Comments by "Taint ABird" (@taintabird23) on "Biden, Brexit and Northern Ireland explained" video.

  1.  @tsu8003  American's aren't pretending to be Irish, they're Amercian - when they say they are Irish they are referring to their heritage, as you well know. The very reason these people are American is because of a previous time the British shafted the Irish, and they don't forget that. 'Pathetic', indeed. Your defense of the British empire is laughable, ignorant and not unexpected. The letters of British commander Jeffery Amherst indicated genocidal intent when he authorized the deliberate use of disease-infected blankets as a biological weapon against indigenous populations during the 1763 Pontiac's Rebellion, saying, "You will do well to try to Innoculate the Indians by means of Blanketts, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execreble race", and instructing his subordinates, "I need only add, I wish to hear of no prisoners should any of the villains be met with arms." At one point during the famine in Ireland, a member of the British establishment boasted in the newspapers that a native Irishman will soon be as rare on the western coast of Ireland as a native American is on Manhattan island. And there you have it, that's your 'Great' empire for you. Lying arsehole.
    16
  2.  @tsu8003  Funny how the British drone on about their 'good empire; but never mention the genocide and forced internment of the native Americans and the land who they helped to steal.
    14
  3.  @tsu8003  What an utterly bizarre comment. There are about 40 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry. Hundreds of thousands of them, sometimes millions of them, visit Ireland every year. They have a strong emotional bond with the land of their forefathers, and about 12,000 Irish-Americans now live in Ireland. However, moving to the country is a not requirement for having pride in their heritage. What planet are you living on?
    14
  4.  Albert Pike  What book were you reading? The Banks did not decide to stop feeing 3 million people in the summer of 1846, THAT was the British government.
    11
  5.  @tsu8003  The United States is a country of immigrants and everybody has ancestry from somewhere else in Europe. If you don't hear about other hyphenated American's that's your limitation, and nobody else's. And you don't set the standard by which others should follow. But it does not stop there: there are plenty of Irish-Australians, Irish-New Zealanders, Irish-Canadians and Irish-Argentines - but the emotional connection for those of Irish decent in the US is strongest because of the sheer numbers that emigrated there and because of the circumstances of much of that emigration - famine and religious and economic oppression.
    10
  6.  @tsu8003 The arms industry? What straws are you clutching now?
    8
  7.  @tsu8003  Why would you expect to hear of them? I would not expect anyone who thinks the British did not exterminate the Indians to know such complicated stuff. You are remarkably uninformed. Anyway, this tet a tet changes nothing. The fact is this: an Irish-American President will not allow the UK to shaft Ireland in order for the UK to have a lovely Brexit. Even if he was not Irish-American, it would not be allowed, because it is the policy of the Democrat party.
    7
  8. He has been to Ireland many times. His relatives had him turn the sod on a new hospital in County Mayo last year. He has three family connections to Ireland, linked to three parts of the country.
    7
  9. It is interesting to see how many people on here seem quite pleased that Brexit is going to do so much damage to countries that did not ask for the chaos of Brexit. Perhaps the English commentators on here do not realise that Ireland only exports 10% of their goods to the UK and that the UK has a trade surplus with Ireland. Please understand that Brexit does not solve your problems, you are still going to be left with the inequality and the democratic deficit, the blame for which has been transferred onto the EU. And after five years, the UK is still not actually ready to leave the EU with no deal. Brexit is the wrong answer to the wrong question and people like you have been exploited.
    5
  10.  @tsu8003  I'm sorry, what has your conspiracy theory got to do with reality?
    5
  11. Of course he is American. But he is the descendant of Irish immigrants who had to leave Ireland and go to the United States because of a previous time the English shafted the Irish. When Biden tells the BBC 'I'm Irish', that is what he referencing.
    5
  12.  @CarWhiz22 That's great, delighted for you if you believe that. If you're a Brexiter, you will base your politics on emotion, just like Biden, and on history. Two key ingredients: history/heritage and emotion You can deny it all you want.
    4
  13.  @ajaya5451  Nobody suggested that the UK should give up any part of its territory. It needs to uphold the WA and put the customs border in the Irish Sea.
    4
  14.  @fridayscoldone4096  'Wish ILL on the normal people of England because of something terrible and shameful that our Government did all those years ago.' The normal people of England have been shafted by those to whom they doff their caps and tug their forelocks. It has always been that way and the Irish have learned to push back against these clowns. Your elite are your problem, not Ireland, not Irish-America.
