan and Thatcher were also ideological allies far beyond just their opposition to Soviet expansionism. They also believed in limited government and the utter destructiveness of socialism, which scarcely a government on this planet is embracing anymore, save for maybe Obama and Venezuela. When two world leaders have so much in common ideologically and were faced with the Cold War, they would be bonkers NOT to have a close, working relationship of the kind Reagan and Thatcher had -- and anyone who would suggest that a person's ancestry scuttle such a thing in the world as it was (just because Reagan was of Irish ancestry and Thatcher was English, i.e.) is beyond shallow and short-sighted. They're just plain dumb.

• IrishAndProud | Sep 21, 2010, 04:59 PM EDT

  Ronald Reagan was probably our nation's greatest President -- and it is indeed deeply satisfying to know that he played such a large role in dispelling the MYTH that Americans of Irish descent are always left-leaning, or that it's somehow incompatible to be anything other than liberal (just 21% of Americans, according to Gallup) and be 'Irish.' That's a farce, and a laughable one, at that. BTW John F. Kennedy, by today's standards, would be very much conservative (unlike his younger brother, Ted); so would Robert F. Kennedy, who was murdered for his unflagging support of Israel. Just go to You Tube, and type in 'Ronald Reagan Robert Kennedy,' and you will see a clip from the 60's with then-Governor Reagan and Sen. Kennedy side-by-side, defending the U.S. role in Vietnam -- with very confident, clear and direct answers in the face of leftist European criticism. They both sound very much alike. When it comes down to it, the classic Kennedy politics on the one side were very much like Reagan's on the other...and Americans of Irish descent are very much a conservative lot, with their liberal spots, like everyone else. Oh, also, Edinboron...Reagan was an ally of Thatcher (thank goodness) like ANY American President should have been, at that time, regardless of ancestry. We were in the Cold War, and both leaders had some fairly sizeable things on their plates -- like stopping Soviet expansionism. The Kennedy patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, was Ambassador to Britain, for crying out loud. I was expecting a post like yours at some point, but it was still utterly pathetic to read. Try again, kiddo.

• GeorgeDillon | Sep 21, 2010, 03:27 PM EDT

  Edinboron -- Spot on post.

• BrendanPKeane | Sep 21, 2010, 01:10 PM EDT

  It's a post-urban phenomenon. In the suburbs, Irish America lost connection to the city. We parade down Fifth Avenue as tourists in a city "we once built."

• McNabb1966 | Sep 21, 2010, 11:29 AM EDT

  @DennisQ...And how would you describe Senate majority leader Harry Reid? It seems as though the only criticism you can muster against Mike Pence is that he is "dull." So it's a personality thing for you, where do you stand on Harry Reid?

• Edinboron | Sep 21, 2010, 10:22 AM EDT

  Ronald Reagan wasn't Irish American, he was an actor who pretended to be to get the Irish Catholic vote. Once in office he showed himself to be a true Anglophile. He got in bed with Thatcher, betrayed Irish America and bowed before the queen to receive his reward.

• DennisQ | Sep 21, 2010, 03:10 AM EDT

  Of the four names you mentioned - Pence, O'Donnell, O'Reilly and Hannity, only one of them is a working politician. Mike Pence gets easily re-elected every two years because he's a Republican from eastern Indiana. The reason he won't go any farther than being a Congressman is that he's a boring man with a dull speaking style. So-called "value voters" love him because he's very predictable and he doesn't make any waves. He also looks the part.
  
  Mike Pence ran for minority leader against John Boehner - another dullard - and lost handily. However, Pence's chances for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 are pretty good because he might be a compromise candidate. He's far enough to the right that the Tea Party people will vote for him, but he's also enough of a centrist not to frighten voters the way Sarah Palin or Ron Paul might. And the Republicans have to nominate somebody.
  
  If Pence gets the nomination, he won't win. He's dull as dishwater to listen to, and his positions are predictable. A skilled politician, he knows how to avoid answering questions - he chortles! But that won't get him elected; in fact he might even make voters nostalgic for John McCain - who was pretty colorless in his own right.

• Dublinjas | Sep 21, 2010, 12:49 AM EDT

  I have to say I liked Ronald Reagan as a person, He was a handsome and pleasant man, Even if his Supply side and Trickle down economics were hard to buy at times as a real solution to the economic realities of the day,