Peter Casey is a man on a mission. He may claim that this 'mission' is to ostensibly be elected to Áras an Uachtarain - but do not be misled; do not buy into this hype, for it is clear to all that Peter Casey's presidential campaign is little more than an extravagant nozzle crafted to dispense into the world some of the most bizarre political videos of all time.
His campaign has been an incongruous mish-mash of themes and styles. On the one hand there are the heinous statements he has made regarding the traveling community and his opinions on social welfare, which, unfortunately, warrant being directly and legitimately engaged with. This however is beyond the purview of this frothy article, as such, we will direct our attentions to the correlating part of his campaign - the underside of frivolous, faux-cutesy videos created in an attempt to besmirch various aspects of Michael D's presidential conduct.
I ask you to cast your minds back to the distant past of yesterday. Yesterday was a day notable for several reasons, chief among them being the video uploaded to - then removed from, before being uploaded again to - Peter Casey's Twitter account. The content of the video can at best be summed up as exhibiting a level of misplaced jingoism that would make even the most ardent Republican blush. In the video, Michael D was berated for failing to meet, what in my books is, the only really effective benchmark of political competence - having a breed of dog which originate in the country you represent. Michael D has the audacity; the downright nerve, the gumption, to own a pair of Bernese mountain dogs rather than an Irish breed.
Though even if Michael D were to own an Irish setter, or wolfhound, or one of the other dogs more commensurate with superficial nationalism, we get the feeling that this would still not be enough. That it would still not be a loud enough celebration of his Irishness. I imagine that nothing short of requiring each sitting president to own a bodhrán brimming with small, squirming Irish otters, their fur dyed into miniature tri-colours, would placate his fervent desire for presidents to own nationally celebratory pets.
Earlier today Peter Casey released what he promised to be his 'second last video'. Aside from the fact that this very caption seems to allude to the fact that they are being universally poorly received - attempting, as he is, to provide some solace with the thought that the deluge of barely coherent character takedowns is soon set to end - it is equally bizarre in tone as the others. In it he lambasts the president over, what he spins as, points of lavish 'spending'. Now, we need to immediately dial down our expectations of what constitutes 'lavish spending'. Michael D Higgins has not become some sort of Mariah Carey-esque figure. He has not ostentatiously coated the majority of his possessions in gold leaf; he has not purchased an albino tiger-skin; he has not installed a large fondue in the heart of the Aras - so as to provide him with 24/7 access to molten cheese; he has not spattered tax-payers money up the wall enrolling in an elite topiary course. No, the two points that Peter Casey's video seems to pick upon, as indicators of his luxuriant lifestyle is the fact that he used a government Learjet to travel to Belfast, at a cost of around €20,000- an admittedly massively large sum, and two BMWs that were purchased last year.
As for the Learjet, he maintains that he was advised to travel in this way by his office. The second point, that he allegedly purchased two BMW 7-series for a total of €236,000, is presented in the video as if Michael D had swanned down to his nearest car-dealership, thwacked a wad of cash down on the counter, before grabbing the nearest salesman and grumbling into his face in a Danny Dyer-esque voice, "I got cash and lots of it! Now gimme your two biggest and fackin' best motahs or else I'll nut ya! "
2nd last video! Vote No 1. Peter Casey #Aras18 #PeterForPresident #APresidentForUsAll pic.twitter.com/CjZ9dIMgxk
— Peter Casey (@CaseyPeterJ) October 23, 2018
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It is important to clarify a couple of points here. The two cars were purchased in a capacity to be used as presidential vehicles. While spending north of €200,000 on two cars is evidently a lot of money, the previous presidential vehicle was over 12 years old, had some 350,000 miles on the clock and had been deemed no longer fit for use by the Gardaí - according to a presidential spokesperson. Beyond this, the spokesperson also stated that, "At no point did the President issue any request that his car be replaced. All decisions in relation to presidential transport were and remain matters for An Garda Siochana." With the Gardaí confirming that the vehicles, classified as Garda vehicles and thus looked after by the Gardaí, were purchased by Garda Transport Capital funding in 2016, it seems a rather tenuous link to place this at the feet of Michael D.
While there are undoubtedly issues with the lack of transparency in the €317,000 annual expenses granted to the president that are currently not audited, extrapolating from two vehicles being bought for use by the office of the president to Michael D debating whether to buy a yacht is a bit of a stretch.
We look forward with bated breath to see what the final video Peter Casey has planned will contain.
