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Darron Cummings

With a 'heavy heart', Ted Cruz ends his US presidential campaign

“We gave it everything we’ve got,” he told supporters.

TED CRUZ ENDED ended his presidential campaign last night, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump’s march to the Republican nomination.

The conservative tea party firebrand and senator who cast himself as the only viable alternative to Trump, announced his exit after a stinging defeat in Indiana’s Republican primary.

“It appears that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz told supporters in Indianapolis.

Together, we left it all on the field of Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.

Cruz had already been mathematically eliminated from clinching the delegate majority in the state-by-state primary process, but hoped to force a contested national convention in July. That possibility ended yesterday with Cruz’s announcement.

Had he succeeded in his quest, Cruz would have been the first US president of Hispanic descent, although he often downplayed his heritage on the campaign trail, instead, touting the need for tougher immigration laws, for a border wall along the border with Mexico, protecting gun rights, repealing President Barack Obama’s healthcare law and instituting a flat tax.

The ‘only true conservative’

Cruz argued he was the only true conservative in the race, building on his reputation in the Senate where he clashed both with Democrats and members of his own party over his ideological stubbornness.

Cruz railed against what he called the “Washington cartel,” trying to appeal to an electorate that is craving political outsiders.

But he ultimately couldn’t compete with Trump’s appeal among white, working class voters who were drawn to the billionaire’s outlandish approach to politics.

Cruz’s campaign placed its hopes on a data-driven effort to turn out conservative evangelical Christians who had opted out of recent presidential elections. Increasingly, he would modify his travel schedule to go where data showed there might be pockets of untapped supporters.

With the scale tipping increasingly in Trump’s favor, he announced an extraordinary pact in April with his other rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in which the two would divide their time and resources based on states where they were each poised to do better.

Days later, he prematurely named former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina as his running mate, hoping it would woo some of the female voters turned off by Trump’s brash rhetoric.

GOP 2016 Cruz Cruz hugs his wife, Heidi, and his father, Rafael Darron Cummings Darron Cummings

Trump’s appeal to evangelicals, though, and the New York billionaire’s popularity with the broader Republican electorate, proved too much.

Cruz, 45, worked on George W Bush’s 2000 campaign and went on to serve five years as the top attorney for the state of Texas, arguing nine cases before the US Supreme Court. He parleyed that experience into an underdog run for the US Senate, defeating the state’s lieutenant governor in the primary before winning election in 2012.

Filibuster

He first burst on the national political landscape in 2013 when he led a 21-hour quasi-filibuster against President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, reading his children Dr Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham” as a bedtime story via CSPAN during the marathon effort.

Cruz later teamed with the most-conservative members of the House to spark a government shutdown. It ultimately didn’t accomplish any major Republican goals, but raised Cruz’s national profile even more.

Cruz built a coalition of like-minded Republicans in Congress, as well as former presidential rivals — Fiorina, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, ex-Texas Governor Rick Perry and Sen. Lindsey Graham among them — but won only minimal support from his Senate colleagues.

Cruz’s campaign slogan of “Trusted” was tarnished after he was forced to apologise to Ben Carson for falsely suggesting the night of the Iowa caucuses that the retired neurosurgeon was dropping out of the race. Cruz also abruptly fired his communications director a day before the Nevada caucuses for spreading a false story about Florida Senator Marco Rubio disparaging the Bible.

Cruz vs Trump

Trump nicknamed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” and derided him as “unstable,” ”crazy,” ”a maniac” and “sick”.

Trump also questioned whether Cruz’s birth in Canada disqualified him to run for president, frequently threatening to sue him over the issue. He never followed through, but several suits were filed, including in Cruz’s home state of Texas.

Cruz initially avoided attacking Trump, hoping that the former reality TV star’s supporters would flow to him if Trump flamed out. As Trump’s momentum grew with early primary victories, Cruz fought back and said Trump can’t be trusted because of his past support for Democrats, abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

But it was too late.

