America may be talking itself into a civil war

America may be talking itself into a civil war

As I crossed the pedestrian walkway, a flatbed truck driver leaned out his window and unleashed a barrage of angry words at me. The wind swallowed most of his rant, but the essence was clear: he was furious, and his fury was aimed at “Democrats”, “budgets”, and “billions of dollars”. My puzzled expression likely only heightened the veins bulging in his neck. With a final, dismissive curse, he sped away, his old truck groaning under the strain, but not before glaring at me through his rear-view mirror. The faded U.S. flag sticker on his window was a faint clue to his political leanings, though I was more perplexed by why he assumed I was a Democrat. Was it my outdated 1990s attire—jeans, shirt, and blazer combo—that my wife swears she will leave me if I wear again?

Fake Political Experts

Fake Political Experts

My father, Billy Heffron, was enjoying himself, mid-flow in conversation, a cup of tea in his hand and biro-filed paperwork strewn across the kitchen table of his host — a small farmer outside Ballyhaunis. As agricultural consultant, Billy had called to his farming client a few hours earlier to complete forms for some farm scheme or other. However, in the lively talk and laughter afterwards, which is a well-known feature of my father’s visits, the evening had closed in quickly. Too quickly. The farmer jolted forward and yanked up the volume on the radio which had been infusing the room with low-level MWR FM in the background.

Gotcha! How Trump outsmarts the Media

Gotcha! How Trump outsmarts the Media

It is one of the most memorable moments in movie history. Set in a stifling courtroom, during one of the final scenes of Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson (as Colonel Jessep) delivers his greatest monologue, relishing the opportunity to teach Tom Cruise (as upstart lawyer Lieutenant Kaffee) a few home truths of his iron-fisted command over Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. However, Cruise’s character has instead set a ‘gotcha’ trap for his ego-charged superior, with the provoking demand ‘I want the truth!’. Without awareness of his hubris and impending legal peril, Jessep famously replies with, ‘You can't handle the truth!’ and then is drawn him into admitting that he ordered an illegal punishment of another soldier, resulting in his arrest on the stand. It is one of the ultimate gotchas of our shared cinema culture.

The Risks of Second-in-Command

The Risks of Second-in-Command

Vice-presidential nominees have “virtually no impact,” according to Donald Trump, when recently asked if J.D. Vance would be ready to take over "on day one, if he has to be." This clear snub of his running mate when speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists, had less to do with Trump’s thoughtful analysis of voters’ intentions during presidential elections and more to do with the fact that the twice-impeached and criminally convicted former president cannot abide sharing the limelight with anyone — not even where a supportive platitude would help their shared ticket and therefore his electoral chances.

Becoming more American than the Americans themselves

Becoming more American than the Americans themselves

We'll call him Paul, because that’s not his real name—at least according to his Lyft profile. He picked me up on Main St. and 5th in downtown Los Angeles, just a few blocks from Skid Row. According to Wikipedia, this area hosts one of the largest stable populations of homeless people in the U.S., estimated at over 4,400. According to Paul, it also houses freshly-released prisoners in subsidised accommodation. You can tell the difference, he said—they look clean, unlike their dirt-encrusted neighbours. I had been waiting obliviously outside a shelter where many of them stayed, not very smart according to Paul, but I was okay since it was the start of the month. The ex-cons had just received their government allowance and were busy organising drugs or doing drugs, or both. But come evening, or especially weekends near the end of the month, and I wouldn’t want to be there.

Biden is no old Irish hero

Biden is no old Irish hero

Making Irish boring was a feature of the Irish educational system, rather than a bug. Learning Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (or Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne), the epic retelling of a love triangle between the aging warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, his loyal follower Diarmaid, and the beautiful and wily Gráinne, should have ensured rapt teenage attention with its tales of illicit sex and bloodthirsty feuds. Yet, I was bored senseless by the focus on grammar and pronunciation, with the wild language tamed into anaemic English approximations. I remembered thinking, as I stared out the window of Mrs. Mahon’s Irish class in Gortnor Abbey, why didn’t old Fionn just let the young lovers be? Why risk all your accomplishments in an obsessive pursuit of a young woman who found you too old and wanted a younger lover?

Underestimating Trump

Underestimating Trump

Donald Trump is exceptional. Is there any other politician anywhere who would have had their wits about them to reflexively know to seize the iconic photo opportunity, seconds after a would-be-assassin shot his right ear? His stump speech on 13 July, at an election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was cut short by loud cracks of gunfire and bright red blood splattering over his face and hands, as the former president dropped to the floor beside the podium. While his gaggle of secret service manhandled him back up and away, Trump seemed to instinctively know where the cameras were, clenching a victory fist to the sky towards his audience, before being quickly shuffled away to safety. With the American flag billowing over his head, he was reenacting Rocky or Rambo for generations who grew up in the certainty of American exceptionalism. More than anything this is what sets him apart from his peers. He innately understands how to garner publicity to his advantage. He always did.

