Well, the better part of July 4, 2004 has slipped away. The Yanks are kicking back about now to digest the mounds of hotdogs, hamburgers, and potato salad they've consumed at Fourth of July picnics from sea to shining sea. In a few hours it'll be fireworks time. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic most are calling it a day, and will soon sleep.

228 years of growth and prosperity and a lot of it the result of Irishmen who came here to do a lot more than march in parades on March 17.

Happy Fourth, everyone.

An bail chéanna oraibhse!

Agus gura seacht fearr a bhéas sibh bliain ó inniu (faoi Uachtarán nua ;-))

(faoi Uachtarán nua ;-))

Did I just hear the sound of a gauntlet being thrown?

Not really. Cheeky of me to mention it, I suppose. Starting a political debate here would be inappropriate.

Perhaps we could take it to http://www.beo.ie/ple

I flew an Irish Tri-color (and no Stars and Stripes) proudly to honor the Irish blood that flowed, and is still flowing for this nation, and was hoping some John Ashcroft type would object. No one did. They either agreed with me or were so pathetically apathetic they didn't even notice.
Hoping for a fair election this time, else I'm clearing out!
Slan, Pangur Ban

There you go, Aonghus. Any minute now I expect James MacG, the medical corps-man from Carolina to join in. Whatever happened to him anyway? I miss him and his enthusiasm.


Regarding Clár Plé @ Beo.ie, it appears the site is exclusively as Gaeilge which would put me at a distinct disadvantage debating with fluent speaker(s).

P.

I would like to add, as a "Yank", that these thinly veiled anti-American sentiments are making me feel increasingly alienated. I come to this site with a genuine interest in Gaelige and the culture surrounding it. However, I'm starting to lose interest as I realize that you don't want the Yanks around. I'm puzzled as to why. Why are there so many anti-American posts on this site? I would love to know how many Americans visit this site and how they feel about this.

Lord knows I'm not an "America right or wrong" type of guy. I acknowledge that we have issues that need to be addressed. But, these attacks are unprovoked,offensive and are chock full of insulting stereotypes and sweeping generalizations ("...from sea to shining sea"). Do we condemn your whole population when IRA car bombs kill innocent bystanders (some of them children)? We do not. We see this as the act of individuals, not as the act of an entire people. It's this type of reasoning in our country that protected American Mosques and prevented their members from being incarcerated after 9/11. So why the venom? What did we do to the Irish to deserve this derision?What is your problem with us? Someone please explain.

Jim,

I can understand how you feel. But these days a lot of people feel very angry about what's going on in the world, and sometimes that unfortunately creeps in here.

I think most of the regulars here would agree that this site should be a neutral place to discuss the Irish language and political views should always be kept to oneself. There's plenty of other places to discuss politics...

That said, I didn't think Sean's "Happy 4th of July" message was disingenuous, and don't think the "sea to shining sea" phrase wasn't meant to be offensive. (maybe I'm being naive?)

I'm not attacking you here, Jim, but it's you that brought steteotypes and sweeping generalizations into it.

Aonghus attacked the president. It's you that took this as an insult to America. Insult the Taoiseach of Ireland all you want, you're not insulting Ireland. And from there we can go into the concept of country being an abstract concept and on an on.

Anyway, my view is that I don't care. Feel free to bicker further over this fabricated conflict, I'll be elsewhere.