“I love Northern Ireland. I love the people. I love the place. They’ve been extraordinarily generous and hospitable to me and my wife, my family,” former senator George Mitchell of Maine told Jill Lawless of the Associated Press today at Queen’s University, located in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.
"Taking counsel from his brief time as a federal judge, he would not socialize with any of the different participants to avoid looking as if he were playing favorites. "
SCOTUS could pick up some pointers.
" 'I had no authority to impose it,' he told Kane. But two years of listening had paid off: all the different sides trusted him. 'He listened us to agreement,' one of the political leaders said."
Thank you Heather. I can tell you that the peace brought about by Senator Mitchell, Bill Clinton and all the stakeholders in the North is a wonderful thing. I live in the Republic, but travelling to and fro from here to the
North( that’s what we call Northern Ireland) is so easy now. I remember travelling as a student in the 1980s, past pill boxes with British soldiers with weapons and camouflage was a spooky thing. Now you just drive on the motorway from Dublin to Belfast. Thank you the Americans who helped bring about this peace.
I read that while in Ireland President Biden unexpectedly met the priest who gave last rites to his son Beau. What a powerful moment that must have been.
Joe Biden is exactly what our country needed coming out of the Trump presidency. I hope that history will be kind to him.
As someone who was born in 'Northern' Ireland and who voted for the Good Friday Agreement in the referendum in the Republic of Ireland where I now live, I often say the greatest gift the United States of America ever gave to Ireland was a brilliantly humble man called Senator George Mitchell.
The dignity, decorum and authenticity of this man stands in stark contrast to the Before and After Trump era which has injected so much bile into the daily discourse of American politics and between families and neighbours who identify as Republican or Democrats.
It is so sad to watch, knowing from experience the inherent dangers that intemperate words carry, especially when uttered without due care and diligence and the necessary intellectual rigor one should expect from public officials and lawmakers.
Peace is hard. War is easy. Compromise is difficult. Conflict is demoic. What George Mitchell did with the support of Bill Clinton will stand and has stood the test of time in humanity's time frame. It is and will be, much like the Middle East peace accord brokered by Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin, a model for the future. We can always hope. Maybe Sudan can be next.
Mitchell versus Santos: “It was the best of Georges, it was the worst of Georges.”
The nineties seem like a century ago, history will show that with the Good Friday Agreement and the resolution of the Serbia-Bosnia conflict, Bill Clinton’ administration helped European peace immensely.
Thanks to Senator Mitchell, Northern Ireland has peace and prosperity.
Bravo again on your piece tonight. I too love the people and the place. And not an Irish bone in my body. Spending time in Belfast while the troubles had slowed but were still active was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. Staying with our "mixed marriage" friends...one Protestant, one Catholic...gave us an unusual perspective on the situation. It is clear to me that Senator Mitchell's skills in actually listening and providing a safe space for teaching by example so that adversaries learned how to listen to each other, was and probably still is the only way to ultimately eliminate violence between individuals and groups that feel rage because they have been unheard. Such a simple way to support peace.
Thank you, Heather! In the summer of 1970, I took a ferry from Scotland with my American boyfriend, to Belfast. We got off the boat at night and were immediately told to go to our accommodation and not hang around the harbor area. We did just that, and got to a big youth hostel, totally empty. The hosts asked if were married (!) and since we said “no”, they put us in separate dorms. Huge empty rooms. So we got two beds pushed together and slept where we wanted. In the morning, we had to make a stop at the local hospital to help me with a bladder infection. Since we were hitchhiking, I wanted to get it resolved before we set out for our road trip. The hospital was surrounded by armored tanks, Scottish soldiers in kilts sitting high up on top and barbed wire everywhere. The doctors were lovely and very helpful. They gave me some antibiotics and we were on our way. As fate would have it, we got a ride immediately with a young woman driving to Cork, where we were headed to visit my sister, who was working at a hotel there. At the age of twenty, I am not sure how much we knew about the history of Ireland and its conflicts with Northern Ireland. But our Belfast experience left very vivid impressions. My father was Irish American and felt strongly about the struggle for Ireland’s independence. His people were from Killarney and all the people we met on our trip treated me like a long-lost relative. I am so happy to re-visit this history and grateful to learn again what a great man George Mitchell was.
