(CNSNews.com) – Clare Daly, a liberal deputy in the Irish Parliament, criticized President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Ireland, noting that the media coverage constituted “sycophantic fawning” over the Obamas and that the president, in permitting weapons to go to Syrian rebels, was arming “jihadists” and reversing women’s rights, thus potentially qualifying him for “the hypocrite of the century award.”
President Obama and the first family visited Northern Ireland on June 17-18, and the president spoke at the G8 summit, which took place in County Fermanagh. It was the Obamas first trip to Northern Ireland and the president also spoke about the peace process in Belfast, in front of local residents and students from selected schools.
On June 19, Deputy Daly spoke in Parliament about the visit of the president and his family, saying, “It is important to take this opportunity to bring some balance into the discussion surrounding the visit of the U.S. president and his wife, given the almost unprecedented slobbering over them that the nation has been exposed to over the last number of days.
“It’s really hard to know which is worse, whether it’s the outpourings of the Obamas themselves or the sycophantic fawning over them by sections of the media and the political establishment.”
“We’ve had separate and special news bulletins by the State broadcaster to tell us what Michelle Obama and her daughters had for lunch in Dublin, but very little questioning of the fact that she was having lunch with Mr. Tax Exile himself,” said Daly.
The alleged “Tax Exile” in question was Bono, front-man for the band U2, who has an estimated net worth of $600 million. He and his wife had lunch with the first lady and her two daughters on Tuesday, June 18, at Finnegan’s Pub in Dalkey, which is south of Dublin.
Deputy Daly continued, “We had very little challenging of the fact that she’s ‘glad to be home’—home a country she’s been in less than a week and her husband has very tenuous links in.” President Obama’s great-great-great grandfather was born in the Irish village of Moneygall; an 8th cousin to the president lives there today.
In reference to Obama’s decision to arm Syrian rebels, Deputy Daly said, “Of course, the biggest irony of all, the protestations of Obama himself in his speech to children in Northern Ireland about peace, when he said, ‘those who choose the path of peace, I promise you, that the United States of America will support you every step of the way. We will always be the wind at your back.’
President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama in an Irish pub, June 18, 2013. (AP)“Now, I ask you, is this person going for the hypocrite of the century award?” said Daly. “Because we have to call things by their right names, and the reality is that by any serious examination, this man is a war criminal. He has just announced his decision to supply arms to the Syrian opposition, including the jihadists, fueling the destabilization of that region and continuing to undermine secularism and knock back conditions for women.”
Daly then directly criticized the “Taoiseach,” or prime minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, for showing too much deference to the Obama administration’s policies, remarking that “you have showcased us as a nation of pimps prostituting ourselves in return for a pat on the head.”
In concluding her comments, Daly said, “And the last point I’ll make is people in this country are very fond of our American brothers and sisters, and I think we stand far more shoulder to shoulder with them by making valid criticisms of their president who has broken his election promises rather than just pimping this nation as a tax haven for their corporations. I’m sure the Americans would far prefer if their multinationals pay their taxes at home rather than offshore here – so they can develop their health care, so they wouldn’t be wasting money on arms being sent to slaughter people in other countries.”
