Monday, October 10, 2005

 

Bush the Barbarian

Angelique Chrisafis in The Guardian Local historians in Wexford have discovered that George Bush is a descendant of Strongbow, the power-hungry warlord who led the Norman invasion of Ireland thus heralding 800 years of mutual misery. ... The US president's now apparent ancestor, Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke - known as Strongbow for his arrow skills - is remembered as a desperate, land-grabbing warlord whose calamitous foreign adventure led to the suffering of generations. Shunned by Henry II, he offered his services as a mercenary in the 12th-century invasion of Wexford in exchange for power and land. When he eventually died of a festering ulcer in his foot, his enemies said it was the revenge of Irish saints whose shrines he had violated... Even before MacMurrough earned the title of Ireland's worst traitor by inviting Strongbow's invasion to save himself from a local feud, the Irish chieftain had a reputation for gore. Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est La Même Chose (Aside: Johnny Wendell of KTLK says this is old news. The Guardian thinks it's new. Any readers know? )
Comments:
Yeah. As soon as I saw it, I remembered reading about it months ago:

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68380&time_posted_upper_limit=1106802000&time_posted_lower_limit=1106715600
 
Thanks, Brendan! Much appreciated.
 
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