Point of pride: Irish far right is insignificant.

[Earnest]

Our Cabinet consists of elected representatives, unlike the Commission. They have no mandate directly from the people.

The Commission consists of people who have been nominated by governments who have a mandate from the people of their respective countries.

Of course, it would be possible to amend the treaties in order to have a Commission composed entirely of MEPs. Then the European Parliament would be more powerful and the European elections more influential, and national governments correspondingly less powerful. Would you prefer that?

[sondagefaux]

Because voting down the entire Commission would mean ditching the good with the bad - and therefore is a power less likely to be used than a power to block individual Commissioners.

Even though the fact that it was threatened once was enough to get the Santer Commission to resign en masse.

the imperative for the EU to have an executive comes first.

The facts don't support that. Several nominees have been rejected (or withdrawn rather than face certain rejection) and an entire EU Commission resigned rather than face censure.

How many times has an entire US Cabinet been forced to resign by the legislature?

[sondagefaux]

The Commission consists of people who have been nominated by governments who have a mandate from the people of their respective countries.

Of course, it would be possible to amend the treaties in order to have a Commission composed entirely of MEPs. Then the European Parliament would be more powerful and the European elections more influential, and national governments correspondingly less powerful. Would you prefer that?

Maybe he'd prefer each Commissoner to be directly elected by the voters in each country.

That way the French could elect an Agriculture Commissioner with a mandate to represent the interests of French farmers.

Maybe we could have pan-EU elections for EU Commissioners.

27 separate elections obviously since voting for them as a group wouldn't suit him.

[Earnest]

Maybe he'd prefer each Commissoner to be directly elected by the voters in each country.

That way the French could elect an Agriculture Commissioner with a mandate to represent the interests of French farmers.

Maybe we could have pan-EU elections for EU Commissioners.

27 separate elections obviously since voting for them as a group wouldn't suit him.

But who decides that the French should elect an Agriculture Commissioner? What if two countries elect a person who is best fitted to be Agriculture Commissioner, and one of them has to end up as Commissioner for something he/she is totally unsuitable for?

[sondagefaux]

But who decides that the French should elect an Agriculture Commissioner? What if two countries elect a person who is best fitted to be Agriculture Commissioner, and one of them has to end up as Commissioner for something he/she is totally unsuitable for?

Better ask FT. I'm happy with the current system - just putting forward some of the possibilities for direct election of commissioners for him to choose from.

Each country could rotate portfolios.

That way Ireland would get to elect the Agriculture Commissioner every 135 years.

[Sue Donim]

Is that my post you are replying to?

No - the thread title. When something is pushed underground, by the very nature of its enforced abode you can't see it, so may be misguided enough to believe it doesn't exist. Suffice to say I am of the view that this thread stems from that all too common misconception. The right awaits its time in the sun, until then it will continue to be invisible to the left as they (the left) applaud themselves for pushing it underground.

This post is not to be taken as indiciative of support for extreme right wing views, as I am merely seeking to offer an alternative explanation for the lack of an open extreme right movement in Ireland (and no, before some of you leap to the all too obvious punchline, it isn't FG ).

[sondagefaux]

Yes, that is one of the issues discussed in the book 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution' by Harpending and Cochran. They were co-authors of the paper 'Recent Acceleration of Adaptive Evolution'.



Human Evolution Is Speeding Up - ScienceNOW


Human Culture Plays a Role in Natural Selection - NYTimes.com

Interesting article in Time that shows just how much environmental and lifestyle factors can affect intergenerational development.

Epigenetics, DNA: How You Can Change Your Genes, Destiny - TIME

It seems that any biological determinist arguments that people are doomed to their genetic fate are false.

[An Gilladaker]

We have fought oppression for 600 years, the Penal Laws and Cromwell are ingrained in our conscious and subconscious minds, we as a nation are not idiots. We are fair minded and don't and won't accept Nazis.

Have we

[FutureTaoiseach]

We have fought oppression for 600 years, the Penal Laws and Cromwell are ingrained in our conscious and subconscious minds, we as a nation are not idiots. We are fair minded and don't and won't accept Nazis.

Immigration-control had nothing to do with how the Nazis came to power and any attempt to claim otherwise is a lie. If a multi-ethnic melting-pot like American can passionately debate immigration without fascists coming to power, then so can the Irish. Closing down debate only risks channelling concerns that would otherwise be expressed constitutionally into unconstitutional modes of expression.