The General Election in Ireland, the Working-Class, and the Palestinians

I am a little late doing this, but here are links to two articles about the recent election in the South of Ireland (the Republic).

1. An article about how Sinn Fein is a working-class party. About 15 years ago in another election there about 1/3 of SF candidates had some connection to the trade-union movement.

2. A post by Juan Cole about how Ireland is overwhelmingly in support of the Palestinians and a Sinn Fein government might turn that into policy.

Because of some things in the first article and the fact that in the PAST Cole has attacked the IRA, I want to link to a post on my blog where I explain that the IRA were not terrorists.

Also, it looks certain that there will be another election there, the numbers just don't add up to a 80 without so many different parties and independents that I doubt it will be a stable government. And, since SF didn't run many candidates, if there is another election, they might get a large plurality- hopefully seats taken from FF and not the left, but in any case it might make it more likely SF can form a government.

Also, SF is very much against anti-semitism, although it's a bit complicated. There's some stuff about that here, here, and something a little more critical here. UPDATE Another critical piece is here.



Something I wrote elsewhere:

In a recent post on his blog Juan Cole talks about SF and the Palestinians and says that unlike Germany with it's Nazi history, Ireland will be able to support the Palestinians without that kind of baggage. But That is not entirely true since Ireland was neutral and the IRA accepted aid from Nazi Germany. Unless SF has admitted recently that the IRA was wrong to do that, they are vulnerable to attacks. I go into more detail about that here. But multiple things indicate that SF IS VERY much against anti-Semitism (although it's not all favorable and some of it is ancient history much of this post is about SF and anti-semitism) and I wanted to make that even clearer to people who will criticize them over supporting the Palestinians. (I just did a google search for news about SF's current stance on the IRA and Nazi Germany, and subscribed to the Irish Times and searched that site and found nothing about SF changing it's stance on this (I found something from 2004 indicating that SF was still defending what the IRA did (using Google Advanced Search, I searched SF's web-site and found nothing, although several possibly relevant documents seemed to have been moved or removed (they probably can't archive everything (I also used the search function on SF's web-site and didn't find anything)))))

**********

UPDATE 2/22/20 First, there is an article here you read. Between this, and the WWII stuff, if Juan Cole is right, SF will be destroyed by Trump and AIPAC and much of the Left in America will look the other way because of the IRA/Nazi Germany thing.  A moderate Dem will be more merciful, but even a progressive supporter of the Palestinians like  Sanders will be pressured to criticize  SF. And AIPAC can use Congress to hurt SF. SF really needs to say that the IRA was wrong. As I said in a recent email to the TD mentioned in that article (I am typing a post about her tweets), what if the Israeli government in the 1970s offered the Provisional IRA money? Also SF needs to understand how much Americans like what we did in WWII.

 

"The winner of Election 2016 is social democracy"

Last Friday the 26th there was a general election for the parliament in the South of Ireland. Below are the election results:

Fine Gael   50 seats. FG is economically moderate or conservative and socially moderate or liberal. They're descended from the pro-Teaty side of the Irish Civil War (which took place in the early 1920s).

Labour 7 seats. Centre-Left

Fianna Fail 44 seats. FF is economically moderate or conservative and socially moderate or conservative. They're descended from the anti-Treaty side of the Civil War (what you might call the side that wanted to continue fighting the Britsh).

Sinn Fein 23 seats

Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit 6 seats. Hard left.

Social Democrats 3 seats

Green Party 2 seats

Independent Alliance 6 seats. Progressives.

Independents 17 seats. I imagine mostly progressives.

The article I link to below says something I think I need to respond to now:  SF is not a right-wing party at all, although I have heard before that some of their voters in the south might vote right-wing if SF wasn't around (in America, where they visit, SF is less left-wing than they are in Ireland where they live and work, etc.). I explain why it's not accurate to call them right-wing here.

