Michele Bachmann

[MarionCole]

Your point is?

Bachmann is crazy for all sorts of reasons, and she goes too far here, but she is on the right lines. Indeed, Merkel, Cameron, Sarkozy and all sorts of other leaders have made speeches saying more or less the same thing.

Western culture offers a better way of life, moral code, and societal norms than many other cultures. That is not to say it is not without deep problems, nor that we cannot learn from others - but we broadly have the right values, and we should certainly make adherence to those values a test for anyone who wants to settle here.

It is not just the obviously barbaric practices which are the problem. (Though it should be said that there are some on the left, such as Ken Livingstone, ready to embrace extremists like Sheikh Qaradawi, even though he supports female mutilation and all sorts of other evils, in the name of multiculturalism). It is the wider sense amongst some (perhaps large subsections of) cultures that they are not "part", that they can be distinct, together with a desire to force Britons to adopt their own, often rather abhorrent values - attitudes deeply rooted in the culture of the societies in which they originate - which is at the root of the inevitable failure of multiculturalism.

Of course, it is possible to live in isolation in the West if you do it quietly and without causing fuss - hence, no-one cares about the almost Amish-style lifestyle of certain orthodox Jewish communities.

Ultimately, it is about values. The positive aspects of having so many different people from so many difference places are self-evident - the cuisine, the dance, the music - and indeed, we should welcome these positive aspects of exposure to different cultures.

However, we should not let these things fool us into believing multiculturalism is a success, in terms of societal cohesion, for a second. These benefits are largely confined to a narrow section of the middle class.

Not all values are equal. We should be far more vocal in saying so.

Multiculturalism means 'no culture' it has been a resounding disaster, with many of the indgenonous English pushed out of areas to make room for other cultures. We have our own distinct culture,history and heritage, and if people from other countries don't want to embrace it then they shoud 'sod off!'. Saying that most people from third world countries won't do that, they will instead set up their own cultures here in Britian. How this country can be called multicultural is beyond me, 98 percent of the country are white British, no it's politicians who like to embrace this term, to make you think, oh well we are all in it together. There has been far to much pandering to minority groups at the expense of those born here and I mean 'everyone born here'. The rise of the far right ha a direct link to mass immigration and the Labour parties attitude of pissing over any of the working classes who have raised concerns, i.e. Mrs. Duffy. It's a great country isn't it?

Idiot. The history, culture, and heritage of Britain is, in fact, multicultural - moreso than many other european nations.

tossa, oh sorry ttosca, if anyones an idiot it's you, this country has been anglo saxon for. 17,000 years. Perhaps you thought you lived in Brazil which is multicultural!

I'm not sure where you get your figures from complimentary.

"What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last glacial period. The region has numerous remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age, such as Stonehenge and Avebury. In the Iron Age, England, like all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth, was inhabited by the Celtic people known as the Britons, but also by some Belgae tribes (e.g. the Atrebates, the Catuvellauni, the Trinovantes, etc.) in the south east. In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Romans maintained control of their province of Britannia through to the 5th century."

The Anglo Saxons then came in from Germany. There weren't any Anglo Saxons 17000 years ago.

Then 500 years later the Normans invaded.

Then we had the Hugenots, then the Jews, then Commonwealth and then European immigration.

So the result is that 12.5% (England) or 8% (Great Britain) of the population are 'non-white' and a fair few of the White will not be British or English, and none of them are Anglo Saxon, as they pretty much entirely merged with the Normans.

I think complimentary made a typo, but she meant 1700 years, since about 400 AD. I think the majority of English people are Germanic Anglo-Saxons. Other immigrants came in smaller numbers and many only in the past 60 years out of 1700 years. The Normans arrived in small numbers and were actually Vikings, and Vikings belong to the Germanic family of languages. Even France took its name from the Franks, who were a Germanic tribe.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-396635/Were-German-How-herr-raising.html

Yes I did make a typo! But you get my drift..........

Claig do you think this woman Bachmann has a chance of getting anywhere? It appears Sarah Palin seems to have dropped of the radar. Or has she?

I don't know. I haven't been following it closely. I heard it said that Bachmann is a lawyer and is supposed to be cleverer than Sarah Palin. So I googled Bachmann, and she didn't come across as very clever to me. I prefer Sarah Palin. Not only is she clever, but she also has star quality, which makes the people like her and the progressives dislike her.

But either of them is better than the progressives. Apparently Bachmann has described global warming as a hoax, but I prefer Palin's description of climate change science as 'snake oil science'. They both seem to know their stuff.