Cruz was joined on stage with his parents, as well as by Fiorina and his wife, Heidi.

He made no mention of the Republican front-runner, vowing instead to continue his fight for liberty and for the Constitution.

Read: Donald Trump claims his rival’s father helped the man who assassinated JFK>

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65 Comments
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    Mute Charlie O'Neill
    Favourite Charlie O'Neill
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:10 PM

    He murdered countless people, but sure lefties don’t care, so let’s make a stamp of him.

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    Mute JP McHugh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:18 PM

    @Charlie O’Neill: Yes a murderer, a homophobic, a racist and his hero was Stalin, but lets just forget all that and pretend he’s cool.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:37 PM

    @JP McHugh: Yeah this was a pretty stupid idea. Do we not have Irish people to put on stamps?

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    Mute JP McHugh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:47 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: It wouldn’t matter.. It’s just the left pushing their communist agenda. 10s of millions killed under communist regimes, yet how many people do you see wearing the communist red star on hats and t shirts. World is gone f..ing nuts.

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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:56 PM

    @JP McHugh: you forgot terrorist.

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    Mute Brian O'Loughlin
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:01 PM

    Looks like Johnny Giles back in the day

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    Mute JP McHugh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:08 PM

    @Shawn O’Ceallaghan: You could also say he was cruel in the way he treated his maids, as a young lad. A sick twisted individual.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:20 PM

    @Charlie O’Neill: “We’re going to do for blacks exactly what blacks did for the revolution. By which I mean: nothing.”

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:25 PM

    @JP McHugh: communist and the left are not the same thing, just as nazi and the right aren’t. Communism is horrendous. Nazism is horrendous. There are people on both sides that denounce and are repulsed by both

    23
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    Mute rory conway
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:31 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: correct. Women especially. This is a wrong move.

    18
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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:32 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Communism and the left are very much interwoven. The left also share a lot with Nazism . But the fact of the matter is , most people dont even know the awful things communism has done, and they fly the flag, and wear the t-shirt, because they are so ignorant.

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:41 PM

    @Ladude: Your implication that all left leaning politics is interwoven with communism actually makes no sense. If that was the case it would skew the balance. All one side of a scale, by definition, cannot be on its extreme

    17
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    Mute TonySuperSaints
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:43 PM

    @JP McHugh: any evidence to claim he was homophobic? Also in a speech to the UN on South Africa he said

    “Those who kill their own children and discriminate daily against them because of the color of their skin; those who let the murderers of blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men — how can those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom? The government of the United States is not the champion of freedom, but rather the perpetrator of exploitation and oppression against the peoples of the world and against a large part of its own population.”

    Doesn’t so racist to me. As for a murderer it depends on your definition of murderer. Are all soldiers who kill in battle murders?

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:50 PM

    @WinSomeLoseSome: You’re right.

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    Mute Eric
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:15 PM

    @Charlie O’Neill: stupid comment of day.

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    Mute James Doyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:06 PM

    @Charlie O’Neill: Stupid comment from a member of the God squad, nothing about the millions the RCC God squad murdered, tortured, and burnt at the stake. The one trait i hate in any man or woman is servility.

    14
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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:16 PM

    @JP McHugh:
    ‘Liberating’ homosexuals by putting a bullet in their head….

    12
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    Mute Seán Mac Brádaigh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:18 PM

    @Liam Doyle: Like James Connolly?

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    Mute Andy K
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:21 PM

    @Ladude: Nazism (technically facism) is the polar opposite of communism. It is the ‘right’ side while communism is the ‘left’. They cannot ‘share a lot’.

    Please educate yourself. You are neither right nor left, just plain stupid.

    10
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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:28 PM

    @Andy K:
    Take a look at horseshoe theory.
    Also, although it’s hard to describe them as left wing, the full name of the nazis is the “National Socialists”.
    Not quite as clear cut as you may think.

