It took a socialist in Ireland to call out the Obamas

Clare Daly of the Irish Parliament is not the person John Boehner or Mitch McConnell would select to give the response to the President’s annual state of the union speech. A firebrand union activist since her teens she was expelled by the mainstream left Labour Party and with other ejected members formed the Socialist party in Ireland. But last week she took to the floor of the Dail Eireann (Lower House) to launch a blistering attack against visiting American President Barack Obama.

Taking a page from the Fox News Channel and with the grammar of author Bernie Goldberg she declared that it was time to bring some balance to the coverage of the First Family in her country due to the “unprecedented slobbering” and “sycophantic fawnings” of the Irish media. Daly said she couldn’t decide what was worse, the outpourings of the Obamas themselves or the media’s behavior; as they seemed pre-occupied with what did Michelle and the kids had for lunch and not the fact that lunch was with a tax-exile. Indeed such coverage might be suited for the Duchess of Cambridge and her future family except that the Irish establishment would never admit to liking Britain’s royal family.

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The speech, which was supposed to be a question to the Prime Minister, continued to challenge the Obama’s on a number of fronts rarely touched by American television and print media of any stripes. Daly was brazenly fearless in pointing out that Michelle Obama touted herself as being happy to be at home, as Daly said “a country that she’s been in less than a week which her husband has tenuous ties to”. Now we have to stop and remind ourselves that there was debate during Mr. Obama’s run for office about the lack of slave blood in his genealogy, but rest assured those of concern, Michelle does have slave blood making her husband a legitimate black President. So where is the tie to Ireland? Mr. Obama is the product of a Kansas woman and a Kenyan man; the woman possibly being as much as 1/6th Irish. So there it is. He is 1/12th (or less) Irish so his wife can say Ireland is home. I think they learned that one from Elizabeth Warren. Daly now goes on to quote Obama speaking in Northern Ireland – “Those who choose a path of peace I promise you that the United States of America will support you every step of the way, we will be the wind at your back” – to which Daly responded – “Is this person going for hypocrite of the century award?” Daly recently left the Socialist party that she helped to start, beginning a new party called the ‘United Left’. She is a Trotskyite and as such has little in common with mainstream and independent political thinkers but she is not afraid to call things as they are – a quality lacking and in much need in the closeted world of elected politics. Her next attack was on the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)– “you’ve talked about the G8 being an opportunity to showcase Ireland but is it not a reality that you have showcased us as a nation of pimps, prostituting ourselves in return for a pat on the head.” You can’t say it any better and it’s what happens all the time. In this case Ireland, seeking a nod of approval from Washington, demonstrates it will do anything to move up the charts of Obama’s approval list. Not done she then suggested that the Taoiseach, Enda Kenney, might have completed the insult by “decking the cabinet out in leprechaun hats decorated with styrofoam stripes to really mark abject humiliation”. Daly finishes the day with an interesting internal point for Ireland and its international neutrality. Over 500 US planes landed at Shannon in West Ireland in 2012 and she makes the unsubstantiated claim that at least some carried military related equipment in violation of Ireland’s status as a neutral country. Since most civilian aviation (tourism) moved up the road to Knock at the aptly named Ireland West Airport, Shannon has little to do with its well equipped airport capable of landing the largest planes. Daly claims that Kenney has failed to address what the airport is really used for and that US flights are not inspected. It would be hypocritical of the Irish government to on one hand back US foreign policy, while at the same time positioning itself as not being on anyone’s side. It does seem that Kenney is willing to back the efforts at arming Syrian rebels and the Shannon airport is an ideal landing spot in Europe to move supplies through quietly. That being the case it would be understandable why Kenney hasn’t responded to opposition taunts. Alas Clare Daly will likely return to fighting the new housing tax in Dublin, lost in the idea that her communist views are the only way to bring forth social justice to the world. But her passionate authenticity and fearless attacks on the political establishment are a needed part of democracy, because government without accountability becomes tyranny.