I used to be a member of the Irish Labour Party's American sister organization, the Democratic Socialists of America and my understanding of socialism and how to achieve it has not changed. My thoughts on the ILP and the meltdown of the ILP's vote (in the previous election they got 37 seats):

1) I have felt comfortable calling myself a supporter of both SF and the ILP because almost every election on that island involves Proportional Representation and/or the ability of voters to transfer their votes from one candidate to another (so IF I lived there I could more or less vote for both of them). 

2) I support SF a bit more  because they have a huge mandate from the nationalist community in the North. I would love to see the ILP running candidates in the North, where they have been organizing for around 10 years now.

3) It sucks that this happened to the ILP, but as far as I can tell, the gov't they were a part of pursued an agenda of austerity. I believe that is not what the ILP wanted to do (I am not real familiar with them but I have never heard anyone say they're Third Way (the politics of Tony Blair in seemingly socialist organizations)  and I heard something making me think they're as anti-Third Way as DSA is), but for decades now they have been kind of stuck with going into gov't with FG, and FG is, unfortunately, overall no better economically in my opinion than FF and even after their best elections, the ILP was not able to lead a gov't (something I blame on the fact that the conflict around the North hasn't been resolved yet). 

4) There have been some instances of SF and the ILP getting along, but not many. One example would be that in the 2007 elections to the Irish Senate, they had a voting pact.
5) UPDATE 3/6/16 An Irish leftist friend of mine who seems non-hostile to the Socialist International, painted a far less rosy picture of Irish Labour for me. It also made me attach greater value to what the Irish Times opinion piece said about the governing coalition Labour was a part of. On the other hand, he did say that in opposition, Labour is good. I still think that if Labour were LEADING a coalition gov't and/or had a partner closer to them ideologically than FG is, they would probably act more like social-dems.

There's an opinion piece in the Irish Times (Ireland's largest paper) that I wanted to mention. To whatever degree it's head-line is accurate, and I think it largely is, that's great. I don't follow Southern politics as much as I follow stuff in the North, and RECENTLY I've only been reading an average of about 50 articles a week about that. But this article seems pretty accurate and I thought it was an important one to highlight. The article is written by the IT's literary editor.

Tom

Anti-Fascist Republicanism: Four New Poems

Here are four more new poems. The first three are based on lyrics I find politically offensive- I explain some more about that here.

The last one is probably my best and probably my last poem about anti-racist skinheads. There are some notes about those poems here that you might want to read.

1. In the Spirit of Connie Green. About Ireland and WWII.
2. Proclamation of the Republic. About the 1916 Easter Rising and the Irish War of Independence.
3. Irish Republican Socialist. Guess what it's about.
4. Frank Ryan Brigade. The anti-racist skinhead poem.

For the rest of the poems click on the "lyrics" label at the bottom (there are at least four pages worth of posts, so click on the "older posts" at the bottom of the first page).

“In the Spirit of Connie Green” based on “European Unity” by Brutal Attack, original lyrics are here.

1. Connie Green was a republican Volunteer killed on active service in 1955. During World War II he was a British commando (he didn’t fight in Spain). It’s more or less sort of about those republicans who fought in Spain (most of the Irish people who fought fascism in Spain's Civil War were republicans) and certainly about those who supported the Allies.
2. At first I had so much trouble trying to alter the original lyrics. Then I got the idea of making it about Ireland and World War II.
3. It’s almost the soundtrack for one of my posts.
4. During WWII internment without charge or trial was used by the Fianna Fail government in Dublin against republicans. The government was very conservative, economically and socially. Republicans had done a lot to get FF into power when it seemed like a left-leaning republican party.
5. The South leaned a bit towards the Allies but were basically neutral.
6. The British Prime Minister, Churchill, tried to get the South to join the Allies, and at one point suggested that in return he would let Ireland be united. There’s some reason to believe he didn’t mean it. I believe that if Ireland HAD joined the Allies, the cause of Irish unity would have had a lot of support internationally after the war, and that might have resulted in Ireland being united even if London tried to renege on the deal.
7. Dev was the informal name for the Irish Prime Minister at the time.
8. “No Pasaran’ is a spanish anti-fascist slogan.
9. **76% of this version is me, 24% is the original.
10. I give this poem four out of five stars.
11. UPDATE 7/9/11 I just realized that some of this poem suggests that all anti-fascists want socialism. Obviously that's not true and I might change those lines.
12. UPDATE 3/18/15  I added "and mothers."

