"Ohh were you here when Obama was here?"
This is the question I always get when I tell Irish people that I'm from America (and ESPECIALLY when I tell them I'm a politics major working in the Dail - makes me a perfect target).
I always tell them, "No, but I did watch it on the news." To which I always hear some anecdote about how they tried to go see him, but the streets were too crowded, or they saw his car drive by, etc.
Ireland has caught a case of Obama fever.
It's understandable. If all you see is the media highlights of a young, inspiring man who is spouting the dream of "change we can believe in" and "yes we can." If you know the history of racism in America and this is our first African American president. So to anyone abroad, yeah, you would be excited that this kind of man was coming to visit YOUR country.
But maybe if they looked closer as to what was actually going on. Maybe if they saw that all he did on his visit was giving an inspiring speech with no real substance, no meat and potatoes (which the Irish love by the way), drank a pint of Guiness (and then declared that "the President pays his bar tab"), and played around with a hurling stick with Prime Minister Enda Kenny.
It was a whirlwind of a visit that was surrounded by the smoke and mirrors of excitement, press, and traditional Irish past times. Drink a pint of Guiness, wave around a hurling stick, and chant "yes we can" in Irish, and you got yourself a political visit.
But where was there any real policy discussed? Maybe a firm shaking of Kenny's hand, as Obama promised the United States will have a closer relationship with Ireland? But actions speak louder than words, and Obama's actions that day in Ireland left little to be trusted.
As this presidential rock star jetsetted away to another country, he left Ireland with some exciting memories, but no good 'ol fashioned meat and potatoes.
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