    14
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    Mute Tommy Hogan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:29 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: I believe his grandad was from Claregalway…

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    Mute Noel
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    Oct 7th 2017, 6:41 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Martin McGuinness

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    Mute JP McHugh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:37 AM

    @JWill: There are 7000 homeless in Ireland because NAMA own 1000′s of properties across the country and those who are offered accommodation refuse to take what their giving. Yet there are talks of the government getting NAMA to sort the housing problem, while the politicians are too busy worrying about housing foreigners and giving money to corrupt NGO’s.

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    Mute Pat Aherne
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    Oct 9th 2017, 8:06 PM

    @JP McHugh: His other heroes were Michael Collins,Tom Barry and Dan Breen.

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    Mute Honeybadger197
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:12 PM

    Ah yes, any man that shoots a 14 yo boy through the back of the neck deserves a commemoration stamp. ( the boys crime? Trying to stop a firing squad from shooting his dad)

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:55 PM

    @Honeybadger197: Good example of the nonsense being pushed from certain quarters these days about Che. Hear that on Fox news by any chance? Read a book instead. Educate yourself properly about the man. No mass murderer, no matter how loud the right-wing extremists shout. Still revered by ordinary Cubans. Much more so than Fidel.

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:00 PM

    @Honeybadger197: great story. When and where did that happen?

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    Mute Richard Keogh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:35 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley: He was a mass murderer, no matter what book you read. Putting terrorists on stamps is something you would expect from Fatah but not from a so called Western democracy.

    51
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    Mute Seán Mac Brádaigh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:45 PM

    @Richard Keogh: Would that include putting Michael Collins or Eamon De Valera on stamps? Were they “terrorists” too?

    51
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    Mute Gerry Murphy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:25 PM

    @Seán Mac Brádaigh: we have plenty of terrorists/murderers in this country to be put on stamps, we need a lot of Stamps!!

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    Mute John Mc Grath
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:36 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley: Not propaganda just has the facts slightly wrong, Eutimio Guerra was the mans name Castro order him to be executed but his body guard refused, so Che stepped put his pistol to his head and executed him.

    17
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    Mute Honeybadger197
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:46 PM

    @John Mc Grath: No. That occurred in the Sierra Maestra mountains (along with at least 9 others). The murder I mentioned happened in La Cabãna Prison Havana. (along with literally dozens more at Guevaras own hands)

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    Mute John Mc Grath
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:00 PM

    @Honeybadger197: Sorry my mix up, yes was that the prison where the priest working there said he executed prisoners with firing squads.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:24 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley: I mean Che respected Mao, a lovely guy who killed 45 million of his own people in four years. They even met once.

    19
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    Mute Seán Mac Brádaigh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:19 PM

    @Richard Keogh: Like Pearse and the other 1916 Leaders?

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    Mute marg fitzgerald
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:40 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley: this is not Cuba

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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:27 AM

    @Squiddley Diddley: You are obviously living in cuckoo land. Guevara was a sadistic, psychopathic killer. His crimes are well documented. What has he achieved? Nothing but misery and despair for Cubans. It’s nothing but a terrorist state ruled by a despot
    who has enriched himself and his family at the expense of the ordinary Cubans.
    So go ahead and celebrate the life of a killer who begged and pleaded for his life to be spared shortly before his execution.
    Just another insignificant loser.

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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:43 AM

    @Squiddley Diddley: Yeah revered by the Cuban leaders but despised by the free Cubans in the USA. The ordinary Cuban can say nothing bad about Guevara because he will end up in one of the prisons specially built to imprison free thinkers- and which were overseen by Guevara before he got his richly deserved reward at the hands of the Bolivian army. What a favour they did for mankind. The great killer was on his knees pleading for his life, nothing but a cowardly twisted psycho.

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    Mute Ciaran O Reilly
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:04 PM

    Too late they’re all sold out, Michael D bought them all.

    215
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    Mute Boyne Sharky
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:12 PM

    @Ciaran O Reilly: If Jim Fitzpatrick got even just 1 cent for each time this image is reproduced he’d be sitting pretty right now, he gets nothing. A terrible pity his art isn’t more appreciated, the man ain’t getting any younger, sorry Jim.

