When an electorate who claimed to have been at the point of revolt over the state of the health service can proceed to return the main government party with an increased vote, you have to wonder if people aren\u2019t completely full of crap when they talk about their political views and intentions. I always had a sneaking suspicion that people only pretended to be angry about health because that\u2019s what the media told them everyone else was angry about. Meanwhile, their true intentions remained a secret until the votes were counted
\nThis would be of a piece with the general mendacity of the Irish people, a populace that lies so much we\u2019ve turned it into a language. Foreigners are often mystified by us saying one thing and doing another, but even natives need occasional guidance in translating Irish Election Speak:<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all the same, I spoiled my vote???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThey\u2019re all the same, I didn\u2019t vote???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cStick to what you know, the opposition are untested.???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI used to be idealistic, but I\u2019ve been getting more conservative as I get older???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t think the main parties are focussing on the real issues???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m going to think carefully about the issues before I make up my mind???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI usually vote Fianna Fail, but this time I\u2019m not sure???<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI have no real party ties???<\/em><\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know anything about politics, but like to dress up my ignorance as sophisticated cynicism.<\/p>\n
\nI couldn\u2019t get it together to register, let alone vote, but like to dress up my laziness as sophisticated cynicism.<\/p>\n
\nI lack imagination to a degree that is almost sinister, and consequently only ever vote for the incumbent.<\/p>\n
\nI have never had an idealistic thought or impulse in my life, and have never voted for anyone other than Fianna Fail. <\/p>\n
\nI am obsessed with one or both of the following: abortion, the north.<\/p>\n
\nI will vote Fianna Fail, as always.<\/p>\n
\nJust kidding, of course I\u2019m voting Fianna Fail.<\/p>\n
\nI am a fully paid up member of Fianna Fail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When an electorate who claimed to have been at the point of revolt over the state of the health service can proceed to return the main government party with an increased vote, you have to wonder if people aren\u2019t completely full of crap when they talk about their political views and intentions. I always had a sneaking suspicion that people only pretended to be angry about health because that\u2019s what the media told them everyone else was angry about. Meanwhile, their true intentions remained a secret until the votes were counted This would be of a piece with the general mendacity of the Irish people, a populace that lies so much we\u2019ve turned it into a language. Foreigners are often mystified by us saying one thing and doing another, but even natives need occasional guidance in translating Irish Election Speak: \u201cThey\u2019re all the same, I spoiled my vote??? I don\u2019t know anything about politics, but like to dress up my ignorance as sophisticated cynicism. \u201cThey\u2019re all the same, I didn\u2019t vote??? I couldn\u2019t get it together to register, let alone vote, but like to dress up my laziness as sophisticated cynicism. \u201cStick to what you know, the opposition are untested.??? I lack imagination to a degree that is almost sinister, and consequently only ever vote for the incumbent. \u201cI used to be idealistic, but I\u2019ve been getting more conservative as I get older??? I have never had an idealistic thought or impulse in my life, and have never voted for anyone other than Fianna Fail. \u201cI don\u2019t think the main parties are focussing on the real issues??? I am obsessed with one or both of the following: abortion, the north. \u201cI\u2019m going to think carefully about the issues before I make up my mind??? I will vote Fianna Fail, as always. \u201cI usually vote Fianna Fail, but this time I\u2019m not sure??? Just kidding, of course I\u2019m voting Fianna Fail. \u201cI have no real party ties??? I am a fully paid up member of Fianna Fail","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[662],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuppenceworth.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}