You know the South’s been put in the hands of fools,
Mis-using their power, internment their No1 tool.
We're partly to blame for helping them get power
And now they’re neutral, in democracy’s darkest hour

Chorus 1:
Anti-fascist unity,
we want socialism and democracy
Unity of the Irish nation
Europe free from Nazi occupations

Our fathers and mothers fought for the South’s freedom you see,
We’re prepared to fight and die, for Irish Unity
We fought for democracy in Spain
But dev passed up a chance for us to attain...

Chorus 2:
Irish Unity
We want socialism and democracy
“No Pasaran,” that is our stance
In Berlin, Belfast, Spain, or France

Chorus 1

Chorus 2

So listen dev, listen very carefully,
You should take London’s offer and help defeat the Nazis
In return our island will be united
If the Allies stick together, Nazi Germany will be smited

It wont be easy, it'll be a long hard undertaking,
The Nazi german war machine, we’ll be breaking
And we'll win- we have the might, and we know we’re right
So on the eve of Irish unity let us join this important fight

****

“Proclamation of the Republic” based on “New Nation” by Skrewdriver, original lyrics are here.

1. Lately I’ve been putting a lot of time, more so than usual, into trying to perfect these poems I do. This one, the last verse is not very impressive to me, but I have spent a lot of time on that and I don’t think I can make it any better.
2. The first verse is about the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising. A description of the Rising can be found here. Almost immediately, support for republicans exploded, and in late 1918 Sinn Fein won the vast majority of Irish seats in a general election.
3. I believe that during the period 1916 to about 1922 that acting like there was a 32-county Republic made sense. I believe that changed gradually after the new borders of the South and the North were settled. The Northern statelet had no legitimacy. But I believe that with each election in the South, the Dublin state became more and more legitimate.
4. The reference to a war sort of makes sense with hind-sight- it’s kind of fairly accurate to say that the Easter Rising was the beginning of the War of Independence (“war” was the best option).
5. The 2nd verse is about the War of Independence (or the vast bulk of it, considering what I said in the preceeding note). When the 1916 Easter Rising took place, and until the leaders were executed, there wasn’t much support for the republican militants.
6. The Union Jack is the British flag.
7. Why do I think truth and reconciliation will happen as the British leave? As far as truth is concerned, I think there’s a good chance that will happen, partly because of the reconciliation part of this. Whatever sectarianism is experienced by the Protestant community will be a tiny fraction of what Catholics under British rule in Ireland have experienced for centuries. I offer some evidence for this here. As the Protestant community gradually learns that it has nothing to fear from living in a united, independent Ireland, they’ll probably be more receptive to a description of what Catholics went through. There are some more of my thoughts on sectarian divisions here.
8. The 3rd line of the last verse is about more southerners and more northern nationalists embracing republicanism, which goes beyond a general desire for a United Ireland (which close to all of those people support).
9. **53% of this version is me, 47% is the original.
10. I give this poem three stars out of five.
11. Skrewdriver were British and supported the British and Unionist causes.
12. About the War of Independence, when the IRA had the support of something like 90% of the non-unionist population.
13 UPDATE 2/20/20 In the last line I replaced "as" with "when."