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    Mute Jurgen Remak
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:25 PM

    @Ciaran O Reilly: He probably still wears the Che t-shirts when he’s in the President’s house.

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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:14 PM

    @Ciaran O Reilly:
    Ah yes, Che Guevara, great auld lad (as long as you weren’t gay, or of a different political persuasion)…

    14
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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:28 AM

    @Boyne Sharky: Glad to hear he didn’t make a penny out of glorifying Guevara, a sick sadistic mass murderer.

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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:11 PM

    Nice!

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    Mute Hurt Stoogie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:38 PM

    @The Risen: fool

    56
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:02 PM

    @Hurt Stoogie: Ah, my little stalker, back for his 3rd Frisay evening in a row and still adding nothing.

    Always nice to meet a fan x

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:11 PM

    @The Risen: Or maybe he thinks you’re a fool. It’s not the word I’d choose for you, but each to their own.

    22
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    Mute Hurt Stoogie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:14 PM

    @The Risen: says the guy who says he is pro gay rights but adores known homophobes and terrorists like che guevera and Hamas. Actions speak louder than words jamming

    34
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    Mute Ladude
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:25 PM

    @Hurt Stoogie: they are walking contradictions.

    12
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:00 PM

    @Hurt Stoogie: I’m also pro Brexit, but still admire certain people who hold the opposite view to me because I agree with them on other matters.

    It’s how grown ups deal with the world lads. You should try it some time.

    33
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:16 PM

    @Liam Doyle: Ok, I’ll use an example closer to home for you guys. Fine Gaels Eoin O’Duffy sent his blueshirts to fight for a fascist dictator whose regime tortured and killed homosexuals under the Spanish vagrancy act.

    Are you claiming Eoin O’Duffy was a homophobe?

    32
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:22 PM

    Fine Gaels Brendan McGahon on homosexuality in the 1990s (25 years after Che Guevara died)…

    “I regard homosexuals as being in a sad category, but I believe homosexuality to be an abnormality, some type of psycho-sexual problem that has defied explanation over the years.”

    “I do not believe that the Irish people desire this normalisation of what is clearly an abnormality…”

    “Homosexuality is a departure from normality and while homosexuals deserve our compassion they do not deserve our tolerance. That is how the man in the street thinks.”

    “… like left hand drivers driving on the right hand side of the road…”

    So, by your own standards lads, shouldn’t you walk away from your association with FG?

    33
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    Mute Hurt Stoogie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:34 PM

    @The Risen: so you admire a guy who has murdered people for being gay? Had murdered kids. And has murdered women. It’s good to know you that you’ve an amoral approach to live and death. Your terrorist and violent tendencies are well laid out for us.

    12
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:38 PM

    @Liam Doyle: “I presume he was a homophobe, yes, but there are far greater sticks with which to beat O’Duffy”

    Eh….google Micheál Mac Liammóir Eoin O Duffy when you get the chance

    20
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    Mute Hurt Stoogie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:17 PM

    @The Risen: your appreciation for violence and murder are well presented

    7
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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:50 PM

    @Hurt Stoogie: lol! 3rd Friday night in a row spent posting comments @ me.

    How gratifying x

    :)

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    Mute Hurt Stoogie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:53 PM

    @The Risen: your true violent and homophobic and misogynistic and ignorant views are there for all to see jamming/for connolly/jambon/the risen

    5
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    Mute Ryan Boyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:49 PM

    Funny reading all the rightie snowflakes getting triggered over this.

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    Mute JP McHugh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:57 PM

    @Ryan Boyle: So your happy to have a murdering homophobic, racist have his face on an Irish stamp and be celebrated??? That’s ok ya?

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    Mute Nick Drake
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:06 PM

    @Ryan Boyle: Please try to be a little original, or perhaps better yet, please stop posting here.

