Paul Krugman repeats his Anti-Irish bigotry.

[OnDoutside]

The Irish Ambassador to the US has criticised a New York Times columnist for his use of the term "leprechaun" when referring to Ireland.

On 7 June, the paper published a column by Paul Krugman entitled "Yellen's New Alliance Against Leprechauns". "So let me tell you about Apple and the leprechauns," Mr Krugman wrote in reference to Ireland's corporate tax regime. It is not the first time the economist has used the term, who previously coined the phrase "leprechaun economics" when describing the impact of multinational companies on Ireland's GDP.

In a letter to the New York Times, Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall said he was writing to the paper to express his disappointment. "This is not the first time your columnist has used the word 'leprechaun' when referring to Ireland, and I see it as my duty to point out that this represents an unacceptable slur," Mr Mulhall wrote.

"I do not go along with Mr Krugman's disingenuous excuse that 'the Irish have a sense of humour' about his attacks on us," the letter read, adding that "derogatory references in a leading newspaper like yours are no laughing matter".

You'd expect this from a Republican, not a self-styled liberal. We left this shit behind us with the Quite Man, yet this asswipe is doubling down on his anti-Irish bigotry.


https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0612/1227743-columnist-leprechaun-us-ireland/

[TomSlick]

1. If the Irish Ambassador says that it's a "derogatory reference,"

then the Irish sense of humor does not cover it.

Seems clear. Cut it out.

[OnDoutside]

4. The Irish have a great sense of humour, but the context by Krugman is to offend, and it's not the

first time either. It's just really surprising and disappointing from someone who calls himself a liberal.

[XanaDUer2]

6. This nt

[Sneederbunk]

2. Krugman is about the same size as a leprechaun.

[WHITT]

3. Hmmmm

I assumed he was referencing the corporations utilizing the "Irish Double" tax loophole to pay little or no taxes, just as the fictitious Leprechauns didn't share their pots of gold, not the Irish citizenry.

[OnDoutside]

7. The issue is that he was called out on it previously and doubled down on it. Ireland is generally

supportive of the Biden plan for the 15% tax, despite it requiring them to make adjustments. There will be challenges but the exit of the UK from the EU opens plenty of other opportunities. Krugman is a bigot beating a punctured drum.

[WHITT]

10. Called Out For Being

an anti-Leprechaun bigot?

I'm not getting it. His reference was not to anyone Irish or anyone in Ireland as the Irish Ambassador to the U.S. incorrectly claims.

[OnDoutside]

48. Let me give you an analogy

When Trump and the Republicans were blaming Mexico for the "Border Crisis" and saying that they would Build That Wall, making Mexico pay for it, did you think that was right ? I presume you didn't, as well as everyone else here.

Blaming Mexico while ignoring that there was a much broader issue at play, not least the failure of successive US Administrations to legislate a proper immigration policy, is the central issue

Similarly, Krugman has, for unknown reasons, has continually targeted Ireland in a low rent trash manner. The asswipe thinks it's a big joke, despite having been corrected previously.

The tax situation currently is a decades old problem that successive US Administrations have failed to address, presumably because of behind the scenes pressure from corporate donors. I'm delighted that the Biden administration is trying to do something about it.

There are lots of countries that US corporations use to do what they do, and if Ireland increased their corporate tax rate to 30% tomorrow, those corporations would just move somewhere else. And that's the annoying thing that isn't explained to the American people. Even here it's clear many DUers don't understand that there's a much bigger issue at play.

[WHITT]

51. Except That's All Wrong

He isn't referencing Ireland, anyone in Ireland, or anyone Irish. He's referring to foreign corporations, labeling THEM as 'Leprechauns'.

So, unless you and the ambassador are claiming he's being bigoted against fictitious characters, there is no there there.

[OnDoutside]

70. That's just silly, unless you know of Mexican, Belgian or Singaporean Leprechauns ?

[WHITT]

83. So

you're claiming bigotry against fictitious characters.

Pretty whacky, but I've seen worse.

