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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Mayor Bloomberg right to apologize about drunken Irish, but mystery remains

Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 09:21 PM

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Read more: Mayor Bloomberg apologizes for drunken Irish comments - SEE VIDEOS

I think the Irish American community should accept Mayor Bloomberg's apology for his comments on the inebriated Irish but I am still baffled as to why he said them.

I was there for the comments made at the American Irish Historical Society, (pictured) and was first to report them, but a day later they still intrigue me.

The story went viral because what Bloomberg said seemed so off the wall.

He said that usually when he walks by the building "there are a bunch of people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window waving"

Bloomberg conjured up a vision of inebriated Irish people hanging from windows, drunkenly cheering on the St.Patrick's Parade as it passes.

If you knew the AIHS as it is known, you know the likelihood of that happening is about the same as Hosni Mubarak being elected next president of Egypt.

It is a beautiful Fifth Avenue mansion, a center of culture, history and learning, the closest the Irish in America have to a national library with a treasure trove of artifacts and historical documents that set it apart.

The programs offered are usual classical music, learned Irish writers, poets and academic lectures.

I have been to several AIHS St.Patrick's Day events as I am on the board and I can assure you there were no drunks screaming or hanging from the windowsills.

If anything the atmosphere is a little too subdued for St.Patrick's Day and where Bloomberg got the notion that hijinks were regularly happening escapes me.

Even in as smart a man as Bloomberg, the tendency to stereotype slips out ,he could not let the celebration of a book launch about the St. Patrick's Day Parade pass without a pointless wisecrack that came over like a skunk at a garden party.

The person I was standing beside turned to me and asked 'Did he just say that?' when he made the comments.

I knew what he meant.

Bloomberg was standing in the greatest Irish building in the United States, just renovated at a cost of $6 million, a home of Irish learning and culture and all he could come up with was a lame drinking stereotype.

Is that what he thinks the Irish are really about ?

It was not good enough for this mayor or for Irish Americans to give him a pass.

Quite rightly he has now apologized and there the matter rests.

At least I hope it does.

Read more: Mayor Bloomberg apologizes for drunken Irish comments - SEE VIDEOS

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chriswalsh | Feb 13, 2011, 09:51 AM EST

Next election I hope the Irish in NY forget about him also, every other nationality. Mel Gibson, was not forgiven, his face was plastered all over the media and still is regarding this incident, (I do no approve of his comment either) but I have not once seen Mayor Bloomberg, critized on our news for his comment. You know what they say what in you when your are sober comes out when your are drunk. You think this is his problem.

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ohbill26 | Feb 12, 2011, 09:56 PM EST

Mayor Bloomberg is no smuck ,Mayor Bloomberg knowes he doesn't need the Irish vote.I cant understand why newcomers even go to New York.New York at one time was a melting pot for everyone ,being built and cared for by many, most have taken there familes into other areas of America.New York any more is a revolving door or hope and dispair.The rest of the country needs the Irish hearts and minds The spoiled young in this country are letting their hertitage slip away .The Irish are forced to immergrate here but stop in New York.Bloomberg is sending us a message .Leave New Yorh he is thinking of the good of the country,take the hint and go to Arezona New Mexico and brink your heritage to take root and grow.

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maloney | Feb 12, 2011, 01:17 PM EST

Bloomberg's opinion means nothing. It was not a joke. The Irish should vote accordingly in the next election. The average New Yorker & Bloomberg deserve each other.

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Ajreaper | Feb 12, 2011, 08:30 AM EST

Averagejoe you are a complete ass.

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averagejoewa | Feb 11, 2011, 07:39 PM EST

Quote: "please appreciate the fact that the entire Western (not to mention Arab) world (not just the English, as in the case of the Irish) were persecuting the Jews" The reason why the west has a long history of "persecuting" the Jews is that the Jews have a long history of moving into other peoples' countries against the wishes of the native populations. If the Jews had respected the territorial rights of gentile populations then they would have found their life experiences to have been much less painful. The reason why the Jews suffered so much in places such as Germany, Poland and Russia is that they moved into those countries against the wishes of the German, Polish and Russian peoples.

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vincem13 | Feb 11, 2011, 03:33 PM EST

Dear Niall: You are right. The mayor flubbed and has apologized, and that should be the end of it. That having been said, look at some of your own columnists who perch like virtual buzzards waiting for any CONSERVATIVE misstep or verbal miscue. No apology will suit them. Cahir and his ilk will only let go when they find a new human failing to pick apart.

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kilgara | Feb 11, 2011, 02:53 PM EST

Picture this:Bloomberg at a NAACP excecutive meeting and he says:"Whenever I pass this building I see a bunch of you brothers and sisters doing the slow nod from your heroin highs, by the way , when is Martin Luther King day I get it confused with Halloween Fright Night". There is absolutely no doubt that he would immediately resign as mayor and be forced into a rest home for the bewildered.This sorry episode with the Irish highlights the fact that the only still acceptable racism and bigotry in the US is against Roman Catholics, most notably Irish and Italian Roman Catholics. Al Smith and all our forebearers are surely spinning in their graves.

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jamieLM | Feb 11, 2011, 01:35 PM EST

I'm with you, Niall. He apologized, so let's move on. Does it change anything or make anyone feel better to remain angry and insulted? The best revenge is to live well and to enjoy the people and things in your own life that make you happy.

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haikued2 | Feb 11, 2011, 01:01 PM EST

Truthseeking: you may want to look with your eyes open and your mind engaged. Israel is not committing genocide and abhors that the Arab/Muslim world wants to exterminate them. You will not find truth in your hatred.

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JimThompson | Feb 11, 2011, 01:00 PM EST

Tis over and best forgotten.

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haikued2 | Feb 11, 2011, 12:57 PM EST

Nail, Bloomberg is a politician whose sense of humor is flawed by being Mayor of NYC. Personally, I don't care what he thinks the Irish are all about, anymore than I care what the Irish folks think Jews are all about, or Germans, or Polish, or Swedes...it is just part of a long history of ethnic related humor that mature, grown up people should be able to laugh at and go on about their lives. If you want some great Jewish humor, live in a Jewish neighborhood...they laugh at the stereotypes...

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snakehips | Feb 11, 2011, 11:52 AM EST

Very intelligent Naill, there is hope for you yet!

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truthseeking | Feb 11, 2011, 11:09 AM EST

Let's remember who Bloomberg is: a super-wealthy Zionist who rushed to Israel to cheer on Israel's murderous Operation Cast Lead against the Palestinian population of Gaza. The civilized world was sickened and New York's Mayor was entertained. Frighteningly, Bloomberg's bloodthirsty tribalism is now de rigeur for American politicos (co-religionists or not) in our era of decadent imperialism and decline. Good people should shun him.

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llyndsey | Feb 11, 2011, 10:41 AM EST

Bloomberg is more and more out of touch which is what seems to happen to any politician in this city at about this stage of their third term (remember Koch). He probably thought it would be taken as a compliment.

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MikeRock | Feb 11, 2011, 10:37 AM EST

HE was probably inebriated.

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