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    Mute Georgio Zizek
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:26 PM

    @Ryan Boyle: It’s interesting seeing the term snowflake being used by snowflakes (or white knights) as a catch all insult for those who disagree with something political.

    The mistake, or at least the thing you ignore, is that expressing such disagreement isn’t the same as getting triggered due to emotional fragility. Especially when such disagreement is due to a murderous Commie thug like Che being celebrated as a hero.

    Perhaps you admire his intentions, but it’s reasonable to consider him more villain than hero. And it’s not a sign of fragility to express that opinion passionately.

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    Mute Eric
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:29 PM

    @Liam Doyle: 1- Do you understand what a revolution is?
    2- Can you guess there is an unevitable human cost associated to it ?
    3- Do you know why?

    17
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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:48 AM

    @Ryan Boyle: No so. They ask the question, why is a mass murdering psych being portrayed as some sort of celebrity.
    As for snowflakes, it must have been some sight to see Guevara begging for his life to be spared before the Bolivians despatched him. The poor old lefties hate being exposed for the thick ignorant idiots they are.

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    Mute goon4life
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:07 PM

    Pure class, an inspirational figure for ordinary people all over the world..

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:22 PM

    There used to be a great Cuban / Irish pub in Prague called O’Che’s

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    Mute Paul J. Redmond
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:32 PM

    @Nick Allen: Che’s grandfather or great grandfather Irish? His correct last name was Lynch. He was a notorious homophobe btw…

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:02 PM

    @Paul J. Redmond: can you give any specific examples of his homophobia? Saying that, in that time homophobia was rampant.

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:02 PM

    @WinSomeLoseSome: genuine question.

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    Mute Joey Navinski
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:08 PM

    @Paul J. Redmond: How would one go about earning notoriety for homophobia in the mid to late 1800′s?

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:13 PM

    @Joey Navinski: Seems only fair that if we can retrospectively judge people for owning slaves, we can also retrospectively judge them for being homophobes. Especially when that political sect wants to paint itself as inclusive by principle.

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    Mute Joey Navinski
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:38 PM

    @Ben McArthur: but the political sect aligns itself with Che and not his ancestors and if homophobia was the norm back then how did his grandfather/great grandfather earn notoriety? Maybe Paul is conferring the notoriety on him himself?

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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:50 AM

    @Nick Allen: Brilliant. Maybe some leftie can go to Cuba or North Korea, open a pub called O’Ches.

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    Mute Dan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:10 PM

    Cant wait for Bertie Ahern on a stamp

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    Mute Niallers
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:18 PM

    @Dan: It won’t stick.

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    Mute Ó Connmhaigh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:21 PM

    @Dan:
    what can you post for €6.66?

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:35 PM

    @Dan:

    Though it will only work on brown envelopes

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:39 PM

    @Niallers: in my best Andy Gray voice “take a bow son”

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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:44 PM

    @Dan: will it cover the cost of posting teabags to st lukes

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:41 AM

    @Niallers: cracking joke!

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    Mute mac.kerel
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:30 PM

    Who’s next? Stalin and Hitler..?

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
    Favourite WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:03 PM

    @mac.kerel: your ma

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:38 PM

    @mac.kerel: ___ It’ll have to be Sh!tler if they’re both on it.

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    Mute Christopher Doyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:02 PM

    @WinSomeLoseSome: maybe Winston Churchill another mass murdered & racist

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:25 PM

    @Christopher Doyle: in all fairness, I never said his ma was a mass murdering racist.

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    Mute John003
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:39 PM

    They should put his full name on the stamp….Che Guvara Lynch….Mothers name was Lynch……..He was no worse than President Obama who had as many people killed in Syria and everybody loves Obama…..

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    Mute John Mc Grath
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:15 PM

    @John003: His mothers name was “Celia de la Serna y Liosa” Spanish aristocracy. His father was Ernesto Guevara Lynch, so his grandfather was Irish.

