Words

Words: Words I tire of; lefty, liberal, conservative – you know the litany. These labels have no bearing in the modern world and serve, not as a description of political leanings, but as a derogatory term to be cast against those we don’t agree with.

Chris Rock, on one of his HBO specials, informed us that he is at times conservative and at others liberal. I agree. Obviously those who label themselves conservative, ultra-conservative et al, are entitled to do so and to be referred to as such. An interesting paradox in my experience is that the more right the leaning the more strange the skeletons in the closet. As a quick cross section of political lives can demonstrate. Let’s take for example, the former house speaker, Newt Gingrich’s abrupt withdrawal from politics when the Clinton/Monica drama was in full tilt. Newt retired for the same reason he was criticizing the president – he too was having an affair with an intern. Rush “Golden microphone” Limbaugh loves to tell us how bad the liberals are but is him-self a found-out and self-confessed drooling druggie. We're not talking the odd joint here, he was allegedly into full blown five alarm pain pills. Mega bucks and super lawyers stopped him from following the same path he suggested for other drug users – a quick-step to the big house. Sen. Larry Craig’s bathroom encounter demonstrated how a loudly conservative anti-gay politican is in fact wading in the same pool as the people he reportedly despises.

“It’s ok to throw rocks as long as you don’t throw them at me” – a Yiddish saying goes. Labels are outdated and useless – it’s time for them to go and to realize we are all human, foibles and all. Just a thought.

Ireland: It’s said that you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and you certainly don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Three decades ago, Bob “Feed the World” Geldoff sang of Ireland being a Banana Republic – a harsh observation that rang true at the time. Along came the EEC and injected a pile of cash into the country and so ignited the tale (tail) of the Celtic Tiger.
That injection into infrastructure development combined with U.S. investment in the technology sector began the modernizing of Ireland and fueled unprecedented and substained economic growth. Property in the emerald isle became more expensive than gold thanks in part to inherited wealth as middle class homes made their owner’s and their children paper millionaires. The country took off.

The Lisbon Treaty – read about the nitties and details elsewhere - is a vital part of the EECs continuing development and Ireland is the only country that casts any doubt about it’s approval of the treaty at referrendum. Flush with cash and success there exists a generation of voters who never saw the lean days of the 1980’s and ealy 1990s. There exists a detached intellectual arrogance and rapid pub/coffee-table debate about approving the treaty by a country of 4 million people who have seemingly forgotten that they been helped from their knees by their mainland European brothers. The questions is what are the repercussions for Ireland if the population rejects the treaty, because there will be many. This treaty is a linchpin in the EEC’s cohesion and, funnily enough, on the eve of voting the storm clouds and cold winds of recession are again blowing through the littered streets of Dublin. The outcome of this referrendum could well determine if the Celtic Tiger has the power to gain new dizzying heights or is about to committ economic and cultural suicide and get run over by the wheels of Juggernaut Europe.