[OnDoutside]

85. No, you're missing the point again. This bigot has attacked Ireland

over and over again, yet in some crass display of myopia you state that there's no connection between his anti Irish attacks, and his Leprechaun slur. He should know better, and I'll give you the benefit that you should too.

[WHITT]

88. Once Again

He isn't referencing Ireland, anyone in Ireland, or anyone Irish. He's referring to foreign corporations.

So, either you're the one repeatedly missing the point, or you're intentionally misrepresenting the facts. Neither very flattering.

[OnDoutside]

95. No, again, you're wrong.

When Apple closed its hybrid–Double Irish BEPS tool in Q1 2015 and restructured into the CAIA BEPS tool, the Irish Central Statistics Office ("CSO&quot had to re-state Irish 2015 GDP as Apple's CAIA tool had artificially inflated Irish GDP by 34.4%; an event Paul Krugman christened in July 2016 as Leprechaun economics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_tax_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

[WHITT]

96. You're Makin' MY Point

You keep making MY point. Knock yourself out.

[OnDoutside]

97. You're not very good at this, are you ?

Your obtuse misdirect that he wasn't referencing Ireland was shown to be a lie in my last post, so you don't refer to it at all.

[WHITT]

98. *YAWN*

[Hekate]

13. My favorite economist is a "bigot"?

[OnDoutside]

41. Yes he is. It's not just once, which would be an honest mistake to make

but he has been criticized for this in the past, yet doubles down on it.

[Cha]

35. I get it.. I wouldn't presume to tell the

Irish Ambassador to the US, Daniel Mulhall, how to feel about his..

"Bigotry & slurs" are in the eye of the beholder.. I'm taking him at his word.

[OnDoutside]

37. Krugman has previously thrown out the same jibe and is

doubling down on it again. Just substitute Leprechaun with a different slur towards say Jewish, Puerto Rican or African American people, and that sets it in context.

[Cha]

42. I was thinking of that.... I think

it would be hard not to.

Good Irish Ambassador Mulhall spoke out on it.

[Dream Girl]

5. I don't believe anti-Irish bigotry is a thing in this country. Americans seem to love the Irish.

I’m black, married to an Irish man. Once he opens his mouth and his Irish brogue comes out, I’m amazed at the way white Americans fall all over themselves about their Irish great Granma from County Cork or some such. My husband doesn’t seem to mind, but it gets old for me. Especially know how so many white American despise immigrants from “browner” countries, but someone from Ireland is A-Okay.

[OnDoutside]

8. In that scenario, yes I agree, but there's a back story to this with Krugman. He's already been

called out on this in past, but he's doubling down, and that context makes it different. He's a Noble Laureate and knows better, but there's a pointed hatred towards Ireland.

[Hekate]

14. "Hatred"?

[OnDoutside]

38. Yes, hatred.

[panader0]

21. my great Grandma really is from County Cork.

[OnDoutside]

40. Greetings from Cork !

[Progressive Jones]

29. I've seen that my entire life. My Dad, and most of his relatives here, came from Ireland between

the 1920s and the mid 1960s. I've always been around someone from over there. You're spot on about the fan girls and fan boys.

Something you said made me laugh. Everybody's got a "relative from Cork". You'd think it's the only place in all of Ireland that people come from !

It didn't bother my Dad so much as some of the others. It kind of got on my Mom's nerves, too. However, my Dad didn't wear Ireland on his sleeve, and he let people know it. They were very poor over there, and he saw it as a place he left for a reason, and never looked back. He got here in 1949, and worked construction. Then he joined the US Army, and went to Korea. When he got out, he was granted citizenship. He didn't expect that. He joined the Army to "pay his dues" as he said.

[OnDoutside]

39. Well said. A school friend of mine emigrated to America in the 90s

and would regularly be asked such questions like if we had electricity and running water. Now that was down to people not knowing and getting their knowledge from the movies, but Krugman knows better, yet continues to trade in bigotry.

[Progressive Jones]

54. Agreed. nt

[pnwmom]

89. Well it certainly WAS a thing, and it was connected to anti-Catholicism, which is still real.

And it sounds like the people you mentioned have relatives who came from Ireland. Why would descendants of the Irish be bigoted against the Irish?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. 4 years ago, RTE called the phrase "a useful shorthand"

As promised, we now have the report of the Economic Statistics Review Group – the high powered committee set up in the wake of last summer’s “Leprechaun Economics” affair.