The Tories are thrilled, as our leaders are being killed
The Brits are celebrating, they think they've won the war
They can stop their jeering, 'cos soon we'll be cheering
They think they have beaten us, but we have esprit de corps

(chorus)
Irish Republic free and true, I pledge my life to you
Now the situation is so tense
Irish Republic free and true, I pledge my life to you
If you fall, we'll fall in your defense

Our attacks are stunning, now the Brits are running
And people who weren’t on our side, now support the IRA
State money is always available, to pay those with info that’s salable
They may buy some traitors, but we will have our day

Chorus

They think they have won, but one day our time will come
They'll regret their ignorance, their bigotry, and partition
When our people come around, the Union Jacks will be torn down
When British rule fades truth and reconciliation will begin

*******

“Irish Republican Socialist” based on “White National Socialist” by No Remorse, original lyrics can be found here.

1. James Connolly was the greatest socialist/republican in Irish history.
2. A “stoop” is a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. They are the main rival to Sinn Fein (among the nationalist community). I describe why they’re so bad here.
3. The RUC was, between the statelet’s creation and late 2001, the police for N. Ireland.
4. There are 32 counties in Ireland.
5. I give this poem 4 stars out of five.
6. **83% of this version is me, 17% is the original.
7. This poem is not meant as an endorsement of armed struggle since 1997.
8. About a socialist republican.
9. No Remorse were British and supported the British and Unionist causes.

I live my life inspired by James Connolly
I pride my self on working-class solidarity
without these things I’d be nothing but a “Stoop”
But I support attacking, the RUC and the Britsh troops

Chorus
Irish Republican Socialst
proud to be and your can be- a
Irish Republican Socialst
Against capital and the RUC

x2

We need to seperate the North from the UK
And scare the bosses with our numbers on the first of May
By whatever means necessary, including the gun
Ireland, north and south should be united as one

chorus

we’re fighting for a 32-county socialist state
won’t stand for any injustice, inequality or any hate
Let’s drive out the British Army and unite our Irish land
We’ll vote out all the Tories and the unions will expand

Chorus

*******

"Frank Ryan Brigade" based on "Belfast Brigade," author unknown, multiple versions, mine is a combination of two I found on the Internet (plus 3 tiny changes I made), and thus there's no URL, the original is below the altered one.

1. The Hammerskins, or the Hammerskin Nation, most of the last 20 years have been America's and the world's leading Nazi skinhead organization.
2. Frank Ryan was an Irish republican leader of the International brigades on the anti-fascist side of the Spanish Civil War. (THERE IS NO SUCH GROUP, I MADE UP THE NAME “FRANK RYAN BRIGADE” FOR A FICTIONAL SHARP CREW)
3. SHARP is SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice. Since the song implies left-wing politics, I should say that I am going to write the SHARP poems as a leftist, even though probably some small majority of anti-racist skinheads are not leftists.
4. Docs refers to Doc Martens, boots that something like 99% of skinheads wear.
5. "No Pasaran" means "They shall not pass" and is an anti-fascist slogan originating with the Spanish Civil War.
6. The Hammerskins started in Dallas, TX.
7. Although in America Nazi skinheads probably have an average of 2 guns each (that's based on anecdotal evidence) and often use them, I get the impression it's much less common for anti-racist skinheads to have or use guns. In any case, it was the best substitute and almost definitely makes sense to some degree.
8. CEO might be a stretch as it implies a large corporation, but there are wealthy people who support white supremacist organizations, and companies outside the Fortune 500 have CEOs, and it's possible a small % of the top people at Fortune 500 corporations give money to White Supremacist organizations. (it pretty much makes sense and rhymed)
9. Elements of the GOP, including Saul Anuzis (see this) support White Supremacist or at least sort of White Supremacist organizations. (it pretty much makes sense). (UPDATE 3/1/20 it makes a ton of sense now with Trump)
10. Skinheads indicate their politics or lack thereof with the color of their laces. White always/almost always indicates racism, red in America is often worn by racists, although it is also worn by leftists. Except for a few reports of white being worn by anti-racists, they wear colored laces (I'm pretty sure black is worn almost only by non-political skinheads and by those in the process of joining a racist organization (and occassionally, anti-racists)). So, it makes sense and rhymes.
11. **48% of this version is me, 52% of it is the original.
12. I give this version five out of five stars.
13. SHARPs are partly but far from completely about violence.

