On his much-publicized trip to Ireland today, our multi-culti President chugged a Guiness in honor of his Irish heritage, then bottomed out his limo. We didn’t even know he was Irish.
Obama made his first stop on a four-day tour of Europe today, dropping by Dublin and the tiny town of Moneygall, home of his great-great-great grandfather.
Moneygall, a 295-person hamlet, went balls-out welcoming the American president, decorating the town in red, white and blue, opening the Obama Cafe and selling T-shirts bearing his likeness to excited fans.
While Obama’s reasons for visiting Ireland were political, the racist undertones of the recent birther fiasco and the launch of his 2012 campaign made his trip to Ireland and Moneygall in particular seem contrived to remind the states that like many Americans, our president is a genuine mutt.
“We want to continue to strengthen the bonds of trade and commerce between our two countries, and … we are rooting for Ireland’s success and we’ll do everything we can to help on the path to recovery,” he said of his visit. “It’s not just a matter of foreign policy, for the United States and Ireland carries a blood lineage.”
While it may sound cynical, Obama’s (or O’Bama as outlets are punning today) ownership of both Irish and African bloodlines make him seem as all-American as anyone. Obama’s not only black, but white, Irish, Christian, Kenyan, and Hawaiian, with a sprinkle of Moslem if you count the religion of his grandfather’s village. He’s a little bit of everything—kind of a racial “Mambo Number 5.” Or to risk sounding trite, a walking melting pot—a synecdoche of what America promised to be from the start.
But it’s hard to believe after last month’s protracted birther debate, highlighted with the chimp family photo and accusations that he’s a practicing Moslem, that many Americans will come to appreciate that symbol. The melting pot has famously done more to burn Americans than to blend them together.
Currently, it’s not hard to imagine birthers cooking up a theory that our president was actually born in Limerick and served for a short time in the IRA.
On a lighter note, watch O’Bama’s giant limo bottom out when leaving the U.S. embassy.