You remember that one – when revised annual GDP data showed the Irish economy had grown by 26% in 2015, prompting Prof Paul Krugman’s famous (and rather cruel) remark.

Still, look on the bright side – Leprechaun Economics is now a useful shorthand for a genuine problem: how to compile national accounts data in the age of multinational companies, global supply chains, super-valuable intellectual property, and advanced (or aggressive) global tax planning.

https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2017/0204/850115-leprechaun-economics/

[madinmaryland]

11. Are we to be upset by the leprechaun image used by the Boston Celtics and

the Notre Dame university?

[pacheen]

23. Yes, as an Irishwoman, I am insulted

I really hate their stupid leprechaun logo. I can’t stand how they cash in on a negative stereotype of the Irish. Notre Dame is an elitist, snobbish institution.

[Hekate]

26. You mean the football team in South Bend, Indiana?

Last edited Sun Jun 13, 2021, 10:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I googled “ notre dame university fighting irish “ on your behalf and a page with info, Q&A, references to wikipedia and news organizations popped up. You may or may not be interested in the following snippets, which are direct quotes from that page.

I have no interest in college football, nor indeed in any sports, but many people do. My understanding is that a lot of team names are rooted in American immigrant history and rural history (the Nebraska Cornhuskers being one such). Teams or other groups would either assign themselves nicknames or adopt those they were given and make them their own.

Notre Dame University is essentially a private religious college. As a private institution (i.e. one not publicly funded with tax dollars) they can choose to admit who they will. They actually admit about twice the applicants (15%) as do other similar institutions (6%) and about 82% of their students are not Roman Catholic. Nonetheless as an institution including the student body, they cling to a humorous putative Irish association.

As my old friends in Hawai’i used to say of the Mainland and its lifeways: this is America Island.

Read on, pacheen,

Hekate


************************************
Is Notre Dame Irish or French?
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. It's true that four of the six religious who founded Notre Dame in 1842 with French priest Edward Sorin were Irish; that nearly all of Fr. Sorin's successors claim Irish descent; and that the student body has always had a strong Irish presence.

********************
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Football team
Description
DescriptionThe Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Wikipedia

*****************
Why is Notre Dame University called the Fighting Irish?
The most generally accepted explanation is that the press coined the nickname as a characterization of Notre Dame athletic teams, their never-say-die fighting spirit and the Irish qualities of grit, determination and tenacity. ... “The term 'Fighting Irish' has been applied to Notre Dame teams for years.

****************************
The University of Notre Dame says it does not plan on changing it's nickname any time soon. University officials released a statement saying: Notre Dame's nickname – Fighting Irish – began as a term of derision directed against the university's athletic teams.

*****************************

[Iggo]

75. A lot of Irish people have been upset about both of those usages for a long time.

[Hekate]

12. When did "leprechaun" become a slur?

Is this what I get for being a Californian and not living in one of America’s large Irish-American regions? That I don’t know to be offended?

Yes, I’m Irish-American, but neither O’ahu nor SoCal is known for having a really distinct Irish presence.

[CTyankee]

15. Dr. Krugman should really find a different expression. I read him a lot and haven't yet seen him use

that term. But I could have brushed past it.

[babylonsister]

16. News to me also. nt

[OnDoutside]

36. Context is everything. He's not discussing Hollywood Irish movies,

he's putting all the US's corporate tax woes on Ireland in a particularly bigoted manner, and it's not the first time. I can see even here that some can't understand why that's a problem, which I will charitably put down to a lack of knowledge on the subject.

[oasis]

17. When all is said and done, what it comes down to is,

"THE KEEPING OF THE GREEN".💵💵💵

[Zeitghost]

18. In my opinion

If Krugman was using the term while complementing the economic policies of Ireland, the Ambassador would have no problem with it. It's because it comes with valid criticism from a world renowned economist that he can't refute with facts that have him calling foul.