Joe Biden is a good listener, a wise man,and has more experience in government than most representatives and senators currently serving have, or will ever have.
He could be our champion if the MAGA caucus in both houses would stop their belligerent poisonous vitriol and allow him to listen them back to democracy.
We need to give our President four more years to try, if he is willing--especially while George Mitchell is still alive to give him some personal advice and counsel. Bill Clinton would also be a great resource.
We could help the process and the President in two ways: First, by asking him to do it; and second, by clearing out the worst congressional offenders come 2024.
We could become a movement, as Snyder would say....
This is what I'm trying to accomplish with my documentary that's in it's early stages of production..."Monumental Struggle". Reconciliation in a community that is divided over a 100 year old Confederate Monument, that got moved to the Cross Keys battlefield in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Some people embrace the idea. For others I'm getting pushback from people in Talbot County who say "it's too soon", you're "tearing off the scab"...many on both sides say "it's impossible"...which is what they also said about moving the monument.
Reconciliation was the theme of the 50th Anniversary Reunion for Vets of Gettysburg. 50,000 old white men came together...mostly peacefully...a few got in a knife fight over Jeff Davis. They came back home and erected a confederate monument...that got moved a year ago.
George Mitchell proved peace & reconciliation can be accomplished. BRAVO. There is a national conference in Gettysburg this 4th of July week of the Braver Angels. 90 years after the 1913 reunion. My goal is to get representatives of all the diverse sides of this from Talbot County to attend and begin the Reconciliation process...and take that back home...and spread it out. We will document that...and tell that story. Watch for more details on my page. THANKS HCR for your dedicated work. You inspire me every day.
“The different sides called him to vent about the other sides, and Mitchell listened.”
It seems that a lot of the disenchantment with politicians is based in the belief that none of them listen to anyone who doesn’t have a lot of money to contribute.
If only we could convince them that Biden, and the people that he’s gathered around him, are listening and are trying hard to make their lives better.
Our politicians like Jordon, MTG, Santos, and Boebert are too clueless to what they are even fighting for to talk or listen or compromise. They’re just troublemakers.
"Taking counsel from his brief time as a federal judge, he would not socialize with any of the different participants to avoid looking as if he were playing favorites. "
SCOTUS could pick up some pointers.
" 'I had no authority to impose it,' he told Kane. But two years of listening had paid off: all the different sides trusted him. 'He listened us to agreement,' one of the political leaders said."
How emotional adults deal with controversy.
“We learn anew with every generation that democracy needs champions.”
Thank you Heather. I can tell you that the peace brought about by Senator Mitchell, Bill Clinton and all the stakeholders in the North is a wonderful thing. I live in the Republic, but travelling to and fro from here to the
North( that’s what we call Northern Ireland) is so easy now. I remember travelling as a student in the 1980s, past pill boxes with British soldiers with weapons and camouflage was a spooky thing. Now you just drive on the motorway from Dublin to Belfast. Thank you the Americans who helped bring about this peace.
Síocháin in Éirinn. Peace in Ireland. Thank God!
I read that while in Ireland President Biden unexpectedly met the priest who gave last rites to his son Beau. What a powerful moment that must have been.
Joe Biden is exactly what our country needed coming out of the Trump presidency. I hope that history will be kind to him.
As someone who was born in 'Northern' Ireland and who voted for the Good Friday Agreement in the referendum in the Republic of Ireland where I now live, I often say the greatest gift the United States of America ever gave to Ireland was a brilliantly humble man called Senator George Mitchell.
The dignity, decorum and authenticity of this man stands in stark contrast to the Before and After Trump era which has injected so much bile into the daily discourse of American politics and between families and neighbours who identify as Republican or Democrats.
It is so sad to watch, knowing from experience the inherent dangers that intemperate words carry, especially when uttered without due care and diligence and the necessary intellectual rigor one should expect from public officials and lawmakers.
Peace is hard. War is easy. Compromise is difficult. Conflict is demoic. What George Mitchell did with the support of Bill Clinton will stand and has stood the test of time in humanity's time frame. It is and will be, much like the Middle East peace accord brokered by Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin, a model for the future. We can always hope. Maybe Sudan can be next.
Mitchell versus Santos: “It was the best of Georges, it was the worst of Georges.”
