The Left Wing, On NBC

I wouldn't be gloating over the current complexion of politics in Washington as the pendulum swings back and forth. To state that one side has been "debilitated" in the last four elections admits that the Republicans have been debilitated in the past for many decades.

Blatham, when I mentioned "far, far, left" people and parties in America today, I refer to the communist, socialist, and anarchist parties, organizations, and people that are rampant around our nation. Universities are filled with individuals who are openly socialist.

Are they? Please lay out for us your personal experiences at the universities you have attended. We ought to establish the grounds for your claims, the credibility of them.

I refer to individuals who believe that government is the tool to redistribute wealth from the "rich" to the rest of society. This is socialism, and to some extent communism, at it's purest.

So, you have Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the USA along with many more nations as socialist and to some extent communist? All redistribute wealth.

Look around, watch the news. Thousands demonstrating against the WTO, the Seattle riots, the International Socialist Organization, Democratic Socialist of America, Social Democrats USA, is it so hard to comprehend?
A protest against a trade agreement or regimen is far far left? That includes Pat Buchanan. Have you ever met an anarchist? A troskyite? A marxist/leninist? Ever? Anywhere?

I asked you if there was a far right, or a far far right. Could you answer that question and tell me what those fellows look like.

I also asked you where the center is located, and how you'd describe that. Could you fill us in please.

Blatham, when I mentioned "far, far, left" people and parties in America today, I refer to the communist, socialist, and anarchist parties, organizations, and people that are rampant around our nation. [..] Look around, watch the news. Thousands demonstrating against the WTO, the Seattle riots, the International Socialist Organization, Democratic Socialist of America, Social Democrats USA, is it so hard to comprehend?

Here are a couple of links for you, if you need some more proof. These are merely the sites connected with the last 3 large organizations I mentioned. If their rhetoric sounds agreeable to you, who knows, you may be far, far, left as well.

http://www.internationalsocialist.org/caseforsocialism.shtml

http://www.dsausa.org/dsa.html

http://www.socialdemocrats.org/

Anyone tried to read a novel written by an avowed conservative? Gives a new meaning to pulp fiction.

I asked you if there was a far right, or a far far right. Could you answer that question and tell me what those fellows look like.

I also asked you where the center is located, and how you'd describe that. Could you fill us in please.

(Senator Joseph Liberman being one possible exception.)

Please tell me that you are not mounting a defense of the radical left by trying to point out the existence of a radical right. That is like trying to excuse Pol Pot by saying, "What about Hitler?"

blatham wrote:

I asked you if there was a far right, or a far far right. Could you answer that question and tell me what those fellows look like.

I also asked you where the center is located, and how you'd describe that. Could you fill us in please.

Please tell me that you are not mounting a defense of the radical left by trying to point out the existence of a radical right. That is like trying to excuse Pol Pot by saying, "What about Hitler?"

No, as regards this point, I'm attempting to show you that your terminology has been so imprecise as to be effectively meaningless. Further, that the imprecision allows you to maintain a set of notions about the 'political spectrum' which is historically false. Thirdly, there's the mild hope that you might turn to other and more informed sources for your understanding of American/world politics.
Is there a far, far right? Of course. Are the most extreme members of such a faction deranged, ignorant, sometimes dangerous?
So it appears you are referring to the militia types who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma, white supremicist ideologies, etc. Fair enough. Let's set those as the far far right. Perhaps we could include the extremist christian voices who desire a theocratic government as well. We would still have the category 'far right' to fill in. Could you try that? Specifics groups/individuals would be clarifying.
But that doesn't make the far, far left any more excusable.
If we have on the far far right, folks who will blow up a government building, killing hundreds, or who wish to advance severe racist policies, or who wish government and laws to be trumped by 'biblical authority', what would be the comparable 'left' ideologies? Not MoveOn. Not folks who protest trade agreements or global warming. Not folks who thing government could well operate as is done in Belgium or Canada or the Netherlands.
Add to that the fact that the leftist bias in mainstream media will perpetually harp on these radical organizations, and I say we have the far right problem well in hand. The Aryan Nation is not growing exponentially. But, look at far left groups such as MoveOn.org, could you say the same?
As above...not comparable.