[JI7]

20. I agree this is what it is probably about

[OnDoutside]

31. Your opinion is wrong. He could just have said Ireland.

The country has changed massively in the last 50 years with EU membership, and is one of the most progressive countries in the Western world.

[JanMichael]

19. Is "voodoo economics" racist now? nt

[Hekate]

27. Give it a day or so and I am sure someone will come along to let us know

[OnDoutside]

34. Is it directed at a race of people ?

[Hekate]

44. Any moment now

[JanMichael]

47. Kind of. And "Irish" is a race?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thestar.com/amp/opinion/public_editor/2015/05/30/is-voodoo-economics-a-derogatory-racist-term-public-editor.html

[OnDoutside]

49. No, Irish aren''t a race, so that's alright then.

[Doc Sportello]

22. I heard he also eats Lucky Charms for breakfast

And he called voodoo economics "Magically Delicious!!!"

[Sur Zobra]

25. 😂

[UTUSN]

28. Teh KRUG has never been one of us!

[speak easy]

30. 'Leprechaun economics' is an appropriate moniker for what Krugman is describing.

Last edited Sun Jun 13, 2021, 04:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Apple located/moved its "pot of gold" -the revenue locus for patents, trademarks, brands and trade secrets to Ireland.

[Hekate]

32. That makes a kind of sense after all

But we won’t let that get in the way of the outrage DU jour.

[OnDoutside]

33. No, it's just convenience for those too lazy to see beyond his bigotry.

I worked for one of the big US pharma in Ireland, and you can draw a clear line between Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland even back in the 90s where they were well used to dispersing profit at each stage of the process. Eastern Europe and particularly Singapore will all have US pharma now. I remember the Singaporean government offered 100m USD to the pharma company if they built a biotech plant, plus tax free on profits for 25 years.

The answer has always been for the US Government to tackle its own corporations but none have had the balls to do so until the biden administration. Instead they have been happy to let the lie embed in the American people that it's countries like Ireland who are all to blame. FFS you can't even manage your own tax policy !

Krugman never goes boorishly jingoistic on other countries to the extent he does on Ireland., just Ireland, and if you are happy to agree with such bigoted sentiments, that's on you.

[Hekate]

43. Outrage DU jour. Thanks -- got it.

[OnDoutside]

45. Happy to help !

[grantcart]

66. I am outraged that you would suggest DU harbours hypersensitive triggers

That allow it to be outraged at absolutely everything regardless how trivial.




All that is missing is some Holocaust equivalency.

[Hekate]

69. Just give it time, just give it time....

I swear, some days around here just take the cake.

[speak easy]

46. The pot of gold analogy is accurate.

Ireland instituted a 'reverse leprechaun' tax - a 12.5pc tax on moving corporate assets out of the country, to encourage companies to leave their IP onshore.

Budget exit tax move has reduced risk of damaging 'reverse leprechaun' effect
https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/budget-exit-tax-move-has-reduced-risk-of-damaging-reverse-leprechaun-effect-37416963.html

I guess the writers at the Irish Independent are bigots too

[OnDoutside]

72. Since you're clearly a big fan of the Indo, here's what the Deputy Editor of the Independent had to

say.

`
The Irish Ambassador to the United States was "right" to criticise a New York Times columnist who used the word “leprechaun” when referring to Ireland, according to a journalist. Daniel Mulhall said the use of the phrase “leprechaun economics” in an article about Ireland's tax policy on multinational companies was an “unacceptable slur”.

The phrase was coined by Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who wrote a piece titled ‘Yellen’s New Alliance Against Leprechauns’ last week. In a letter to the New York Times, Ambassador Mulhall said “derogatory references in a leading newspaper like yours are no laughing matter”. “I do not go along with Mr Krugman’s disingenuous excuse that ‘the Irish have a sense of humour’ about his attacks on us," he wrote.

"While I am always happy to engage in serious debate about Ireland’s economic performance, derogatory references in a leading newspaper like yours are no laughing matter. “Ireland has been fully engaged since 2013 in the international discussions about corporate tax reform, and we have proactively and diligently reformed our tax code in line with the new international norms agreed to thus far. "Further agreement in this area cannot be arrived at through name-calling and national stereotyping."

