New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg...

...offended Irish-Americans Wednesday night (my emphasis):

...speaking at the American Irish Historical Society, [Bloomberg] said he was used to seeing “people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window” at the society.

“I know, that’s a stereotype of the Irish,” Mr. Bloomberg added, “but nevertheless, we Jews from around the corner think this.” (The society’s headquarters are a short stroll from the mayor’s town house on the Upper East Side.)

Mr. Bloomberg’s comments elicited a mixture of laughter, boos and moans from the crowd of about 100. A report in Irish Central, an Irish-American news site, said the audience was “astonished.”

John Dunleavy, the chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, said the mayor’s words were “outrageous and totally uncalled for.”

Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, called them “surprising and inappropriate.”

Christopher Cahill, the executive director of the society, said he did not believe that Mr. Bloomberg meant to offend. Still, Mr. Cahill said, “there were many people in the audience who would have felt that they were not the remarks that would have been expected.”

The audience was "astonished?" Ms. Quinn was "surprised?" Don't these people have any sense of how the rest of the world views them? Where on earth did Mayor Bloomberg get the idea that Irish-Americans abuse alcohol on St. Patrick's Day (and much of the rest of the year, for that matter)? Could it be ... from the Irish themselves?

As an American of Irish descent, I can honestly say that the stereotype of the alcohol-abusing Irishman exists because it has (more than) some basis in truth.

So if you're an Irish-American and are really offended by Mayor Bloomberg's remarks (or what all of your non-Irish friends are thinking), prove him wrong this St. Patrick's Day. Don't make an ass of yourself on March 17. Instead, why not just go home and have a quiet dinner with your family? (And talk about how fortunate you are that your ancestors immigrated to this country.) Or go volunteer in a soup kitchen. How about taking in a movie? How about anything that doesn't give the rest of the world an excuse to say the kind of things that Bloomberg said.

Instead, imagine people saying, "Boy, those Irish sure celebrate their national holiday with quiet dignity."