(See here and here for the 48 hours of excitement over Part I [1])

M. De Levan - surely aware, as journalists in the O'Reilly tabloid stable always are, of what party line is required of them - exploded today yesterday with righteous indignation at an un-PC phrase uttered by the Fianna Fáil School Marm herself. He may be Frencher than a stinky cheese, but our intrepid Monsieur displayed none of the usual Gallic traits of cowardice in the face of the enemy:

"Senator Mary O'Rourke, perhaps the most serpentine personality in the Irish political swamp, thanked her supporters for "working like blacks" to get her back on the Fianna Fail ticket after voters turfed her out four years ago.

[...]

Mary O'Rourke IS a racist. One could argue about the provenance, etymology and appropriateness of Mary O'Rourke's phrase, "worked like blacks". One can also argue whether or not she, as an elected official with skin thicker than a T-Rex, should be expected to apologise. But if the word racism has any meaning, it includes prejudice based on race. Mary O'Rourke's first instinct when confronted by a black texter to Newstalk was to congratulate her on getting her asylum, that is, to assume she was an asylum seeker."

Mrs. O'Rourke's fellow race-baiters over at the notoriously pro-Soldiers of Destiny Irish Times don't escape his wrath, either:

"Queue the rally-round. The Irish Times did put the story on the front page, not that you'd notice, being an inch or so from the bottom, and the "blacks" remark buried in the story with no reference to it in the headline."

Not to fear, though. If there is one bastion of political correctness and indeed integrity in the craven MSM, it is to be found in the Duckworth School of Reporting (tm The Phoenix) Independent Newspapers Group:

"The Indo led with it, and included reference to the 'kebab' problem of her nephew, Conor Lenihan.

The Indo also - unlike the Times - included comments from Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism, who was the only person in the mediaverse this morning to unambiguously suggest that O'Rourke should apologise"

In conclusion:

"One final thought. If the remarks were made by, say, a Senator from Mississippi, rather than a Senator from Fianna Fail, would the world simply shrug and say, ah well? Oh wait - we know the answer to that question. The Amercia that Irish commentators of a certain disposition love to brand as racist removed Trent Lott as Senator Majority leader in 2002 when he said nice things about a racist. The Ireland that likes to think of itself as above that American disease is in fact constantly engaged in the most coarse apologias for members of The Club when they make, as only Shawn Pogatchnik of the Associated Press had the candor to describe it in the headline, a "racist comment"."

Absolutely correct. A doddery old Irish politician making a slip of the tongue is indeed comparable to a Dixiecrat politician praising racial segregation before the winning of full Civil Rights for blacks. Her refusal - uncharacteristic of Irish politicians - to admit wrong and apologise is only the beginning. Next you know, the Lenihan clan will be lighting crosses on the lawn in Leinster House.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

Update: Slugger agrees, an endorsement which can only reinforce our hero's aura.

[1] And here for the Prologue. We refuse to believe that this is the same paragon of objective reporting - could there be a serial imposter at large in the Boggersphere?

[2] Here's a question for Monsieur which we've pondered a while - why Damien Kiberd lambasting the 26 Counties as the "Free State" is such a matter of grave offence to him, but on the other hand labeling one's own website "[sic] Ireland - the truth hurts" is different.