    3
  15.  @elyrexo  Not according to any research I have read.
    3
  16.  @tomweldon7608  Thank you. It is good to bury them in fact based evidence, and perhaps they will be inspired to at least do some research before they comment in future.
    3
  17.  @quiteamazingtoo  'Can you give any other example of international food aid in the nineteenth century?' Well that pretty much sums up your ignorance. Ireland was an integral part of the United Kingdom in the 1840s, and British Government aid was not international aid, it was aid to fellow subjects. But there you have it - an attitude not dissimilar to that of the British government at the time. The 'othering' of the Irish poor. The Great Hunger or the Irish Potato Famine, represents a failure of British government policy in Ireland. The government of the time was guilty of neglect. It was the watershed moment in Irish history, the foundation stone for Irish nationalism and ultimately the reason Ireland left the United Kingdom in 1921. International aid was enormous and was still insufficient: the English public were initially very generous, but that wore off after about two years; the Catholic church across the world was very generous; the Quakers were amazing and Anglican Church in Ireland did its best. International aid came from the Choctaw Indians in the United States, Irish immigrant communities in Argentina, the Sultan of Turkey, Australia, the Pope in Rome and French Catholics. The British government can claim none of it.
    3
  18.  @quiteamazingtoo  The British government refused to stop exports of food leaving Ireland, as it was wedded to the Laissez Faire economic system. In the summer of 1846 the UK government successfully fed 3 million people in the west of Ireland, cheaply and efficiently. At the first sight of a new potato crop, they declared the famine over and withdrew the aid. When that crop failed, the refused provide further assistance, and instructed the Irish poor law system to deal with the problem. The Irish Poor law system was simply unable to cope. The British knew this because of a report from 1838 which stated that any large scale distress in Ireland would leave the Poor Law system overwhelmed. As for the common heritage, those who were died in the famine or had to emigrate because of it were Irish speaking, with a different culture, customs and to those who ruled them. They did not speak English. Any common heritage exists because the Irish gave up theirs. If you want to understand Ireland, even modern Ireland, you need to understand the famine. Sadly, it is not taught in British schools.
    3
  19. Are you geographically illiterate? Biden has stated he is not interested in a trade deal with the UK, he is prioritising a trade deal with the EU and has recommended the UK rejoin the European Union.
    2
  20. American by nationality, Irish by ethnic heritage, Caucasian by race. It is quite simple really.
    2
  21. It is like the return of the oppressed. You understand it, most people in Britain are baffled.
    2
  22.  @cartmann227  Good man!
    2
  23. An interesting analysis.
    2
  24.  @elyrexo  Well, that is YOUR prejudice.
    2
  25.  @shelleyphilcox4743  NI did vote in the EU referendum, but a small number of Irish nationalists there don't engage in British elections or referenda on the grounds that it is a foreign country. The rest of your post is interesting and rational but seems to be based on the notion of an existing British Demos (I think). The overarching British identity that held the UK together has been diminishing, probably for decades but almost certainly since devolution in the late 90s. The 2011 census showed that huge numbers of people in England no longer identify as British, but as English (particularly outside London); large numbers of Scots no longer identify as British as we can see from the growth of the SNP, and in NI, those who identify as Irish or Northern Irish are on the cusp of being in the majority. Wales is interesting. The Welsh have a weaker nationalist movement than the Scots or the Irish, but they would probably have voted to remain but for the 12% of the Welsh population who identified as English in the 2011 census (English retirees who brought their politics with them?). In that context it is no longer coherent to have 55 million English people deciding the futures of Scots, Northern Irish and Welsh with different identities. There is a fundamental democratic deficit in having the English dominating the political landscape in that way, just as there is a leaving the English with no devolved assembly. Furthermore, Brexit is underpinned by values and insecurities that are part of English nationalism and are not shared by the Scots and the Northern Irish. I think this is significant too. If we take it that the UK was established as a means to run an empire, then it would appear that the union has run its course. There is a good argument to be made that the break up of the union is already underway.
