Are the Irish really that easily impressed?
 

From the Independent website:

"Obama has a beer and crowd roars approval..."

Now, I am a huge supporter of Obama, but that's because I agree with his policy decisions - not because he drinks a beer.

The Queen had one poured for her and she didn't drink it.

What I want to know is why the Irish hate Obama so much if they are willing to inflict Jedward on him.

Not sure where you get your information from, but jedwood and westlife performed for the crowd as they waited for him to arrive. Westlfe started their performance 1 hour before he got there.
What independent was that then. He drank his Guinness in the pub. Who were the crowd that roared. RTE certainly did not show crowds cheering when he drank it and they covered the visit for the whole day.
He is apparently leaving tonight for England instead of tomorrow because of the ash cloud that is predicted to halt flights in and out of some UK airports

He said that the Guinness was much better in Ireland...which it is, and also added

"I just want you to know that the president pays his bar tab"

And as for the lost apostrophe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13496918

Jeezus, it's all in good fun. Further, have you considered that the propensity to cheer is influenced by overall approval?

>....have you considered that the propensity to cheer is influenced by overall approval?<

Shucks, compared to w, I would cheer for Cameron.

((I))

Same as the Queen including a surprise few words of Irish in her State Banquet speech in Dublin, it's just a way of acknowledging something that's believed to be important to one's hosts.

It's called sym-bo-lism.

Are Americans really so easily impressed that a politician had an ancestor from Ireland rather than anywhere else?

"Are Americans really so easily impressed that a politician had an ancestor from Ireland rather than anywhere else?"

It's required by the Constitution

After listening to the birthers bitch on all spring it was a pleasure to see people actually enjoying a forward looking speech after a pretty tough year or two.

He does a good speech but Mrs O seemed to have a tonne of underwear on under that dress to keep warm

bilboburgler wrote: "After listening to the birthers bitch on ..."

One of the warm-up speakers for the crowd awaiting Obama was seventeen year old Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. She told the crowd that she was born in NY, and has a US as well as an Irish passport. Mischievously, she said that she could prove that she was born in the USA. The good-natured jibe was not understood by many in the crowd, because the birther nonsense has not got any purchase here.

Obama learned how to say "is féidir linn", which means "yes, we can".

It was all good clean fun, and nobody was taking anything too seriously.

Isn't that the town from which Obama had an ancestor or two? The Irish weren't being "easily impressed", they were embracing him as family from what I read.

I have always found the Irish to be really interested in our politics. I was proud of the Pres and Mrs O today!

<i>flpab on May 23, 11 at 8:39pm
I have always found the Irish to be really interested in our politics. I was proud of the Pres and Mrs O today!</i>

Which of course is the only reason he went to Ireland -- to bolster his standing in the USA. What percentage Irish is he? About 0.03%. He could get that just walking past an Irish pub in Chicago.

:)

Disagree. US Presidents of Irish dissent have a long history of visiting Ireland. It was partially self serving - Ireland obviously has an important role in American history and current life. Also, to go to England and not visit Ireland too would be a poor decision for any President. At least Mr. Obama had a Guinness, Reagan opted for a lighter beer.

" to go to England and not visit Ireland too would be a poor decision for any President"

Codswallop. Presidents do that all the time: in the modern world, vitually ALL major statesmen visit the UK at least every two years.

There's a much simpler reason for Obama's Irish visit, apart from the secret clause in the US Constitution requiring all Presidents seeking re-election to start the campaign outside their ancestral pub in Ireland.

If you had to face a couple of days haggling with the British over Libya, followed by another couple being in the same room as Berlusconi and Putin (the technical definition of an eternity in Hell) - wouldn't you want to start the week with a day of unalloyed sycophancy and mass adulation?

O'Bama did not have the luck of the Irish. His limo, "The Beast," was belly bottomed at the US Embassy. Then his flight out of Guinness Island had to be pushed forward a day when some Viking volcano ashes started flying his way. The leprechauns were apparently not happy with the imposter and gave him a couple of pokes.

And when he got to London he had to play table tennis with Bumface. That needed a Guinness.

Who is Bumface? We need to know more of your jargon.

Friends, why quibble? The recent visits of the Queen Elizabeth (have we all finally buried the hatchet?) and President Obama had to be good news for Ireland and its tourist industry during this period of economic woe.