Last week the Queen of England made the first royal trip to Eire that did not involve broadswords and armor. The trip was ostensibly made to recognize warming Anglo-Irish relationships, but Her Majesty made the crucial political and gustatory faux pas of passing on a perfect pint of the brown, when it was offered. Prince Phillip was said to have looked “longingly” after the orphaned beverage, but reluctantly followed his leader. Ireland being Ireland, we are safe to assume that the pint went unwasted, and wouldn’t that have been a pity, so it would.
(It was rumored that the Queen foreswore alcohol after video from an early morning celebration in Cancun made it on to “Royals Gone Wild.”)
President Obama has made his own stumbles on the geopolitical stage of late, but he at least gets the little things right:
Mr. Obama’s speech came after he had downed a pint of Guinness in tiny Moneygall, the small Irish village where his great-great-great grandfather once lived and worked as a shoemaker. It was an improbable and memorable pilgrimage for America’s first black president into his Irish past, and Mr. Obama soaked it in.
“My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas,” he said. The president sought to endear himself to the locals by speaking some phrases in Gaelic, including his campaign slogan of “Yes we can.”
The president is apparently black Irish, as is your host. Pints o’ Guinness aside, the president is as likely to get my vote come November as is the queen herself.
One hopes this is a single photo at an inopportune moment, as neither the president nor the first lady seem happy to be hoisting a pint….
FECKLESS B@STARD…Go away….please…take your obnoxious cow of a wife with you
Lex:
So, is the reason that you will not be voting for the Queen because of your Irish background or because she is unlikely to be on your local ballot? Inquiring minds want to know.
Paul
Yes!
Greetings:
Now, it seems to me that “Dunham”, President Obama’s maternal family name, is not particularly Oyrish if you get my drift. Seems like something off that island to the east that President Obama also so loves. Likely as not, the Dunhams were part of those colonizing plantations. But I guess not all colonizers are equal.
And shouldn’t that be half-black irish ???
Half-something, anyway.
The Brits call it a “Black & Tan,” Joe–the drink, that is..
Or if you want a “lighter shade”
one can always go the “Shandy Gaff” route..
“MONGREL” works just fine for what he is….”slippery”, “deceptive”, “unethical” and “without honor” are a few more that fit him to a ” T “
Oh, he is a full-blown something, descriptive words of which I shan’t use in deference to the standards and expectations of the host.
Though I am in full agreement with the above posts note of “obnoxious cow of a wife”, serving under the boy who would be King. The harm that that evil duo is inflicting upon our country (no less harm being done to the U.S. than that of the Empire described by President Reagan as Evil) will take generations to recover from.
For the first time in my adult lifetime I can finally say…that I agree with one of Mr. Obama’s decisions
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I’M TALKING ABOUT THE GUINNESS!
Me Great Uncle Jim taught me how to know when a Guinness was properly settled when I was six.
Just sayin’.
Ahh…refreshing beverage! Ones that came away with good head.
In this picture, Sir, the present-dent is NOT a happy man!
I can’t imagine lifting a pint in that happy crowd without a smile on my face.
Obviously, he can.
Oh, and I like the lifted pinkie.
Classy couple, they are.
“….as likely to get my vote come November as is the queen herself.”
And exactly which Queen are you talking about, Lex….Elizabeth or Michelle?
Just askin’.
…Elton.
Yes, England…. where every young man can dream of becoming a queen.
If he was in a real pub with real Irish, he’d be drinking whiskey.
Not really, a lot of Irish actually drink Bud, though many still stick with the black stuff. Vodka and Coke is popular too.
Meanwhile myself and the other Aussies we packed our house with had a bathtub full of widgets, sometimes after some refreshment we’d turn the lights off and use them to have all on all wars with
Is it me or does it seem a little tacky to offer a toast using your campaign slogan?
In this, as in many other cases, The Won seems visibly reluctant to stand and take his medicine like a man.
Not that I would be turning down a Guinness understand, although my preference runs to the local brewskis made by Ballast Point in San Diego. But Obama looks like a Coors Light type to me–him being a metrosexual and notso much of a “black Irishman” and all.
I pegged for a “Blue Moon”, complete with a slice of orange on the rim.