The Hammerskins went out to beat the people down
They thought that SHARP was dead in our cities and our towns
But they got a rude awakening, when with fists and with Docs
They met the anti-racists who will fight them block by block

Glory, glory to the working-class
Glory, Glory to those who struggle en masse
Glory to the memory
Of those who fought and died
"No Pasaran" is the war cry, of the Frank Ryan Brigade

Hammerskins came from Dallas, equipped with fascist hate
Men by the hundred, spreading state to state
But when they met the SHARPs they were seriously delayed
By true skinheads of the anti-fascist Frank Ryan Brigade

Chorus

We have no guns or backing from the GOP or right-wing CEOs
We're ready to defend ourselves no matter where we go
We're fighting for our democracy and to hell with your fascist state
"No Pasaran" is the war cry of those opposed to hate

Chorus

So come all you gallant young people, and get your colored laces
We’ll strike a blow for freedom, equality, unity of all the races
You know our movement's history and the sacrifice it made
Come join the SHARPs of the Frank Ryan Brigade

Chorus


original lyrics:

Craigavon sent the Specials out to shoot the people down
He thought the IRA were dead in dear old Belfast town
But he got a rude awakening, when with rifle and grenade
He met the first battalion of the Belfast Brigade

Glory, glory to old Ireland
Glory, Glory to this island
Glory to the memory
Of those who fought and died
"No Surrender" is the war cry of the Belfast Brigade

Specials came from Holywood, equipped with English guns
Men by the thousand, ammunition by the ton
But when they got to Seaford St. they were seriously delayed
By the fighting 1st battalion of the Belfast Brigade

Chorus

We have no armored cars or tenders for to show
We're ready to defend ourselves no matter where we go
We're out for our Republic and to hell with your Orange state
"No Surrender" is the war cry of the Belfast Brigade

Chorus

So come all you gallant Irish people and join the IRA
To strike a blow for freedom, when there comes our certain day
You know our country's history and the sacrifice it made
Come join the 1st battalion of the Belfast Brigade

Oh no, Here comes a green tory

I have four more songs. I've sort of upped my standards as far as the quality of what I post and what I don't. At this point I've got something like three songs I'm not posting because I'm just not happy with them. So, these are all a bit better than the average I post- they're not my favorites, but they're pretty good.

For the rest of the poems click on the "lyrics" label at the bottom (there are at least two pages worth of posts, so click on the "older posts" at the bottom of the first page).

1. Never Again. Republican struggle in N. Ireland.
2. Oh, No, Here Comes a Republican. The GOP in America.
3. Blanketmen. The struggle of republican POWs in British prisons to be treated as POWs.
4. Green Tories. Moderate or conservative Irish Nationalists.

With the exception of the last one, they're all "Those Lyrics," see this for an explanation. There's not much difference, but the higher quality ones are towards the bottom.

“Never Again” based on “Tomorrow Is Always Too Late” by Skrewdriver, original lyrics are here.

