Those who followed the Troubles in the mid- to late 20th century may remember as the apparent leader of the Irish Republican Army — president of , functionally the Provisional IRA’s “political wing” (the two organizations insisted that they were separate despite overlapping memberships and objectives). Adams appeared in every way to be an influential member of the movement, to project himself as its spokesman, to be prominent at all the important meetings, and to be consulted in all the important negotiations. Yet he vehemently denied that he was a member of the IRA, the organization in which his father was a member, his paternal and maternal uncles were members, and his mother’s family (the Hannaways) were active for years. He was even interned a couple of times in the 1970s as a suspected senior IRA official — released between stints to join secret talks with the British government. But no sirree, Adams maintained he had nothing to do with the IRA — crazy talk, terrorism smear!
With this in mind, on our podcast last week, I couldn’t help but suggest to Rich Lowry that , the hard-left Democrat running for one of Michigan’s U.S. Senate seats, is “the Gerry Adams of the .”
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