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    Mute Casper
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:28 PM

    Brilliant this is just pure class well done to an post

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    Mute DeFonz
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:39 PM

    Excellente !! I will buy up a few books and use them to annoy conservatives for years to come

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    Mute Pat Aherne
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    Oct 9th 2017, 8:15 PM

    @Liam Doyle: @Paul J.Trying to draw a response, are we?

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    Mute zippo
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:19 PM

    brilliant, that will pee off all the rightie’s. VENCERAMUS !

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:15 PM

    @Liam Doyle: I appreciate your sentiment, but the foundation of this state was built by revolutionaries who killed, and seen by mass murderers. Many innocents died in the rising.

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    Mute Bobby2001
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:25 PM

    @Liam Doyle: I’d say you probably see yourself as on the left of the spectrum and you probably would be. However, the iconic picture of che is more symbolic in its nature conveying ideals of anti-imperialism, socialism, cultural nationalism, anti-colonialism. Generally ideals that do not find favour with those on the right of the spectrum. Now of course the issue of how che would achieve those ideals is important but of secondary importance to the primary symbolism of the picture. To say you disapprove of the image because che did not go about achieving his ideals (which apparently are on the same spectrum as yours) the way you approve of, would be to ignore or attempt to de-legitimise the multifaceted aspects of the picture.

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    Mute Bobby2001
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:11 PM

    @Liam Doyle: Firstly, to say you “object in the strongest possible terms to violence to further political goals” is borderline illogical, the state itself is premised on the use of violence to protect and further its political aims. You probably meant the arbitrary or unjustified use of violence which is fine but you must at some stage accept the use of violence in furthering political goals. Secondly, you are missing the point I am making, the picture conveys much more than a picture of an individual and his internal character. But you let it slip that you disapprove of his politics in saying “it is fundamental to his character and “politics”" which is completely fine by me, just don’t pretend you somehow agree with the ideals of the left which he tended to represent i.e. the ones I mentioned above. If you disagree with the politics espoused by the image say it out without having to use the “he murdered people” card.

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    Mute Bobby2001
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:37 PM

    @Liam Doyle: That’s cool, I’m not saying your not on the left, though if I were a full blown Marxist I would obviously say you weren’t but lucky for you I’m not. So we’re agreed that you disapprove of the general symbolism of the iconic image (which to be fair to you I will include some unjust killing)?

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:06 PM

    @Liam Doyle: in all fairness, Che Guevara and Hitler aren’t analogous. Stalin and Hitler would be more appropriate.

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    Mute Bobby2001
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:08 PM

    @Liam Doyle: Ah no you ruined what could have been a good debate by using a hitler comparison. Maybe Pinochet could have been a better analogy. But I take your general concerns about the extremism of any ideal, but disagree about the use of the image and its effects and glorification. BTW do conservatives privately espouse hitler?

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    Mute Bobby2001
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:40 PM

    @Liam Doyle: You’re still using the Hitler comparison. I would say 98% of people on the broad spectrum of the right would see Hitler as an extremist, where as probably 40% if even that on the left would see che as an extremist. There not representative.

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:51 PM

    Che was even to radical for Castro. A cold blooded killer who would have destroyed the revolution with his unyeilding views.
    Still it’s a nice piece of artwork, there’s an Irish connection, and will look good as a stamp.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:30 PM

    @Dave Doyle: If you even take a superficial look at who Che Guevara was, you will quickly understand that your assertion is idiotic and shallow. 1958, for example.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:13 PM

    Well done Journal another gaff which your readers didn’t spot, Che Guevara was an Argentinian and not Cuban.

    No Liam I didn’t make that up mate…..

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    Mute Anthony Halpin
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:42 PM

    They should have gone with the Ibrahim Halawa ‘Irish Citizen’ version. Reflects the state of the nation (screwy)

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    Mute Harry Foley
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:17 PM

    Michael Collins in disguise rest in peace both of them

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    Mute Observer
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:45 PM

    It’s a stamp lads!

