When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
President Obama went home today -- "home", in this instance, being the little Irish town of Moneygall, population an estimated 300.
According to locals, who believe the President's great-great-great grandfather was baptized at a nearby church, Obama can claim 5% Irish heritage.
I won't bother asking if you think O'Bama is "Irish".
But I am curious as to what you consider to be his genuine "home" -- not a mailing address or what he files on his tax returns, mind you, but his true "old sod".
Is it the White House, which at best is eight years of temporary lodging?
Is it the house back in Chicago that he and the family seem to rarely visit (something I find curious, given he has two daughters who were removed from their friends and neighbors).
Now that we've put the birther controversy to rest, is Hawaii the President's real home?
Or is "home" the one place, anywhere in the world, where this President seems most at home -- and that's sately nestled behind a TelePrompter.
I believe this partly explains why some Americans aren't comfortable with Obama as their leader -- and never will be.
It's not about philosophy, or practice, or presentation. Rather, it's the idea that Obama is the first modern American president without a tangible, palpable anchor in the American soil -- other than the keynote address as the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the presidential campaign trail ca. 2007.
Because he doesn't come across as either deeply rooted in or noticeably enriched by Americana, this President at times sounds more like a detached observer of the people he leads, rather than one of them.
And no amount of blarney can disguise that.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
For a socialist, home is at the frontline of the people's revolution against capitalism--which now, oddly enough, is the White House.
May '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Culturally, he belongs in an Ivy League university, a fortress of wannabe-European aristocrats attempting to move their fellow Americans on a chess board and pretending that their every errant, ancient philosophy is deliciously avant-garde.
Feb '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
"According to locals, who believe the President's great-great-great grandfather was baptized at a nearby church, Obama can claim 5% Irish heritage."
How do you get 5%? First off, the number has to be a power of 1/2. Grandfather would be 1/4. Great grandfather 1/8. Great-great grandfather 1/16. Great-great-great grandfather would be 1/32. So, 3.125%.
Obama's home is sunk deep in our collective pockets.
Nov '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Hang On: "According to locals, who believe the President's great-great-great grandfather was baptized at a nearby church, Obama can claim 5% Irish heritage."
How do you get 5%? First off, the number has to be a power of 1/2. Grandfather would be 1/4. Great grandfather 1/8. Great-great grandfather 1/16. Great-great-great grandfather would be 1/32. So, 3.125%.
Obama's home is sunk deep in our collective pockets. · May 23 at 2:29pm
Obviously, Irish genes punch above their weight.
Aug '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
I just watched a recording of Obama's speech in Dublin-I was too busy to watch it live. The whole O'Bama thing is a bit of blarney but he gave a good speech, telling us how great we are and not much about himself. He cheered up a lot of people,so it would be churlish for even an Irish sceptic like me to criticise the event or the man,for today at least.And I can't think of anyone else who could mention God (twice) and Reagan in a speech to a large crowd in Dublin without some boos. The car thing was a hoot but that's been covered by others here.
Apr '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Wow. I loved this comment. When "like" isn't good enought. ;-)
Mar '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Mr Obama is a citizen of the World, at home anywhere he is in front of an adoring crowd.
He is much more popular in Europe than he is here in the USA (although he suffered a setback when he had Mr Bin Laden shot). With any luck he might decide to stay in Europe - I hear there is an opening at the IMF - Ireland needs a bailout.
Edited on May 23, 2011 at 3:52pmFeb '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
That's only true if you have one, and only one, Irish ancestor anywhere in your ancestry. If you go back 8 generations, you have 256 ancestors. If 13 of them were Irish, that would make you 5.1% Irish.
May '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
One of the few things Obama has gotten right is not visiting his house in Chicago. It creates an unholy mess of Chicago traffic which is obscene on a good day.
For small favors we are truly grateful.
Feb '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
As a genealogist myself, I am not impressed by the hoopla. (The research is undoubtedly first-rate, but that's not what the fuss is about.)
If you go back that many generations, Obama - like everyone else - has ancestors in a dozen or more places. Big deal!
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Chicago, Hawaii, where ever it is, I wish he would click his heels and go back.
May '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
What am I missing? I feel like I would have absolutely no connection to a great great granddad who I shared 5% blood with.
Mar '11
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Haven't the Irish been the butt of enough jokes already.
I wonder if Obama has ever been told about Wellington's reaction to being called Irish: 'Being born in a stable doesn't make you a horse.'
Too bad the U.S.Constitution couldn't cover that situation.
Jun '10
Re: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
"Obviously, Irish genes punch above their weight."
Yes they do! Ha ha !!!
"What am I missing? I feel like I would have absolutely no connection to a great great granddad who I shared 5% blood with."
It's different when that blood is Irish. There's a lot of truth to the statement that "Everyone wants to be Irish." Can't quite put my finger on what inspires the fascination, but I've experienced it thoroughout my life, where people with the slightest tangential connection to Ireland talk about what county or village where they trace their Irish ancestry. Look at the popularity of Irish pubs (ranging from authentic to cheesy chains) and Irish/Gaelic baby names and Celtic music here in the US.