Of all the parades and holidays I covered when I was a City Hall reporter, back when despite disagreements and rivalries politics was more respectful and less polarized, St. Patrick’s Day was the best.
There was a genuine celebratory atmosphere among people in the parade and who watched from the sidelines as the parade marched down State Street.
The parade brought all sides together, even if for only a brief respite from the contentious political divisions and dramas.
It’s based on a great premise.
St. Patrick’s Day, celebrated on March 17, honors the patron saint of Ireland, a 5th-century Christian missionary who brought Christianity to the pagan Irish.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century. At 16, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave, but later escaped, returned to Britain, became a priest, and went back to Ireland to convert the pagans.
Originally a quiet religious feast day, it evolved into a global celebration of Irish culture, featuring parades, green attire, and, notably, in the U.S., the lifting of Lenten food and drink restrictions.
Legend credits St. Patrick with using the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). A four-leaf clover is considered a symbol of powerful fortune and luck.
The original color associated with St. Patrick was blue, but in the 18th Century, it changed to green, the color associated with the Irish independence movement and the “Wearing of the Green” ballad.
The holiday is one of the most celebrated events, especially in Chicago, which boasts as having the most Irish-American elected officials than any other city.
My memories of St. Patrick’s Day are filled with politics, but politicians who would stand together for the goodness of the city of Chicago.
Eventually, divisions resulted in a parade on the North Side and downtown, and later, when mothers in Beverly felt that the parade had become too much of a political symbol, they created their own South Side Irish Parade, pushing their babies in their buggies.
That parade also became embraced by politics, too, and was disbanded for many years before returning.
Alcohol is associated with the Irish, an exaggeration like they are the only ones who drink. Everyone drinks, Christians and Jews, and even many Muslims, who also own liquor stores that sell alcohol.
The Irish (and many Catholics) celebrate by breaking the 40 days of Lent restrictions. Similar traditions are practiced by Jews, and by Muslims, who fast during Ramadan during daytime hours for a 30-day period.
I attended one of the great St. Patrick Day celebrations this past week, hosted by state Senator Michael Hastings, which brought together more than 650 attendees to enjoy Irish culture, dancing and the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe band.
Hastings is among the region’s most admired politicians. He’s targeted by evildoers driven by greed, power and many lies.
Unfortunately, while St. Patrick’s Day symbolizes cultural respect and positive relations, our politics have slipped off the deep end.
We see how people are deceived by Donald Trump’s lies. Trump is a greedy robber baron who uses divisions driven by acrimony, animosity and stereotyping to enrich himself.
Imagine, Trump complained he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Everyone knew that was a joke, except many of his followers who continue to drink the Trump Kool Aid.
Trump then launched the “Board of Peace” as if to give himself some tribute. It didn’t take long for the self-declared president-for-life of the Board of Peace, Trump, who took $10 billion from the American taxpayers to fund his “throne” there, quickly launched a war against Iran, at the urging of another deceitful lying politician and warmonger, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump and Netanyahu kill innocent people in the name of “fighting terrorism,” like the 175 civilians, mostly children at an all-girls school in Minab, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. The school was targeted by U.S. missiles fired on the first day of Trump’s “Peace War,” which he launched, unprovoked, on Saturday, February 28.
Missiles and bombs have been dropped killing civilians throughout Iran by Trump and Netanyahu. Adhering to the Nazi-era principle of “The Big Lie,” Trump and Netanyahu simply deny the truth, instead blaming Iran for targeting civilians.
Eventually, Trump will join Netanyahu and be indicted for war crimes in Gaza by the International Criminal Court, a post-World War II system nurtured by the Nuremberg Trials to impose justice for Nazi crimes.
Naturally, Trump and Netanyahu refuse to recognize the ICC.
Let’s banish today’s ugly snakes of power, and wish the Irish wish for justice, “Tiocfaidh ar la.”
Read more on this at CourageousThought.com.