The One’s beer of choice for the notorious Beer Summit was a Bud Light. Sgt. Crowley drank the Blue Moon.
i am unsurprised that his taste in beer is as poor as his taste in women and economic policies.
however, i’d love to see the look on his face after he got a healthy swallow of Arrogant Bastard or Ruination IPA.
Stone Brewing FTW!
Double Old Thumper. 11%. Nice. 20oz mug from draft at my local pub.
http://shipyardbrewing.blogspot.com/2011/01/double-old-thumper-coming-in-feburary.html
You keep up with that, and, before you know it, you’re going to be hosting a party at that pub you frequent. Lexville in New England, baby!
11%!! Tres brew, mon brave! Do they have a dialysis machine at the bar as well?
Bert Grant’s IPA was my favorite poison, back when it was available, and I could afford it. Hardly any residual sugar, LOTS of hops, and lots of alcohol.
Why so many hateful comments here on what was a benign, and mostly festive event?
For reflection, I offer these quotes to consider, perhaps over a soothing ale or lager:
“Dislike what deserves it, but never hate: for that is of the nature of malice; which is almost ever to persons, not things, and is one of the blackest qualities sin begets in the soul.” William Penn
” Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation, or creed .” Bertrand Russell
“Hate is the consequence of fear; we fear something before we hate it; a child who fears noises becomes a man who hates noise.” Cyril Connolly
” In time we hate that which we often fear.” Shakespeare
So what is the fear that leads to the hate?
FLIT – What part of FAKE don’t you get…..he is a consumate huckster….he’s no more ” Irish ” than the Irish Stew they serve at the Chow Hall….He’s as fake & phony as the day is long…..it is his hallmark.
It ain’t hate, Flit. It’s active DISLIKE.
I vote for contempt, myself.
How quickly ye forget what ye all fled from – We don’t elect The Queen, she just inherits the job and hangs on in until she dies, at which point another member of the family gets it. Its a bit like being a civil servant, but with a much better pension and fringe benefits, including housing, travel etc. These days she doesn’t behead folk, or lay towns and villages to waste if they fail to sign up to `the plan`, the Government does that.
As for Paddy and Mitch O’ Bama, perhaps they’ve answered a couple of the local hearts newspaper ads?
“Heavy drinker, 35, Cork area. Seeks gorgeous sex addict interested in
a man who loves his pints, cigarettes, Glasgow Celtic Football Club
and has been known to start fights on Patrick Street at three o’clock
in the morning”; or perhaps
“Artistic Clare woman, 53, petite, loves rainy walks on the beach,
poetry, unusual sea-shells and interesting brown rice dishes, seeks
mystic dreamer for companionship, back rubs and more as we bounce
along like little tumbling clouds on life’s beautiful crazy journey.
Strong stomach essential”
Isn’t there an election campaign building?
PS; Forgot to mention, but Her Maj’ is partial to a pint of Fullers London Pride after which she has been known to sing a few verses of “Knee’s Up Mother Brown” in a Cockney accent (NOT as per Dick van Dick in Mary Poppins). However, rumour has it that she gets a bit stroppy after a Guinness, hence the abstinence last week.
Sorry my good man, but I learnt my lessons on the British constitution back in 1975, and I have not forgot them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOTKA0aGI0
LoL. You see the violence inherent in the system then? Note that even in King Arthur’s time, the Ministry of Defence had messed up and failed to deliver the correct horses.
If only the Secret Service could call “knock it off” and head back to the Dublin airport. Makes me cringe each time I watch this.
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2011/0523/media-2963651.html
Well it was on an Irish road. But, as we used to say in the old days, `its always the simple things that go bent`.
Guess he’s running as a white guy this time.
(It was rumored that the Queen foreswore alcohol after video from an early morning celebration in Cancun made it on to “Royals Gone Wild.”)
Say, I just heard this same joke on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” Peter Sagal got some groans for it, but I enjoyed it.
I must confess that I didn’t look too closely at the picture at first and I had to click the link to verify that the Queen who refused the pint was named Elizabeth and not Michele…
I find the negative comments a bit childish to say the least. Perhaps you who are so unbelieving the Barrack Obama is from Ireland know nothing about the history of Ireland and the emigration that took place back in the 1800 and 1900′s. Those of us from Ireland are only too well aware and what the records show, the records show. Not at all unbelievable for the Irish to believe that a black man can be from Ireland, afterall, the Irish were treated much the same when they were emigrating both at home and abroad and can truly identify with Barrack Obama’s ancestors and the glib comments are recognised for what they are.
