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Quickly responding to JB then gotta run:
Of course it’s illegal to overthrow the gov’t. If and when it ever comes to that, as it did in 1776, the illegality of violent revolution is pretyt much irrelevant. What the 2nd amendment protects is the acquisition and maintenence of the *means* of performing this illegal act, if and when the people feel their only means of redress to protect their inelienable rights it the overthrow of a tyrannical regime.
And as I said yesterday I’m not convinced that the 2nd amendment means you get to carry in public if there is an effective police presence.
I’ll also repeat my statement from yesterday: The cmus of the world will follow pacifism into subjugation and tyranny.
Speaking of American Irish — why the Scottish bagpipes and kilts at St. Pat’s parade and cop funerals? Irish nationals who witness these things must be puzzled.
benson — I don’t want to take the time to go through all of your post, but I really think you caricature if you think there are no differences of opinion among liberals, including those in politics, or that we don’t ahve primaries. Democrats have a pretty strong tradition for eating their young in NY primaries. I also think it is a bit of a mismatch to compare the degree of discussion concerning national Senate seats and NYS assembly seats. State leg. has huge incumbency advantage in part because the seats are small and it is a somewhat invosible office, so rare to see a primary against an incumbent dem or rep state legislature in NY. The seats are rarely contested in a meaningful way so I think it is wrong to pin reelection to those offices on liberal orthodoxy, real or imagined.
As for Carl P, I think that in any election, voters vote for a combination of the person and the policy. I kept seeing over and over a terrible lack of judgment, apart from political views. The gay pride parade speech episode is one example — first he fails to vet either the speech or the wacky rabbi who wrote it, then he gives the speech (with an important omission, I’ll grant) then he stands by it, then backs off it, then reiterates it, then apologizes for it. His outburst/near attack on Fred Dicker was another key moment in my book. Obviously, my views are different from yours and I would not have voted for Paladino based on policies, but apart from that, I do not think he would have been effective. He would have wielded the same bludgeon as Spitzer (but batting right, of course) and Spitzer blew any chance he had at reforming the legislature before we ever heard about client 9. I think Cuomo will attempt to achieve less reform than Paladino but I think he will end up achieving more than Paladino would have. Crazy may be the wrong word for Carl, but I thought he was too loose a cannon to be effective. CC in NJ is far more disciplined about his approach.
“…I think that custom is making headway here in
Cobble Hill with parents bringing their babies to pubs.”
Funny, Legion! Right after I posted that, I immediately rued the missed opportunity I set myself up for to comment about Park Slope babies in bars.
Ditto;
Peter King, one of the most pro-IRA congressmen out there, changed his tune after 9/11.
Biff, I ended up in Killkenny by accident. I got on this bus in Dublin called an AirportBus but it was going to Cork, not the airport. Kilkenny was the first stop. One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done.
By Biff Champion on November 4, 2010 1:59 PM
The other interesting thing about Ireland is that nobody seemed to think twice when seeing a fairly young child pulling pints for customers in various family-run pubs.
…I think that custom is making headway here in
Cobble Hill with parents bringing their babies to pubs.
Lech – I’ll have to say the unionists in Northern Ireland are the most crazy pro-royal family jingoists I’ve ever met. (The ones I’ve met at least). The average Brit in my experience just wants the whole thing to go away. Lets hope as more of the inequities against the catholics are redressed the protestants and catholics there can get on better. Its remarkable how much progess they’ve made, a lot of forgiving going on, if not forgetting. I thought the mess was as unsolvable as the Israel/Palestine situation.
The IRA came much closer to killing me than Al Qaeda. When I was at Uni I was within a block of a bomb. Loudest thing I ever heard. When Al Qaeda attacked I was watching the whole thing from Midtown, plenty far away. I must admit in the months after 9/11 the fact that so many of the firefighters killed were Irish Americans made me think Noraid contributors might think twice.
The other interesting thing about Ireland is that nobody seemed to think twice when seeing a fairly young child pulling pints for customers in various family-run pubs.
Gem if you have the time, check out that entire series of lectures. It’s an articulate, even handed, informative summary of how the international system has developed since 1815 (but really most of the focus is on the 20th century). The lecturer doesn’t try to get fancy or prove talk up his personal theory of everything, he just tells the story. It’s a great way to fill in holes in basic knowledge.
For example, if you ever wanted to get a good summary of what went down in World War I, in 50 minutes or so, just click on the lecture about World War I.