I was listening to the Slate Political Gabfest shortly after the death of Ted Kennedy. Discussing the Kennedys had Emily Bazelon complaining about political dynasties in the US. She had two examples, the Kennedys and Senator Harry Reid's son who was the 2010 Democratic nominee for the Governor of Nevada. Her comment made me laugh out loud and all I could think was, 'Don't move to Ireland!' Her head would probably explode if she tried to make sense of the government here! It's no secret that nepotism runs strong within the Irish government, but when you read that one in four politicians here come from political families it does (or at least should) make you shake your head in disgust. This article reads like a complex family tree.
Maybe you're thinking, 'Big whoop! So they got elected based on their family name! I'm sure they're still qualified for their position!' In response, I'll give you one of the more famous examples of nepotism gone bad:
One of the most famous of these family dynasties is the Lenihans. With Ireland being in the news so much these days, you all may recognize the name of our Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan Jr (Brian Lenihan Sr was the Fianna Fáil Tánaiste in the 80s). Well, his brother, Conor Lenihan, was appointed the Minister for State in charge of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Natural Resources. Prior to this appointment he was the Minister of State in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs. In September 2010 he made headlines by attending a book launch of an anti-evolution book written by one of his constituents. That's right, the Minister for Science was at an anti-evolution book launch. Hmmmm....
Earl Grey Granola, Please!
19 hours ago
And don't forget what he said about immigrants such as yourself! Ans guess what their daddy's daddy did for a living? Oh, and don't forget their aunt! Can't forget Mary! She has had some great nuggets too; especially the one about Africans.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget our Deputy PM, the daughter of another Dynasty who recently pronounced upon the importance of Darwin's theory of relativity; maybe she should have gone to that book launch?