Julie G.
Um, Julie? Barry’s Irish ancestors in question came from the white side of the family, the Dunhams. Mm’kay?
Other topics for derision (Buck! Another good synonym!) include his not-really-Irish family name of Dunham, and his obvious distaste for real beer, since he’s a Bud Lite guy.
If you want something positive, I’ll say I don’t doubt he has the Irish vote sewed up for 2012.
Julie, Lex fed them the red meat and the usual suspects, they know who they are, responded as expected…its the way it is…suggest you deal with it or go back to your needlepoint. Best
PS, You will discover, if you decide hang aroung here for a while, that the vast majority of commentators are of the Hibernian persuasion and know well their Irish history…
Not I! I’ll have you know that I am wearing an Orange t-shirt at this very moment!
fliterman … You ask why there are so many “hateful comments” here about the President’s Irish visit. Glance at Lex’s right hand sidebar here, and there’s the answer from Edmund Burke [another favorite of mine] Viz… “They never will love where they ought to love who do not hate where they ought to hate.”
Works for me.
Marianne
And I was going to respond to Julie G., but I see your reply to flit covers Ms Graham equally as well, Marianne..
Marianne – Do you so insinuate that we “ought to hate” our Commander in Chief and the duly elected President of the United States? My goodness, one wonders what have we become as a supposed civil society?
May I suggest, hate evil; not people… and to know the difference.
if i choose to hate evil people, it’s a free country and my right to do so.
some people ARE evil, and, as such, richly deserve the hate they draw.
Presentdent Junior is one such person, and the First Klingon is another. it is the color of their souls that causes such a response on my part, not that of their skin, even though they never miss a chance to make skin color an issue. that is undoubtedly in part caused by the fact that neither of them has ever accomplished anything of value in their worthless existences.
as for our “supposed civil society” i’d say the eight years of unhinged, unrestricted and incessant attacks against President Bush, which his departure from office has only slowed, not eliminated, along with similar displays of barbaric insanity against Sarah Palin, the Koch Brothers and any other public conservative person, attacks which were made with nary a peep from anyone in the lieberal world regarding “civility” or the ilk, which they now show a sudden renewed interest in, demonstrates that the sudden calls for such things are exactly as they appear: a new way to silence speech with which they disagree.
if you do not like your brave new world, maybe you shouldn’t have created it. you all set the bar in the gutter, so that’s where discourse takes place from now on. if you don’t have the stomach for the fight, maybe you should have done a gut check as part of your pre-combat inspection, because we are cocked, locked and ready to rock.
weapons free at this time.
Flit, you finally got it. We do hate evil, that’s why we dislike Barry Sotero.
His world view supports evil at every opportunity.
Intense dislike and contempt, and for me, spill over for those who enable him.
Fliterman, keeping to the principle, rather than the specific personage of our president, what do you make of this?:
Psa 139:21 “Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?”
Given that David was a ‘man after God’s own heart’, you seem to be claiming that David is speaking evil when he goes on to say (v.22),
“I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.”
Bill K – You said: “Given that David was a ‘man after God’s own heart’, you seem to be claiming that David is speaking evil when he goes on to say (v.22),
“I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.”
Too easy. But I will answer.
1. I do not believe, nor have I seen any indication that our President “hates” our Lord. Please nlighten me.
2. Not being familiar with Scripture, how could I have “claimed” that David is speaking evil?” In fact I am not very familiar who David is/was.
3. Nevertheless, I suspect David was human, and thus somewhat flawed as we all are. Hate is a disease that spreads, and does not discriminate. Most all of us suffer. It is something to be rid of.
4. From what little I know, those that believe in Christ must also believe in His teachings… which were based upon Love, and not Hate.
Hate our President’s policies – perhaps – but never hate the Man, or the Office of the President of these United States!
2 cents worth!
Why the dislike Flit? Because it’s clear that patron was patronizing.
fliterman … Not insinuating anything. But I do live by the Bible as much as I can, which tells us to “hate the sin, but love the sinner…” Which allows me to tolerate Mr. Obama for as long as he is inflicted upon us.
Marianne
Sorry, I don´t buy that. I demand to see Obama´s Irish Certificate!
+10!