SNIP

Jon Ihle, Deputy Business Editor at the Irish Independent, told Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh on Newstalk Breakfast Weekends how the disagreement between Mr Krugman and Ambassador Mulhall transpired. "What Paul Krugman has done on numerous occasions, most recently last week, was talk about this concept of 'leprechaun economics'," he said. "This is how he describes the global system of profit shifting where big companies book their profits in lower tax jurisdictions like Ireland. "He has chosen Ireland as the kind of economic example of that and has developed this phrase 'leprechaun economics'." Mr Ihle's opinion of the term is that "it's not a particularly nice way of describing it".

"You can make the criticism without using derogatory terms so I think the ambassador was probably right to pull him up on that," he said.

https://www.newstalk.com/news/irish-ambassador-right-to-condemn-new-york-times-columnists-leprechaun-slur-journalist-1209674

[OnDoutside]

79. Perhaps you should read this before scapegoating one country like Krugman

https://taxfoundation.org/patent-box-regimes-in-europe-2020/



https://nltimes.nl/2021/03/09/netherlands-worlds-4th-biggest-tax-haven

World's top tax havens, according to Tax Justice Network:

1 British Virgin Islands
2 Cayman Islands
3 Bermuda
4 Netherlands
5 Switzerland
6 Luxembourg
7 Hong Kong
8 Jersey
9 Singapore
10 United Arab Emirates

And the Netherlands policy on IP is so competitive, Ireland's U2 set up a company in the Netherlands to avoid paying tax

The bands license their copyright to companies that they set up in the Netherlands, which in turn license it to companies in other countries. While the Netherlands companies receive the bands' global royalties, they only pay tax on what is earned in the Netherlands itself, allowing the groups to cut their tax bills.

[Hortensis]

50. We're in an era of great intolerance -- of each other, period.

Sure, intolerance of bad behavior is necessary and is leading to real advances. But everything can be overdone, and if it's negative in this era it is.

We are living in mean times, the kind of mean times that bring down democracies; and the meanness infects everything, even the efforts of those who are trying to do good. Even poisoning and subverting the very idea of what is good, what it takes to be good.

Remember when toleration of the billions we live among was supposed to be a necessary virtue, even though sometims misused to enable wrong? Not any more.

In this mean, extremist era, aggressive intolerance is seen as a virtue. It has become a major weapon of both both the vicious bigots it once epitomized and those who once fought it.

This will pass eventually. Meanness will die down to await another coming, and kindness, decency and generosity of spirit will once again become expected and respected behavior. Putting the worst possible interpretation on everything people say in order to attack will be...frowned on.

Itm, talk on eggshells, yet with respect. As for destroyed cultural icons and erased identities, future generations will restore what they want back, no doubt restyled to current tastes.

[Mosby]

55. There are 1.1 billion Antisemites in the world

Ireland has more than an average share, they are one of the most bigoted countries in Europe.

The Christian Bible has 450 Antisemitic passages in the first 4 books, and the Koran and Hadiths also contain Antisemitism.

I wish and hope you are right, but I think we've reached peak civilization, and it's all downhill from here.

Even democracy is failing.

[Hortensis]

56. My husband's Jewish. Societies and the world go through these periods.

Our last big one was this time last century, and at that time we were told that of, by and for the people had failed abjectly (very same song as today) and that failed democracy must inevitably be replaced with competent authoritarian government of one type or another.

Fwiw, I don't see us anywhere near "peak civilization." We contain multitudes not yet realized, though those of course do include the potential to set ourselves back to the dark ages. Where many still reside in their hearts. But we do know that our history so far has been many centuries of very slow increases in civilization and wellbeing and then the dramatically accelerating upward arc jagged with many smaller backslides forced by those always hauled forward kicking and screaming.

Seems to me how long this one lasts and how severe it could be (very!) depend on whether people of good will toward others and a smidge of good sense manage to retain overall dominance and reestablish stability. Importantly, we haven't actually lost it yet and our democracy has so far proved resilient in spite of attacks from within the citadel.

