Oglaigh nah Eriann!
For my Mother, Mary Regina Connaughton Markunas...Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Tommy Makem & The Clancy Brothers
The Patriot Game
The Rising of The Moon
The Broad Black Brimmer, The Wolfetones
Remember! One man's Freedom Fighter is another man's terrorist!
The Wee White Turban, Joe Mulheron
The Men Behind The Wire
The Minstrel Boy, Charlie Zahm
Some things are still worth fighting for. Like my Irish ancestors, I too, will be a Minstrel Boy for my country, and fight to take back America from the thieves and liars who have shredded our Constitution and corrupted our beloved United States of America.
Happy Saint Pat's!
d.
Post script: It was July of 1973. My best friend at the time, Brian, a former United States Army Ranger, and an Irish-American, called me to tell me that his Mother had just been arrested. It seems the Police found some M-16's in her basement that were meant to be shipped to the "Boyos" in Belfast and he needed help bailing her out. I grabbed what money I had and picked him up and together we headed for the "Roundhouse", (Police Headquarters and Central Booking here in Philly). When we got there we were informed that his Mom had been picked up by "Federal Authorities" and taken to the Greene Federal Building a few blocks away. So off we went. Let me tell you it was no easy task getting her out. We were interviewed by the FBI and other Government "agents". Both of us were Veterans, so they were very concerned about our "activities" and "affiliations". After 5 or 6 hours of this crap, we were finally able to bail her out, but not without some help from other "friends". It seems our Government likes to pick and choose which organization is comprised of "Freedom Fighters" and which is "terrorist". Needless to say, they didn't regard us as "Freedom Fighters". This has hung over my head ever since and was even mentioned at my trial in 1980. I was to be regarded as a "dangerous person".
All well and good. So be it. According to the Government which I served with Honor, I am a "potential terrorist". I prefer to regard myself as a "Freedom Fighter". What do you think?
As for the Government, well, you can't dictate to me who I can and can't support. Israel would never have come into being without a little "terrorist activity" on the part of the Haganah, Etzel and Lehi. In fact, Israel, our bestest friend in the Middle-east attacked a United States Ship in International waters on June 8, 1967. (See Remember the Liberty.)
The point is simply this: One man's terrorist is another man's Freedom Fighter. If you watched the videos above, it is easy to see that the British treated and in some ways, still treat, the Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland much the same way as we are treating the Iraqi people. The Special Powers Act allowed British authorities to arrest and hold Irish Catholics without charge, without access to legal representation for as long as the Authorities deemed necessary. ( Here and here ) This resulted in the Hunger Strike of 1981, in which MP Bobby Sands and 9 other political prisoners starved to death in protest in the Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh, in Northern Ireland. Now if supporting the right of a people to free and independent rule makes me a terrorist, well...I dare say that had the concept existed in 1776, Great Britain would have regarded George Washington and the Continental Congress as "terrorists".
The similarities to what has and is happening in Northern Ireland and what is happening right now in Iraq are disturbing, to say the least.
To this day, I continue to support Irish Northern Aid and I will continue to do so regardless of the twits in power here in the United States. Personally, I consider George W. Bush to be the biggest terrorist on the planet.
d.
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