Michele Bachmann: "Not All Cultures Are Equal" (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

Rep. Michele Bachmann caught the national spotlight recently when she told MSNBC's Chris Mathews that Barack Obama "may have anti-American views."

Although Bachmann's statement may have come as a surprise to people outside her home district in central Minnesota, she has a history of making statements that are inflammatory, controversial, questionably informed and that require further explanation. Until now, the most famous of those was her assertion that there was a plan already in place to partition Iraq and give half of it to Iran. She later said her comments had been "misconstrued" but did not elaborate.

One comment she has never explained came during a debate she had while running for Congress the first time in November 2005. Prompted by a question on the rioting in France and Europe at the time, Bachmann said "not all cultures are equal, not all values are equal," letting it be known that she thought that people of the Muslim faith had an inferior culture to that of the United States and the West.

She held forth on the European unrest, referring to a generation of unassimilated Muslim French youth addicted to cable television, led in her imagination by al Jazeera to wreak havoc. Yet it was Bachmann who seemed entranced by cable news. Her knowledge of what was actually happening in France seems to have come entirely from a FOX news-style script. In fact, the unrest was no jihad, had nothing to do with religious faith or Muslim culture or al Jazeeera. It was more akin to the riots in the U.S. for expanded civil rights in the 1960s or those that followed from the Rodney King police beating in Los Angeles in 1991. The European riots came after two suburban youth were killed in a police chase. The unrest centered on decades of discrimination that had manifested itself, for example, in school acceptances and hiring practices and police force racial profiling.

Bachmann's statements on the matter have not been seen outside of that debate room until now. Here is exclusive video from The UpTake.

Minnesota Republican 6th Congressional District Debate sponsored by the Taxpayers League- November 2005.

Moderator: Given the recent rioting in France that is the result of a sub-culture that has not assimilated, what would you do to make sure that a similar situation does not take place in America?

[...]

Michele Bachmann: I just want to say only in France, only in France could you have suburban youth rioting because the welfare benefits aren't generous enough. And that's... That's what they're telling us now is happening there. And only in France could that happen.

And what we're seeing is just the fruits of leftism. It's suburbanites, the kids, that are watching cable TV, Did you know that? In a lot of these high rises where a lot of the suburban youth are doing writing or doing they have cable TV in their apartments. They're listening to al Jazeera, and they're being encouraged and prompted to go ahead and start these riots all over France.

There is a movement afoot that's occurring and part of that is whole philosophical idea of multi-cultural diversity, which on the face sounds wonderful. Let's appreciate and value everyone's cultures. But guess what? Not all cultures are equal. Not all values are equal.

And one thing that we're seeing is that in the midst of this violence that's being encouraged by al Jazeera and by the jihadists that's occurring, is that we are seeing that those who are coming into France -- which had a beautiful culture -- the French culture is actually diminished. It's going away. And just with the population of France they are losing Western Europeans and it's being taken over by muh...by a Muslim ethic. Not that Muslims are bad. But they are not assimilating.

And that's what I had mentioned in my previous response is that America is a great nation, with great values. We are equal opportunity for all. And it's because we all came here and we came together as one. Out of many one. Multi-cultural diversity says out of one many. And if we go with tribalism we will not long be one nation united under God.

Comments

[Janel]

Don't know if anyone is watching this post, but tonight (10/31) Michelle Bachman declined to appear on our local premier program, "Almanac," so her opponents had free reign to share their views.

Obviously, Congresswoman Bachman is worried. . .and she should be!!

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow! Well there you have it. The truth as she sees it! Ah, got to love it! I think we should have more people like her speaking out -- sharing her values and viewpoints to the masses, that way we can just weed them out on election day.

[victorsays]

Assimilation vs. Acceptance:

Which should come first? This is the fundamental difference between how conservative and democrat approach people.

Conservatives want people to assimilate before they will accept them.
Democrats will accept them and HOPE they assimilate and be a part of the culture..

Conservative want people to meet their demands before talkng them ie. Bush-Cheney foreign policy.
Democrat will talk to them to achieve their demands.

Conservative denies people of their dignity and humanity.
Democrat place their hope on people's dignity and humanity.

[InspiredbyObama]

WOW, did she and Palin go to the same schools??? *shaking my head*

[akena]

Dear Ms. Bachman, you should know that when the french lived [uninvited] in Tahiti, Vietnam, Haiti,
Algeria, Cameroun and all points in between, they NEVER assimilated into the higher
cultures that they met in these countries. You are welcome.
Akena.