[Mosby]

57. I appreciate your optimism.

And hope your right.

[Hortensis]

65. Since pessimism tends to be self fulfilling,

pessimists have a special need to be optimistic.

[mactire]

99. Antisemites , bigots

“Ta tu na dallan agus amadan”. One bigot is too many but one doesn’t represent his whole group. I’m shocked there are that many antisemites in the world; you were sure busy counting! Ireland probably has much less than an average share, but I wasn’t counting, and claiming It is one of the most bigoted countries in Europe is certainly untrue based on my open-minded experience of having lived/ travelled there and elsewhere on the continent! Earlier this month the Irish national football team unanimously took a knee in solidarity against racism at a match in Hungary. The empathy for the plight of downtrodden people around the world has been ever present in the music of the land, with songs praising Mandela, Biko, and movements for equality. The tremendous singer Imelda May wrote a poem “You Can’t Be Irish and Racist” to address the issue that arises by individuals at times. In history, Irish people have volunteered to fight evil in other places ( the Wild Geese ) , many to fight fascism in Spain, joining the 15th International Brigade aka Abe Lincoln brigade, and volunteering in the Allied armies against Hitler. In the mid eighteen hundreds dozens of new Irish inductees into the US army left to join the Mexican army based on the moral decision that the Polk’s incursions into Mexican territory were wrong , and killing innocents. The Irish have a good record of charity helping the poor around the world, and when the great tsunami hit in 2004, before Bush jr proclaimed, a few days after, how the US would send aid, Irish citizens had already collected a couple hundred thousand out of their own pockets to help! “ One of the most bigoted countries? , me arse”.

[muriel_volestrangler]

53. As used by: Irish columnists, an Irish TD, and Irish economists

https://www.businesspost.ie/economics/colin-murphy-leprechaun-economics-are-a-very-real-threat-to-our-national-interest-f2ca8fb3
https://www.clareecho.ie/biden-bringing-leprechaun-economics-to-a-rapid-end/
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780367259228-18/digital-ireland-kylie-jarrett

When, before, was Krugman actually called out on this - especially as it being "bigotry", rather than drawing attention to an embarrassing situation? Was it before or after Michael McNamara used it this April?

[SoonerPride]

59. I think this post clearly makes the point

Krugman isn’t racist or a bigot.

This term is what the Irish themselves call the kind of tax schemes corporations are using to dodge taxes.

It’s literally a nontroversy.

This entire thread is laughably idiotic.

Thank you for posting not one but multiple examples.

[Hekate]

71. Thanks for looking this up, Muriel V. Now let's see if anyone who's all het up about this nonsense

… comes close to admitting the OP and they were in error. Or if it’s just more fun to eat our own.

[iemanja]

58. I don't find it funny either

Whether it's a term used by economists or not, a newspaper is for a general readership.

[SoonerPride]

61. It's not racist or offensive.

It is used by the Irish press themselves.

[iemanja]

63. Obviously some Irish find it objectionable

Or they wouldn't have written this column. Additionally, just because it appears it print doesn't absolve it of being discriminatory. The term for the Irish is Irish, nothing else.

Redskins is used by every US newspaper. Does that mean it's not racist? Of course not.

[SoonerPride]

64. The same paper used that term itself See post 9.

9. 4 years ago, RTE called the phrase "a useful shorthand"
As promised, we now have the report of the Economic Statistics Review Group – the high powered committee set up in the wake of last summer’s “Leprechaun Economics” affair.

You remember that one – when revised annual GDP data showed the Irish economy had grown by 26% in 2015, prompting Prof Paul Krugman’s famous (and rather cruel) remark.

Still, look on the bright side – Leprechaun Economics is now a useful shorthand for a genuine problem: how to compile national accounts data in the age of multinational companies, global supply chains, super-valuable intellectual property, and advanced (or aggressive) global tax planning.

https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2017/0204/850115-leprechaun-e

This is utter nonsense.

[iemanja]

76. I addressed this issue in my first post

He's writing for a general audience, not economists. Additionally, this would hardly be the first time that economists use racist terms. I get you want to normalize the term, but this IRISH American will not acquiesce to your crusade. Many people consider it offensive. You don't get to decide it's not.