    2
  26.  @shelleyphilcox4743  That's the thing about English nationalism. Nobody has been speaking for it. Sure, you had UKIP on the fringe and perhaps they would have had more of a presence in the HoC if there had been a more democratic voting system, but they don't represent all of English nationalism. The Tories seem to have taken on the role, and in doing so have alienated the Scots even further. English nationalism is a product of insecurity. I think the emergence of the SNP and devolution for the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish has left many English people with an identity crisis. The Empire is gone, the traditional industries have gone too, there have been decades of government mismanagement by all parties, and no devolution for England. Areas where immigration is least evident are among the places where fear of immigration and loss of identity appear to be highest. This is odd because English cultural expression is to be found everywhere in the world. The Scots have a clear vision as to where they want to go, but the English do not - do they stay in the EU, or do they pivot to the US? All the focus is on a lack of democracy in Brussels, when in fact the lack of democracy in the UK is having a much bigger impact on the lives of English people. English nationalism is organic, it has emerged by itself without any clear and coherent leadership or vision. In due course it will evolve into a movement that will seek an English nation, English money for English people, English laws for English people - if the Scots don't leave first. The Scots know what they want, by and large. They want away from English dominance and most Scottish nationalists want to find their place in the EU. They are comfortable with the EUs civic nationalism and feel comfortable with being Scottish and European. Irish nationalism emerged from a cultural movement that was clear and coherent over a century ago It used to be obsessed with 'not being British' and obsessed with sovereignty and territory, but the peace process in NI is based on the notion that you can have a multi-layered identity: be Irish, British, Irish and British, Irish and Black or Muslim or whatever, under a shared EU identity. Irish nationalism is not about borders anymore but about people. The Scots and the Irish are confident and understand that sharing sovereignty with other small countries helps to amplify it, while English nationalism seeks to horde sovereignty in an ivory tower. That points to an insecurity rather than confidence. Welsh nationalism is weaker but is also based on a model similar to Scotland and Ireland. Its just not as widespread. Wales is harder to read as it is much more influence by the English media than Scotland or Northern Ireland. However, Welsh speaking North Wales had the highest vote in favour of remaining in the EU in the whole of the UK. This points to confidence and a rebuke of insecurities about the EU so prevalent in England.
    2
  27. The UK will do as it US State Department tells it. Otherwise, how you find relevance in the world?
    2
  28. If you cannot get a deal with the US it will be because you broke the Irish Protocol. I wonder how many countries - all smaller than the US economy - will want a trade deal with a country that breaks international treaties?
    1
  29. If you knew how incompetent the current Irish government was, you would realise how silly your post is.
    1
  30. There are few countries in the world that can afford the UKs high-end products. Your choices are very limited.
    1
  31. 'tennerous'.
    1
  32.  @quiteamazingtoo  Yes, but he only identifies with his Irish side - that's what he considers his heritage.
    1
  33. You can't. The GFA prevents the UK leaving Ireland and letting them 'fend for themselves'. The UK needs America. America does not need the UK.
    1
  34. But for how much longer?
    1
  35.  @colinburnside4425  What are you on about? In the next census, nationalists will out number unionists in NI. Nationalist MPs already outnumber unionists. Nationalists in NI are open to be in united Ireland, their connection to the union is economic, to the rest of Ireland it is cultural, emotional and for many political.
    1
  36.  @CarWhiz22  You're welcome. The problem for you is that they both lead to opposing outcomes.
    1
  37. No, the UK is held to ransom by its lack of a plan for Brexit in relation to the Good Friday Agreement. That international peace treaty was assent by democratic vote too, 71% in Northern Ireland and 94% in the republic. It is not 'racist', but a matter of fact that people living along both sides of the border will not tolerate any changes brought in because of a decision made by people on the other island. There is no majority for Brexit in Ireland, and there is no support for the casual attitude Brexiters have towards their only land border with the EU. The Irish protocol that the UK signed up to a year ago places the customs border in the Irish Sea. This is an international treaty and the UK cannot unilaterally walk away from it. To do so will have consequences for the US-UK trade deal. You will then have both the EU and US ganging up on the UK, and we know how that will end. The Irish government has used its diplomatic influence in Washington to invite support for its position. Brexit is not just the business of Britain. You need a deal with the US, it is your leverage with the EU in the trade negotiations - or it was. While some Irish-Americans funded the IRA because of their ancestral memory of British misdeeds in Ireland, the American Government did not. However, that ancestral voice is still strong and no Irish-American politicians in the US will shaft Ireland in order to assist Brexit or a trade deal. The UK no longer has that power or influence. And the Irish-American lobby, a bi-partisan group, has already told the UK that. It is time to listen.
    1
  38.  @elyrexo  Oh they're all closed now.
    1
  39.  @lisaclark6256  Were you involved in the attempted coup?
    1
  40. Classic 'whataboutery'.
    1
  41. The Irish feel differently about it. They were the ones who got the democrats onside.
    1