Quote:
Originally Posted by YOhio
I think the only one who appears to be offended by the use of political language is Ma'ake.
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LOL - actually I cooked up the OP as a potential (mostly facitious) rant for a newspaper, you know, something to stimulate debate.
But in catching up with the thread, a couple of observations about rightside labels
- religious right = social conservatives; RR is term they apply to themselves, ala "Moral Majority"
- NeoCon = self-label for a particular foreign policy school of thought (I grant this term is used negatively, mostly based on the results)
- Taliban wing = rarely used; Dems universally avoid this offensive term, excepting a few radicals who vote Democratic (who otherwise view the Dems as being sell outs, ie, the left side equivalent of libertarians.)
Another put-down from the right to the left - "Socialism" and "Socialist". American liberals are no more socialists than the right wing of the GOP are social darwinists. For example, terming Dem healthcare reform proposals as "socialized medicine" would technically mean the government would purchase hospitals outright. *Nobody* on the American left makes this suggestion.
Another example - Ted Kennedy labeled as "socialist", while he would neither use the term for himself, nor would genuine socialists (of which there are an infintesimally small number in the US) consider Kennedy as one of their own.
It's just another gratuitous slam, without merit, really.
I'm calling it as I see it, though I'm not too exorcised about it. "It is what it is".