[parryisle]

Perhaps this loonie toon should define what constitutes "anti-America" sentiments. Was it 'pro-America" for our elected leaders to lie us into this war in Iraq? Or those who love this war hoping it will last for a century and result in "victory?" How will this be accomplished? Will we manage to get Al Qaeda to surrender as happened aboard the USS Missouri in 1945 to end Woeld War 2? Since they are a globally dispersed gang will bin Laden's surrender mean all those who support his agenda also simply throw in the towel? Let's get real and finally come to the sad reality that Bush/Cheney and their Neocon advisors have entangled us into an unwinnable war against Islam's billion plus adherents which will never end.

[tm dover]

this story may be old news now, but please read my posting on blue state, diverse patriotism.

[joeyfoto]

By the way, in case anyone is interested, despite Michele Bachmann's massive ignorance and bigoted mischaracterization, French culture is not going away. Just thought I'd mention it...

[FirstShirt]

Well now, isn't that special. Their "culture" seems to change with the season. Their country wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the blood of american patriots who saved them from themselves not once but twice.

[joeyfoto]

If you knew nothing about Michel Bachmann and your heard this presentation you might be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. You'd have to acknowledge that she knows nothing about France or the situation of the immigrants who live in high-rise suburban slums and believe that there is zero opportunity to integrate themselves into a French culture where they clearly are not wanted or welcome. But lots of Americans know nothing about anyplace foreign because they don't go anyplace foreign or when they do they don't stay any place foreign or meet anyone foreign. In that, she reflects the ignorance of her audience. A Dutch, Swiss or even a Greek audience would have stopped her mid-sentence to correct her mischaracterization of the situation in France... but, be that as it may, when you do know that she is a Fundamentalist right-wing Christian fanatic who sought to ban the movie 'Aladdin' from her school district, hearing the phrase "not all cultures are equal." has an entirely different and far more unpleasant ring. We can only hope that parsing the words of Congresswoman Bachmann will not seem so important after the 4th of November.

[Star2000dancer]

Bachman & Pelosi need to go.

[kendal]

I can"t decide who is the more incoherent--Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin. Neither woman has mastered the apparently demanding art of the complete sentence; perhaps this is intentional as it allows both to defend their blunders as misinterpretations by a hostile media.

[truthupontruth]

Rep. Bachmann ought to read a Pennsylvanian's take of the history of European culture: How Islam Created The Modern World, by Mark Graham, http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=813 . As everyone knows, history is always written by the winners. So why is the history of any culture outside Europe dismissed for about 1000 years prior to the Renaissance, as if no other culture travelled, communicated, studied or did anything worth remembering? The truth is out there!

[Pam95650]

Holy crap, I need to hide under my bed!!

[trace800]

This is now the second time I have seen her comment posted this way.
She says - Barack Obama "may have anti-American views."

What they leave out is that she also added that all of congress needed to be question to see if they have anti-American views.

This statement is more damaging because it includes a group of people not just one. Which begs the question does she stop with congress or begin going state by state to see who may have anti-American views. That the real scary part!!

[eggman]

Actually she specified that "the media" should look at the associations of members of Congress to filter for "anti-American" views. Not exactly like McCarthy hearings.

I'm sure it doesn't dawn on Bachmann that many right-wing religious and political leaders have said or done things that are "anti-America," such as Todd Palin's membership in a separatist group, Southerners who celebrate the flag of their region's secession, and evangelists who suggest that 9/11 or Katrina were God's punishment of America for liberal sins. McCain is friends with G. Gordon Liddy, an unrepentent felon guilty of crimes designed to undermine democracy.

[JFaye]

What is more disturbing than Michele Bachmann herself, is the "culture" of voters who elected her into office. Amazing and equally depressing ...

[Americanium]

I've seen this lady a lot on Larry King..she always has this silly grin on her face as if it was tattooed on.

At the sight of her face I always reach for my remote so I never got to hear what she has to say.

Fortunately for me, my inner biological sensor was registering zero for her.

[FirstShirt]

I know the grin. It is the same as the grin and laugh of the democrats making light of William Ayers and the other close associates of Obama, a man who couldn't pass the background check to be a Secret Service Agent.