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    Mute Bennett28
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:51 PM

    Hasta la Victoria siempre

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    Mute Michael
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:31 PM

    Communist murderer.

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:43 PM

    @Michael: interesting to see the word murderer used by people who regard Reagan as a hero. The history of Latin America is a tragic one, with many of the big players totally callous about the lives of the innocent. Che is one of the better ones.

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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:40 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley:
    Didn’t see where Michael described Reagan as his hero – perhaps you can point it out as I seem to have missed it…

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    Mute rob kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:00 AM

    Nobody said the revolution would be a bed of roses. There’s a reason almost every Cuban holds Che in such high regard. Selfless till the last.

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    Mute Ruairi Fahy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:06 PM

    I’ll wait for the Hitler-Mao-Stalin triptych. Sure to be a big seller for all socialists.

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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:36 PM

    @Ruairi Fahy:
    Hitler was a fascist a right wing fanatic, Mao and Stalin where communists. Google socialist then communist and finally fascist now do you see the difference. They are not the same.

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    Mute Ruairi Fahy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:50 PM

    @Gary Kearney: Read your history books not Google. All were socialists. But you knew that anyhow. Seems you want to separate your national socialists from your Marxist socialists.

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    Mute John Mc Grath
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:19 PM

    Killing lots of people is cool we the far left does it man.

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:36 PM

    We’re not even going to point out that he was half Irish?

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:06 PM

    @Ben McArthur: he wasn’t half irish. His surname was lynch but his irish ancestor was a good few generation previous

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    Mute Oisin Tully
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:24 PM

    Rage against the machine had a few decent hits alright but I can’t understand why he gets to be on an Irish stamp

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    Mute John Reid
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:55 PM

    This is a truly awful and most regrettable decision by the Irish state. We should be HIDING any connection (real or imagined) that this murderer of thousands, and brutal dictatorship enabler, Che Guevara, might have had with Ireland; not broadcasting it. I will never buy a stamp with this man’s face on it, I would be ashamed to place his image on any letter I might write and post to another person.

    If you want to get an authentic perspective of what evil men such as Guevara and Fidel Castro were really like (as opppsed to the stupid, sanitised version that we often hear in Ireland), just ask any intelligent Cuban who has escaped Cuba and now lives in countries like Ireland.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:32 PM

    @John Reid: Shallow and uninformed comment. Not that the man was a saint. But he deserves intelligent critique. What are the ‘American’ Cubans going to say, anyway? FFS get real!

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    Mute William Kelly
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:29 PM

    Designed by?
    Should read copied by.
    How much did the ” design work” cost?

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:16 PM

    @William Kelly: It is probably copyright, but does anyone apart from Micky Higgins really care

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    Mute David O'Donovan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:43 PM

    Still can’t believe a stamp is €1

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    Mute Kev Creed
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:16 PM

    It’s times like this makes me wonder I made right decision to move to pastures new…Jesus wept. Bloody far left…

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    Mute Seán Mac Brádaigh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:16 PM

    @Kev Creed: It’s the state actually. The ‘far left’ don’t run An Post!

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    Mute Warren power
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:33 PM

    Your forgetting its an image world famous by an irishman

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    Mute marg fitzgerald
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:45 AM

    Who decided this and why.

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    Mute Remy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:52 PM

    i take it the DCC will be looking to fly the flag of this filthy Commie, Racist, Homophobe and Murderer, O’Guevara.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:34 PM

    @Remy: You are a true, unreflecting, ill-informed idiot. No wonder that Ireland is the shit hole it has become. Go read a book.

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    Mute Remy
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:04 AM

    @Nick Caffrey:

    The fluff piece that is the Motorcycle diaries, or the Communist manifesto? Would ye get a grip ye moron.

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    Mute Counter Punch
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    Oct 7th 2017, 4:50 PM

    Oh, great. Pol Pot stamps next, please.