The nineties seem like a century ago, history will show that with the Good Friday Agreement and the resolution of the Serbia-Bosnia conflict, Bill Clinton’ administration helped European peace immensely.
Thanks to Senator Mitchell, Northern Ireland has peace and prosperity.
Bravo again on your piece tonight. I too love the people and the place. And not an Irish bone in my body. Spending time in Belfast while the troubles had slowed but were still active was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. Staying with our "mixed marriage" friends...one Protestant, one Catholic...gave us an unusual perspective on the situation. It is clear to me that Senator Mitchell's skills in actually listening and providing a safe space for teaching by example so that adversaries learned how to listen to each other, was and probably still is the only way to ultimately eliminate violence between individuals and groups that feel rage because they have been unheard. Such a simple way to support peace.
Thank you, Heather! In the summer of 1970, I took a ferry from Scotland with my American boyfriend, to Belfast. We got off the boat at night and were immediately told to go to our accommodation and not hang around the harbor area. We did just that, and got to a big youth hostel, totally empty. The hosts asked if were married (!) and since we said “no”, they put us in separate dorms. Huge empty rooms. So we got two beds pushed together and slept where we wanted. In the morning, we had to make a stop at the local hospital to help me with a bladder infection. Since we were hitchhiking, I wanted to get it resolved before we set out for our road trip. The hospital was surrounded by armored tanks, Scottish soldiers in kilts sitting high up on top and barbed wire everywhere. The doctors were lovely and very helpful. They gave me some antibiotics and we were on our way. As fate would have it, we got a ride immediately with a young woman driving to Cork, where we were headed to visit my sister, who was working at a hotel there. At the age of twenty, I am not sure how much we knew about the history of Ireland and its conflicts with Northern Ireland. But our Belfast experience left very vivid impressions. My father was Irish American and felt strongly about the struggle for Ireland’s independence. His people were from Killarney and all the people we met on our trip treated me like a long-lost relative. I am so happy to re-visit this history and grateful to learn again what a great man George Mitchell was.
Joe Biden is a good listener, a wise man,and has more experience in government than most representatives and senators currently serving have, or will ever have.
He could be our champion if the MAGA caucus in both houses would stop their belligerent poisonous vitriol and allow him to listen them back to democracy.
We need to give our President four more years to try, if he is willing--especially while George Mitchell is still alive to give him some personal advice and counsel. Bill Clinton would also be a great resource.
We could help the process and the President in two ways: First, by asking him to do it; and second, by clearing out the worst congressional offenders come 2024.
We could become a movement, as Snyder would say....
This is what I'm trying to accomplish with my documentary that's in it's early stages of production..."Monumental Struggle". Reconciliation in a community that is divided over a 100 year old Confederate Monument, that got moved to the Cross Keys battlefield in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Some people embrace the idea. For others I'm getting pushback from people in Talbot County who say "it's too soon", you're "tearing off the scab"...many on both sides say "it's impossible"...which is what they also said about moving the monument.
Reconciliation was the theme of the 50th Anniversary Reunion for Vets of Gettysburg. 50,000 old white men came together...mostly peacefully...a few got in a knife fight over Jeff Davis. They came back home and erected a confederate monument...that got moved a year ago.
George Mitchell proved peace & reconciliation can be accomplished. BRAVO. There is a national conference in Gettysburg this 4th of July week of the Braver Angels. 90 years after the 1913 reunion. My goal is to get representatives of all the diverse sides of this from Talbot County to attend and begin the Reconciliation process...and take that back home...and spread it out. We will document that...and tell that story. Watch for more details on my page. THANKS HCR for your dedicated work. You inspire me every day.
Thank you Heather.
“We learn anew with every generation that democracy needs champions.”
Amen.
George Mitchell is a lovely man and fine politician. How excellent he is in Northern Ireland for this celebration!
“The different sides called him to vent about the other sides, and Mitchell listened.”
It seems that a lot of the disenchantment with politicians is based in the belief that none of them listen to anyone who doesn’t have a lot of money to contribute.
If only we could convince them that Biden, and the people that he’s gathered around him, are listening and are trying hard to make their lives better.
Our politicians like Jordon, MTG, Santos, and Boebert are too clueless to what they are even fighting for to talk or listen or compromise. They’re just troublemakers.
I'm really glad someone remembers the monumentally tough work, and success, of George Mitchell.