Now I know the leftist peanut gallery will cry foul, as the good "centrists" of MoveOn should never be called "far left". But, the fact remains that they dedicate their every waking moments to opposing every initiative or candidate even slightly perceived as "right", so wouldn't it be fair to say they are firmly in the "left".
Your claims here (other than the last sentence) are exaggerations, and serious exaggerations. If your purpose is merely rhetorical rather than something like a careful analysis, then fine, but why should any of us engage you if that were the case. For example, if you look at judicial nominees advanced by the Bush administration, only 4 out of something like 150 (from memory here) were opposed and the rest were not.
Then, since they champion vulgar demagoguery and are diametrically opposed to all this "right" has to say or even think, is that not far left?
Again, you exaggerate. You have a set of notions about MoveOn, but from where did those notions come? Have you studied the site with any care, or at all? You suggest they are guilty of consistent or universal left-side ideas and demagoguery [impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace], perhaps uniquely guilty. Have you seen the lauding of any left-side ideas at TownHall or NewsMax? Could you point us to them? As to demagoguery, how many sites do you think I might be able to find in ten minutes which forward the alarming notion that allowing gays to marry will not only futher degrade the morality of citizens but will also cause significant damage to the institution of family?

I would say that the center are those who can work with either side of the aisle.
Sure, given that neither side is extremist, of course.
There are a few true centrists in our Congress, sadly they are generally out-shouted by the extremes of both sides. The only problem I have with the whole situation is the fickle, wavering, undecided, rabidly argumentative, passive, weak, feeble, orators and wannabe statesmen that hail from the left and wish to run the most powerful nation on earth.
I would rather have a president who I disagree with on some issues, but who has strength, than one who dithers on ever military decision or international incident, takes polls to decide all domestic policies, and panders to minority voters by blaming all their problems on the so-called rich whites.
Well, this is pretty much a litany of complaints one might find on any rightwing site. Let's look at a few of them. Do you figure that the RNC runs fewer polls than the DNC? If they run the same, or more, what then? Blame everything on rich whites? Could you find even a single quote from a Senator or Congressman where this claim is made?
On the 'dithering' point, I'll need you to back up a bit if possible. We know from Woodward's book that right around the time of 9-11, Rove arrived at Camp David with a list of key words to be used to promote/describe Bush, including "resolute", "leader", etc. Can you recognize the marketing strategy here? Can you imagine the surveys and test groups that preceded that list of words? Can you see how, as a means to differentiate the republican 'product' from the democratic 'product', that it becomes advantageous to describe the dem opposition candidate in opposing terms to 'resolute'? It wouldn't really have mattered at all who the dems put forward, this marketing strategy would have been maintained, with the use of key words...'dither', 'flipflop', 'indecisive', 'weak', etc. Madison Avenue marketing techniques came into US politics during the Eisenhower administration and their presence is far more pervasive now. Because they work. Both sides use them, sure, but you need to gain some objectivity on how it all works in this particular instance; "bold" vs "flipflop". Just as an exercise, read through some instances of administration statements and press releases over the last four years, and underline each instance of "the President's bold...". As citizens, we ought to be alert to what is effectively covert manipulation originating from anywhere.

If there were a Democrat who really was like "President Bartlet", with a couple of strengths added in key areas, I would vote for him. Sadly, there is not.

(Senator Joseph Liberman being one possible exception.)

I would too, if I were American.

Ridge, Pollsters Met During Bush Campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge met privately with Republican pollsters twice in a 10-day span last spring as he embarked on more than a dozen trips to presidential battleground states.

Ridge's get-togethers with Republican strategists Frank Luntz and Bill McInturff during a period the secretary was saying his agency was playing no role in Bush's re-election campaign were revealed in daily appointment calendars obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.

``We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security,'' Ridge told reporters during the election season.