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    Mute Willie Kavanagh
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    Oct 7th 2017, 10:37 AM

    No reason any longer why An Post cannot print stamps in honour of Stalin, Hitler,Pol Pot, Mao, Hussein, Gaddafi , etc
    After all they were sadistic mass killers just like Guevara. It beggars belief that this organisation is closing dozens of post offices and yet glorifies a sadistic killer whose legacy lives on in present day Cuba, ie a backward, totalitarian state and in the minds of the idiotic looney left who admire and revere this butcher. Sickening.

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    Mute Larry Smierciak
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    Oct 7th 2017, 9:50 AM

    Who’s next? Mao? Himmler? Pol Pot? He murdered hundreds of people for his warped ideology. What is this fixation we have with Marxist terrorists? Certainly not worthy of a stamp, but hey, I’m sure Michael D. Will be thrilled to speak at the unveiling.

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    Mute Pat Aherne
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    Oct 9th 2017, 8:22 PM

    @Larry Smierciak: How about Churchill, Bush or Cromwell?

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:44 AM

    Fun Fact: The image can be used as Fitzpatrick never exercised his copyright in the image.

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    Mute Nick Drake
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:22 PM

    Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat.

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    Mute Aileen Canning
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    Oct 8th 2017, 9:54 AM

    The stamp designs are approved for a year programme which is based on suggestions from the public. The panel evaluating them does include An Post but also others and then approved by the cabinet.

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    Mute Peter Condon
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    Oct 7th 2017, 3:16 PM

    Viva la an post

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    Mute Deano Cracow
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    Oct 7th 2017, 2:41 PM

    Last was prematurely sent. New one without gaps.

    Typical left wing morality. Extollings killers once they accord with their worldview. It is as bad as claiming as Reagan allegedly did about the President of Sudan that he was a son of a bitch but at least he is our son of a bitch. It is widely acknowledged that Guevara was a cruel sociopatic killer. Those in doubt should do some research. Arguably early fake news created the cult of Che. I will admit he had a cool 60′s revolutionary chic look but that was a sympathetic media creation and skin deep.
    Stemming from Soviet days the left always and continues to believe that ideology transcends morality. As a ex leftist I have insight into the non questioning constantly shifting enforced groupthink mentality, We have been fed rubbish about Che by a happily privileged comfortable media crew who like to pretend to be cheaply radical. It’s all talk whilst they don’t practice what they preach.
    The ignorance about the stamp is astounding. I think it is a ill thought out populist gesture that Fintan from the IT would give his tacit approval to.
    (Remember it is Fintan O’T he would only do tacit as he is looking down on ordinary mortals from above)

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    Mute Sue Healy
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:11 PM

    Is this to celebrate an iconic artwork by an Irish artist? Or the subject Che Guevara Lynch’s Irish roots? Or both? DYK the entertainer Katherine Lynch claims to be his distant relative…

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    Mute Ne
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    Oct 8th 2017, 11:11 AM

    A stamp is a proof-of-purchase for postal services. You’re all getting mad about the design of a till receipt.

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    Mute Deano Cracow
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    Oct 7th 2017, 1:41 PM

    Typical left wing morality. Extolling killers once they fits into their worldview.
    It’s worse stating that he is at least our son of a bitch as (I think) Reagan said.
    It is well acknowledged that he was a cruel sociopatic killer . Hero of the left whose ideology always transcends morality. I have some insight into this as I used of a leftist persuasion.
    Clueless decision with the stamp.

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    Mute Eamonn Spelman
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    Oct 7th 2017, 12:47 PM

    Equally it wont be long before we get sean dunne sean fitzpatrick liam lawlor bertie ahern david drumm ray burke denis foley etc stamps.

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    Mute Gabriel Santiago
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    Oct 7th 2017, 6:22 PM

    If it was an Irishman who fashioned this stamp’s image, no doubt he wasn’t sober! If ignorance is bliss, at least history-wise, then the Irish are a happy people; happy & dumb!

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    Mute Pat Aherne
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    Oct 9th 2017, 8:26 PM

    @Gabriel Santiago: Dumb is a compliment to you judging by your comment.

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