[SoonerPride]

77. You do you.

Bless your heart.

[OnDoutside]

73. We've had it throughout history from the British, you wouldn't normally expect such ignorance from

an American Nobel Laureate.

[iemanja]

78. Notice how hard some are working to normalize

this language. Some things never change.

[OnDoutside]

82. Yes, it's really disappointing.

[Silent3]

60. For all of the Bill Maher haters out there...

(and I say this while having my own disagreements with Maher) this is what he's often talking about when it comes the image of the Democratic party, and alienating a lot of Americans by having Democrats perceived as the pain-in-the-ass word police.

It's not a question of how righteous you think the cause of your word policing is, either. It's how doing that policing gets perceived.

Of course, I'll take being viewed as snooty word police over looking like a Trump-supporting idiot any day. As a matter of image, one is much worse than the other to me.

Unfortunately, for a lot of Americans whose votes we could definitely use (yes, even if they're idiots), they'll stupidly get more upset over policing words like "leprechaun" than much of the nastiness of Republicans.

I'd much rather let a few leprechauns slip by and focus on much more important issues, like, oh, saving democracy itself.

[SoonerPride]

62. Well said.

I agree completely.

[ProfessorGAC]

67. Same Here!

This calls to mind a pig rooting out truffles.

[iemanja]

80. and I suppose you get to decide

who should be subject to racism. How grand of you.

When one's version of acceptable language entails demeaning an entire population, they've got serious problems.

This has nothing to do with Democrats or American politics. The objection is from Irish people. Everything isn't about you.

[Silent3]

91. I didn't say it had anything to do with me

Please point out the "me" part of what I wrote.

[greenjar_01]

68. Sounds like a real donnybrook

[Deminpenn]

74. Hope the Irish Ambassador never sees Notre Dame's mascot

nt

[OnDoutside]

81. This is nothing about the Hollywood Darby O'Gill Irishy movie type stuff, this is the scapegoating

of a nation for what is largely the failing of successive US Administrations to sort their corporations out. I'm glad Biden and Yellen are taking this on finally.

BTW one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was Jim Crowley

https://www.crowleyclan.com/crowleys-from-history/2021/4/3/jim-crowley-of-notre-dame-1902-1986

[Goodheart]

84. Oh, please

Does this mean Lucky Charms should cease production?

Irish people call us "Yanks". Should we take offense?

Fine, they don't want to be called "leprechauns". Oblige them. Stop doing it. Call them "snowflakes", instead.

[OnDoutside]

86. No, this is where skimming through a thread makes you miss the

point. Move along.

[Deminpenn]

87. From your own OP

In a letter to the New York Times, Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall said he was writing to the paper to express his disappointment. "This is not the first time your columnist has used the word 'leprechaun' when referring to Ireland, and I see it as my duty to point out that this represents an unacceptable slur," Mr Mulhall wrote.

[OnDoutside]

94. Exactly, yes.

[Goodheart]

90. I saw and recognized "the point"

I don't agree that it's a slur. It's a term of endearment. I'm guessing that most Irish don't give a fuck.

[OnDoutside]

93. In the context of Hollywood movies absolutely, but

this bigot's context is to demean, which is actually the point. We in Ireland have had to put with being caricatured as the corporate tax problem for the last couple of decades, when it has been successive US Administrations who talked tough and did nothing, apart from giving those very same corporations free passes by bringing their profits back onshore.

[Hortensis]

92. The question for me from the beginning was what's your problem with Krugman.

I didn't ask because I assume I would have just gotten more of the many posts you've made, only a couple of which I read. And I'm not asking now.

Fwiw, Ireland hit back, turning the term "leprechan economics" against Krugman, because its power of description stings. This isn't the first time it has, but at one time they defended the issue instead of distracting away from it by slinging the kind of opportunistic slur dishonest pols find so useful.

That issue we're supposed to have forgotten all about is Ireland's continued practice of fudging data to make its economy look significantly more robust than it is. I'm no economist and don't care, but I am always offended by sleazy pols who try to make a fool of me.