[xrmusn]

I had a Marine O Buddy from New York who was stationed with the UN Irish Forces.

On a drinking night (TRUE the IRISH and the NY Irish were drinking) he had made note of the fact that he was happy to be serving with his Irish Buddies and they not so graciously pointed out that he was nothing but a Yank with an Irish name.

I figured if that was how ‘they’ felt, I may as well just call myself an American of Irish descent who happened to have an O’C as part of his surname.

Seems like back in the ‘80s I made the correct choice.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Yes, that sentimental Ireland of immigrants, of John McCormack, of Bing Crosby, of Hollywood—that died several generations ago. Most Irish in Ireland are as hard as nails, and without a gentle bone in the body. They've been suckled at the tits of European cynicism and depravity, all augmented by the Irish gift for blarney bullsh*t and double-talk.

And the worst and most unforgivable sin of the Irish is that they sent us the Kennedys.
 

[heterosupremacist]

Understood. The Irish in Ireland are more clanish and more fiercely Tribal than their NYC counterparts. I'm 3rd generation living on American soil, and I find it much easier to love America then to have positive thoughts about the land of my ancestors! I lived most of my life in NYC, and have known many 'greenhorns' (what they called the illegal Irish in those days), I have known many more posers/wannabees and losers. The moral is this: The Irish are some of the greatest people on God's Earth, but people collectively suck as a rule, and the Irish are not exempt.