Mad as a box of frogs apparantly

Yes she is too aligned to the evalengelical movement and seems inflexible. I think Sarah Palin is more of a politician and can adapt her positions. But everyone is hyping Bachmann over Palin at the moment.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003611/Bachmann-vs-Palin-How-Michele-edge-Sarah.html

Newsnight gave her some positive publicity a while back. I wouldn't be surprised if the progressives are jumping for joy, since I think Palin would pose a greater challenge to them.

Slug. Who knows what went on in the bogs? I take these reports with a pince of salt, perhaps she felt threatened by their bovver boots and dungarees!

Bachmann started out on the left as a Democrat, when the evangelicals backed Democrat Jimmy Carter. I wonder if she is all that she seems, or is in fact a progressive's dream.

The Guardian has an article describing her as "queen of the Right" and Newsnight implied that she was clever. We know the progressives don't like Palin. I think that shows that Palin is the one who really threatens them.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/michele-bachmann-queen-of-the-right?INTCMP=SRCH

Bachmann according to wikipedia was a Democrat when she first married, then when reading Gore Vidals book 'Burr' she felt he was 'mocking the Founding Fathers' and 'realised' she must be a Republican. Wikipedia has plenty to say about her.wikipedia.org/wikimichelebachmann.

Thanks, complimentary.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Bachmann

'She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel, Burr: "He was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought, I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.'

Doesn't sound very convincing to me. You would have thought there were much better reasons such as freedom, liberty , education, taxes etc.

However, she has done some great things for the people, and it sounds like she is with the people and not with the progressives. There are not many like her.

'Light bulbs

Bachmann introduced the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, which would require a GAO report show that a change to fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) would have "clear economic, health and environmental benefits" prior to enforcement of lighting efficiency regulations that effectively ban conventional light bulbs. Bachman argued, "Each light bulb contains between 3-6 milligrams of mercury. There's a question about how that mercury will fill up our landfills, and also if you break one in your home, you'll have mercury that instantaneously vaporizes in your home. That poses a very real threat to children, disabled people, pets, senior citizens. And I just think it's very important that Americans have the choice to decide, would they like an incandescent or a (CFL)?"'

The more I read about her, the better it gets.

'Bachmann has charged that global warming is a hoax[57] and has been a vocal skeptic of global warming.'

'Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America?s financial sector.'

'Bachmann supported an alternative bail-out for the Big Three and the rest of the auto industry rather than the plan that passed.'
So she was in favour of a bail out for the automotibve industry and wanted to save people's jobs.

'In 2009, Bachmann became a critic of what she characterized as proposals for mandatory public service.[21] Speaking in reference to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion to AmeriCorps (a federal community service organization), she said in April:

It's under the guise of?quote?volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government. ...
I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.[81]'

Claig. The more I read of this woman, the more I like her! Pity we don't have anyone like her in this country! Goodnight.

complimentary, you're right. But the times they are a changing. All bitter winters come to an end, and Spring renews life on earth. A new broom will sweep clean.

If Palin or Bachmann win in America, then the global warming hoax will be over worldwide and the world will change dramatically. Never give up hope. Humanity will always win, the people cannot be put down. Goodnight.

Bachman is an idiot (whose husband runs a clinic that claims to turn gay people straight through 'therapy' and prayer) -- like the rest of the tea party she speaks in code.

When she makes references to middle class suburban youth rioting in France she is actually talking about black youth in the US, harkening back to the spectacle of black people rioting in American cities in the late 60s. The message is the same as the infamous Welfare Queen thread of one of Ronald Reagan's election campaigns, which was an invitation to the redneck element of American society to indulge its deepest and most reprehensible feelings towards black people.

The tea party got its impetus from a residual hatred and suspicion of black people among sections of society that found it incomprehensible and utterly appalling that a black man would be elected President. (Hence the Birther movement, the uncivil interruption of Obama's State of the Union address by Joe Wilson..)

Oh don't worry Claig, et al, Palin is still out there, riling up the 'folks' and encouraging the sort of extreme and intemperate feelings that inspired the man who shot at Gabrielle Giffords and killed a small child.

With a bit of luck, she and Bachman will succeed where generations of Democrats have failed, in effecting the destruction of the Republican Party. Those of the GOP who went to school beyond the tenth grade and can therefore understand something of the Constitution and basic economics, and who have a reverence for parliamentary procedure and understand the fact that American politics is (1) the art of the possible and (2) a matter of negotiation and compromise in a system where checks and balances are the name of the game, were embarrassed by the tea party in the recent Debt negotiations. The sight of the tail wagging the dog as it did in Congress last week had many Republicans wondering if jumping on the back of the tiger was worth it.