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| President Obama in Moneygall, Ireland. Photo courtesy of Pete Souza and the Executive Office of the President of the United States. |
I swear it’s growing there … moss on my head. Green is a color that suits me because I’m Irish. I don’t know about you, but seeing Milwaukeeans wearing heavy jackets and wool caps in late May is enough to grow moss on anyone’s head.
Now that Obama has lifted a pint in Ireland, and toured Moneygall where the residents had the gall to rake in money during his visit, I’m here to tell you I may be related to Barack. Having 3.1 percent of Irish blood, is no biggie, but it’s big enough to link me to the possibility that sometime in the distant pass we were linked. Obama’s ears are rather large, and in studying the old photos of the Moriarty clan, it’s clear that among us were more than a few with big ears. Plus, his ancestors fled Ireland during the potato blight, landing on these shores one year after my great parents arrived. Never mind that thousands of other Irish did the same thing in their sail across the bounding main. I’m also related to Roger Sherman, shaper of our Constitution and further, the Bill of Rights. Does this mean Sherman and Obama are also kin?
Why is it that pols love to attach their ancestry to the Irish? Why not the Poles, Germans or French? I researched Mitt Romney’s ancestors and all but a few were rooted in the Lancaster, England area. So far there aren’t any Irish in his ancestral pot, so it’s doubtful that Romney and Obama are related. Still, it’s nice to think I might be related to the President whose kin was the son of a simple cobbler of shoes. It does my soul good. In thinking about this, I need to note here that all Irish do NOT hang lace curtains in their windows, nor are they drunks per se. They don’t necessarily make good cops, great bartenders, or fine tenors. A few of them don’t eat potatoes.
It seems way too soon to start betting on the 2012 race for the Presidential roses, but Romney is looking good, or bad, depending on where you put your money. Did I mention that his great-grandfathers both had ten wives each? If we’re going to point fingers at the current field of bad boy pols twice or thrice divorced, it seems only fair to mention the ten wives….
And even though Palin would seem to be gearing up for the run (home in Scottsdale, a documentary film, etc.), the money has it that all of the Republicans who lean far right, are aware that the mine field of possibilities is really just clearing the way for Romney to take down Obama. The question is already being asked: ”Will Obama be re-elected because he’s black, a question which echoes, “Was he initially elected because he is black?” What’s wrong with this world?
Quite a bit actually. I’ll drink to that.