1. Stoops are the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Fein’s moderate rival in the nationalist community. For what’s wrong with them, see this.
2. The no-go areas were parts of Belfast and one huge part of Derry where the security forces were kept out by barricades and armed IRA members. They were in existence most of the time between Aug. 1969 and July 1972 and acted as safe areas for Catholics being targeted for harrassment by the security forces and murder by the loyalist paramilitaries.
3. Since this takes place during the period Jan. 1970 to Jan. 1972, the people had started marching about 2-3 years earlier, but it sort of works anyway (it doesn't say when they awoke, so it could be 2-3 years earlier, and the statement that they're marching right now would be accurate).
4. The Tri-color is the Irish flag and the starry plough is the flag of socialist republicanism.
5. The general idea of the song is that in order to guarantee that the events of Aug. 1969 would not be repeated (1,500 Catholic families were forced out of their homes by loyalists, see this and this for more details) Ireland should be united and so the sooner that happened the better, and that involved putting pressure on the British through armed and other actions. Although things ended up not being catastrophic for the nationalist community, it was reasonable to think at the time that something at least as bad as Aug. 1969 could happen again. (I don't know how many republicans and nationalists saw it that way, but probably a lot)
6. Connolly is James Connolly, Ireland greatest socialist and greatest republican and a major leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, who was executed afterwards.
7. Pearse is Padraig Pearse, a major leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, who was executed afterwards.
8. Tone is Wolfe Tone, the grandfather of Irish republicanism who led a rebellion in 1798 and committed suicide when in jail awaiting execution afterwards.
9. Bombay St. was the main area where Catholics were forced out of their homes in Aug. 1969.
10. Long Kesh was the main prison camp holding republican paramilitaries.
**11. 32% of this version is me, 68% is the original.
12. I give this song/poem three stars out of five.
13. Considering the original, I should say that Irish pride is very different from white pride (most of the time). (I just heard something making me think that it's probably a small minority of northern nationalists that would talk about "Irish pride"; I still feel odd completely re-writing that line, so I'm going to keep it)
14. Skrewdriver was supportive of the Unionist and British causes in N. Ireland.
15. I changed the 2nd line of the 1st verse by removing the word "only" from bewteen "my" and "interest."
16. This is basically about the IRA.

The stoops say what we should do, but I don't want to know
My interest is revolution, and maintaining the no-gos
The people have awoken and are marching right now
‘cause we are loyal to the Tri-Color and the starry plough

Chorus:
Tomorrow is always too late
We should never sit around and wait
Tomorrow is always too late
Get out there and do something today

Our enemies are tories, unionists as well
Both these forms of evil are raining our death knell
We salute the troops of yesterday, who fought the British plague
And we will carry on your fight as the republicans of today

(Repeat Chorus)

We must remain true to our cause, for comrades thrown in jail
For their sake and sacrifice, we must never fail
For Connolly and Pearse and Tone too, and Bombay St. as well
For the proud Volunteers in Long Kesh, our efforts they must tell


(Repeat Chorus)

*****

“Oh No, Here Comes A Republican” based on “Oh No, Here Comes A Commie” by Skrewdriver, original lyrics are here.

1. It’s about a member of the American Republican Party, the GOP. It’s also about a republican who probably represents a very small minority of today’s GOP, if you add up all the things I say about him, probably between 10% and 40% of the GOP matches this description.
2. Looking to the past means looking at periods when women had more inequality, gays were in the closet, and people of color were "in their place."
3. In the 1968 election, Nixon used what was called the “Southern Strategy” of appealing to people unhappy about desegregation. It represented a major part of the shift of the South from the democrats to the republicans. In general, white supremacists are more likely to work with the Republicans than the Democrats.
4. Only some small minority of the support that the GOP gets comes from white supremacists, but it seemed like the best substitute.
**5. 44% of this version is me, 56% is the original.
6. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
7. As I think might be obvious, there is nothing violent about this.

He looks to the past, he worships the upper-class
Nothing but air in his head
Appears in your eyes, peddling lies
Selling ideas that are dead

He's out there every single day
Talking 'bout the unions and the gays

(chorus)
On no, here comes a republican
elephant on his breast
Oh no, here comes a republican
Won't you give it a rest?

He hates his own land, he has a plan
To bring it all down to the ground
Confuse you with lies, installs his spies
Brings our destruction around

He just wants to see our nation declining
He wants the white man’s future to be shining

(chorus)

Support for his plans, comes from the Klan
People who only know how to hate
They wear robes of white, they’re so full of shite
Just like with Nixon in 1968

The elephant gets it’s support from these anti-semites
Hopes that they’ll help roll back our hard-won civil rights

(chorus)

Oh no, here comes a republican
the stars and stripes he flies
On no, here comes a republican
Won't you off and die?

