{"id":2695,"date":"2007-03-18T14:29:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-18T18:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles-wp\/?p=2695"},"modified":"2007-03-18T14:29:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-18T18:29:00","slug":"patriotic-dissonance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles\/2007\/03\/18\/14\/29\/patriotic-dissonance\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriotic Dissonance"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was thinking further about the Harp<\/a>, and how it’s used by the Republic of Ireland (as the successor state to the Irish Free State<\/a>, itself the successor state of the Kingdom of Ireland<\/a>). But it’s not exclusive<\/a> – it has been appropriated for commercial purposes.<\/p>\n

Guinness basically waited until 1862 to grab the harp – after the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland had been illegally prorogued in 1801<\/a> under Pitt the Spawn<\/a>. All the symbols of Ireland’s independent existence within the Three Kingdoms<\/a> were being actively suppressed by Westminster factions, and I personally believe that “diluting” such a potent symbol by affixing it to an alcoholic drink must have been seen by some as a clever stroke.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a little thought experiment. Imagine if, in 1812, the British hadn’t been distracted by Bonaparte and had decided after their early victories in the 1812 war to re-occupy the Colonies, annex them to Canada, and extinguish all the symbols of US independence. And then 50 years later a British beer brand, Newcastle Brown Ale, for instance, slapped on the Great Seal of the United States<\/a> or the Seal of the President of the United States<\/a> onto every can. Fast forward another 50 years and a successful rebellion re-establishes an independent political structure. And they go to re-use their own symbols and find they are also now being used to create an aura of “Americanness” around a beer manufactured by a company with a corporate structure foreign to the United States.<\/p>\n

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