PARTISAN SCREAM MACHINE

The riots in France have been drastically reduced, some say, thanks to emergancy measures implemented by the state. This is important because now it is time to bring the fringe groups into the debate. After period of calm, grievences can more effectively be aired. I don't profess to know all about the state of French society. What I do know is that the immigrant populations have been largely marginalized. Should European-descent French capitulate and acknowledge a deep cultural divide that cannot be bridged? Yes, says Paul Belien:

Those media that tell us that the rioting “youths” want to be a part of our society and feel left out of it, are misrepresenting the facts. As the insurgents see it, they are not a part of our society and they want us to keep out of theirs.

Please read this piece if you can. Samuel Huntington is probably posting it on his wall right now. Belien seems to believe that there is no hope for compromise because of deep-rooted cultural difference between the immigrant minorities and the European French. This is not about getting one group "in" to society and culture by assimilation. This is about getting the groups "in" to the civic debate. I'm very sure that parliamentary procedure can resolve many of these issues.

Oh and by the way:

"The concept of French identity remains rooted deep in the country's centuries-old culture, and a significant portion of the population has yet to accept the increasingly multiethnic makeup of the nation. Put simply, being French, for many people, remains a baguette-and-beret affair."

Vive la France.