******

“Blanketmen” based on “Justice” by Skrewdriver, original lyrics are here.

1. Blanketmen were republican prisoners who, in the late seventies until shortly after the end of the hunger-strike in 1981, wore blankets because they refused to wear a criminal’s prison uniform. In the late 1970s the British tried to break the republican family by criminalizing republican prisoners. See this and this (most of the last 1/2 is about the hunger-strike era). The prsioners resisted this effort, culminating in the 1981 Hunger-Strike when 10 men died, Bobby Sands was the first. This song is set in the mid 1970s before there was a large degree of support for the prisoners (from what I’ve heard, the first 1-2 years very few people understood what was happening to the prisoners and therefore very few people cared).
2. Most, perhaps all republicans who were “on the blanket” had been convicted by jury-less courts.
3. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that large numbers of people started to care about the prisoners.
4. The nationalist population were more or less terrorized by the British security forces and by loyalist paramilitaries, although they remained strong and determined to win and confident; but you could still say they were terrorized.
5. Orange is the color of anti-catholic bigotry in N. Ireland.
**6. 47% of this version is me, 53% is the original.
7. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
8. Skrewdriver was supportive of the Unionist and British causes in N. Ireland.

My spirit is strong as I'm dragged from the court
My mother screams "Brits out" in support
One by one, they lock us all away
non-Jury “Justice” is the game they play

(Chorus)
Call that justice, well it just ain't fair,
How much longer before they care
Call that justice from an alien judge
Jailed for fighting for the land you love

In a blanket, your time you’ll spend
‘cause you won’t break nor will you bend
A degrading regime if you won’t be criminalized
you fight for your people who are terrorized

Chorus

Call this orange state a democracy
But it’s steeped in division and inequality
Here's the reality, an alien state
Locking up patriots behind prison gates

*****

“Green Tories” based on “Government Out” by The Oppressed, original lyrics are here.

1. Green Tories are Irish nationalists who would normally be members of a normal conservative party. It could also refer to republicans with conservative politics.
2. Fianna Fail is the largest party in the South of Ireland. They’re conservative populists, generally socially conservative, and corrupt and very cooperative with the United States.
3. The stoops are the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Fein’s moderate rival in the nationalist community. I describe what’s wrong with them here. Probably some large minority of them are definitely not Green Tories, but the rest, to one degree or another, are Green Tories.
**4. 32% of this version is me, 68% is the original.
5. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
6. Only violence is part of the "revolt" referred to and the possibility of a future violent uprising by workers in the South.

You listen to their stories
you listen to their lies
You listen to their propaganda
They’re the bastards workers despise...

Chorus:
Hear the people scream and shout
we want green tories, green tories out

Fianna Fail coddles the rich
The stoops hold back the revolt
Neither party gives a shit
all they’re after is your vote

Chorus

To who will green tories answer
when corporations rule the state
If they answer to Washington
Irish independence will be faked

Chorus

So don’t listen to their stories
don’t listen to their lies
don’t listen to their propaganda
They know one day we will rise


One last note: Even with the songs that are only about 10% me (and at the upper end, one is 75% me), I have a request, although I don't have strong feelings or expectations about this. First, I want credit for these songs. Second, I'd appreciate it if the notes follow the lyrics around the internet. If you modify the lyrics further, please either make some notes for the changes if you leave some of my changes, or just provide a link to this URL so people can see my version. Although I'm not sure how many people will like what I'm doing with the lyrics, to one degree or another (depending on how much I changed them) I'm proud of these songs- and at the risk of getting a little personal, if people like the songs, I could really use the extra boost of getting credit for them right now (or if you don't like them, they were all written by Sarah Palin- that fascist, what kind of sick person enjoys altering racist lyrics?).