marshall wrote:
The problem is US-centric right-wingers like yourself don't know any real-life leftwing nutjobs so your characterizations fall flat. All you know is the Fox Noise characterization of the left as anyone who votes for a democrat rather than a republican. For instance you don't realize that most far-left people like to distance themselves from Obama and the DNC that are your main targets. You don't seem to realize there are different kinds of "liberals" with different views and they are not exactly alike just because they all fall into a camp that disagrees with your US-centric right-wing stances.
I actually know quite a lot of European left-wingers and the Faux News characterizations are surprisingly accurate descriptions of them. Of course, there are various camps on the left as there is on the right, however it seems that it is much more important to point that out in this thread, than it was for you to point it out in the right-wing thread.
On the "left" you have anything from hardcore communists to anarchist variations, you have social democrats, socialists, social liberals and so on.
On the right on the other hand, we only have laissez-faire, Bible-thumping, gun totin', tea party members who'd like nothing more than to watch your diversely populated left-wing camp burn in Hell, while we all watch from our seats with Jesus and the founding fathers next to us.
No matter how much butthurtness it causes you, if you're going to be honest you have to admit the "right-wing nut-job" stereotype is far more prevalent than the left-wing equivalent in the US. I'd love for somewhat rational people like you and Tequila to represent "the right" but the truth is to American conservatives all you European types are "lefties". Even the most fringe socialists don't have the degree of epistemic closure endemic to the American right. Even some conservatives admit it...
Sorry, the situation really isn't symmetric. If you really want to see some "left wing nut-jobs" you have to go to China and observe the Maoists.