A Two Horse Race

A Two Horse Race

Following the notorious recent presidential debate hosted by CNN, The Hill reported on July 1st from a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll that 72% of voters have already decided who they will vote for in the upcoming election, with 58% of Independents, 16% of Republicans, and 28% of Democrats yet to decide. Meanwhile, Trump leads Biden in a head-to-head match-up in the poll by 6 points. Since then polling suggests that Biden has lost further valuable ground in swing states due to the public’s reaction to his dismal debate performance. These seven crucial states, where less than a hundred thousand votes can swing the election either way, have the Democratic Party in turmoil over whether Joe Biden should be the nominee to contest the upcoming election against Donald Trump.

‘If he runs, it’s over. Period’.

‘If he runs, it’s over. Period’.

‘If he runs, it’s over, period’ — the text glared at me from my phone, and I was at a loss for words. We had just left my local Ralph’s grocery store, the evening breeze offering a welcome break from the relentless summer heat of Southern California. A young couple stood by the fast food truck, intently listening to the CNN Presidential debate on the young man’s smartphone. They didn’t appear Eastern-European, and those who did weren’t paying attention to either Donald Trump or Joe Biden, instead going about their day — shopping, chatting at outdoor restaurant tables in Armenian or Russian, or hurrying home. My phone was buzzing with messages from my older Jewish friend in New York: ‘Are you watching the debate? We are in deep shit.’

Burning Down the House of Ethiopian Royalty

Burning Down the House of Ethiopian Royalty

"This isn't a Christian thing to do!" he shouted, eyes wide in anger, his dark skin blending into the room's gloom. "You must give me more notice!". Part of my brain was still processing our conversation, which had rapidly escalated since I told my landlord I was moving out, just minutes earlier. However, another part—perhaps the ancient synapses responsible for spotting movement of predators in the undergrowth or the approach of a Fianna Fáil canvasser—was tugging my attention away. Something was wrong, as time seem to slow to a crawl. My landlord continued to harangue me, but his voice was strangely muted. I slowly looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, an orange light flickered into the darkness and the smell hit me. The curtains were on fire.

Shooting dogs and goats, and not meeting Kim Jong Un

Shooting dogs and goats, and not meeting Kim Jong Un

Since January 2019, Kristi Noem has been the formidable Governor of South Dakota and her uncompromising conservative positions on taxation, healthcare and gun rights would have in any case made her a leading candidate for Donald Trump’s running mate in this year’s election. Aside from being articulate, striking in appearance and appearing politically savvy, she received national attention for her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, opting against statewide lockdowns and mandates. Noem is a vocal supporter of Trump's policies and has adopted similar stances on key issues such as immigration, economic policy and law enforcement. But this was all before she dragged her dog and goat, and Kim Jong Un, into the national conversation.

The Unseen Costs of America’s “Makey Uppy Jobs”

The Unseen Costs of America’s “Makey Uppy Jobs”

"They don’t pay your holidays…imagine… don’t work, don’t get paid, just like Ukraine!" My wife, more bewildered than angry, couldn’t believe it. In the United States, businesses aren't required to pay employees for time they don't work, including public holidays, annual leave, or (until recently) sick pay. While some companies offer holiday pay as a perk, many, especially those with low-paid workers, do not. Coming from Ireland, with four weeks paid annual leave and ten public holidays, this policy takes some getting used to.

The trial everyone is talking about

The trial everyone is talking about

As the warm Californian evening falls, the latest news beams out from large flatscreen TVs across the stacked rows of apartments visible from our living room window. Few residents feel the need to close their blinds in this balmy weather, instead leaving windows and doors open, creating an almost Mediterranean atmosphere. Excited voices of TV anchors vying with shrieks of playful children, drift upwards to our terrace. Inside, my wife exclaims periodically as she watches the sharp summaries of the day’s events in ad-spliced YouTube videos.

"I mean, why come here now?"

"I mean, why come here now?"

She tilted her head sideways, studying me intently. "I mean, why come here now? It's terrible... and if he gets elected again, I... I don't know..." A vibrant older Jewish woman, raised in the Bronx within a theatrical Jewish family, she embodied the no-nonsense, practical, and generous spirit of a New Yorker…

Spirit of Revolution

Spirit of Revolution

Very enthused by the reviews of our latest book on the Irish War of Independence and Civil War periods - Spirit of Revolution: Ireland from below 1917-23, edited by Dr John Cunningham and Dr Terry Dunne. I have a chapter in it based on an aspect of my PhD research, looking at an IRA Volunteer company in rural County Mayo.

A Letter from America...

A Letter from America...

The Kerby Miller Archive at the University of Galway comprises copies of thousands of emigrant letters sent between the US (and some other countries) and Ireland between the late 1600s and 1950s, donated by Prof. Kerby A. Miller. He became interested in the experience of Irish emigrants to America, while studying at the University of California, Berkeley, during the early 1970s. In the many years that followed, he travelled the country seeking letters that had been sent to and from all parts of Ireland and its diaspora.

A lop-sided study of the Mayo Revolution

A lop-sided study of the Mayo Revolution

This is the thirteenth book in the county studies series, drawing on new archival records and scholarship to examine the local Irish revolutionary period. Joost Augusteijn expands his previous PhD research and 1998 study of IRA volunteers in west Mayo, with additional material from north and east of the county.[1] He draws on a rich vein of sources including IRA witness statements, local newspapers and interviews with Volunteers and their families, to present a concise and accessible narrative of local events and personalities in Mayo, over 1912-23.