Caption Contest
 

Yeah, that "socialist" part in their name certainly puts them on the Right. What, if anything, did they do that you would characterize in any way as being part of the Right?

ETA As to the larger point, I admire the ACLU for its stands sometimes, almost always on the general 1st amendment rights stuff.

Place your bets
 

Last week something said Kerry pulled out of Va. conceding it. Who is to say.....

OBL Dead?
 

This blog, to which your blog links for a counterpoint -- comes to the opposite conclusion.

And makes fascinating reading.

http://windsofchange.net/archives/005756.php

S_A_M

Place your bets
 

Kerry pulled some staff out of VA and sent them to Ohio. He still has as many staff in Virginia as Bush does; on top of that, he has Mark Warner, the Gov., doing a full court press. That's the big reason why Virginia is so surprisingly strong.

If Kerry wins with Virginia in the D column, Mark Warner will be Edwards principal competition for the face of the Dems in the South, and almost certainly a future Presidential candidate.

Edwards is the obvious reason North Carolina is in play; he probably has enough strength to make it close, but a win would be surprising. Tennesse and W.Va., of course, are traditional swing states, but states Bush thought he'd already put away.

Caption Contest
 

They are fascists, and fascists are conventionally depicted as being to the far right end of the political spectrum.

Of course, in many practical ways the Nazis aren't too different from the totalitarian socialists of the old Soviet Union, the old China, et al.

This implies both that (1) the political spectrum is essentially, a cylinder (or a continuous band, if you prefer), and (2) the far right and far left "mainstreams" in America are essentially mirror images of each other well towards the center.

We make such a huge deal over many differences which are, in the end, only small differences in degree. Nader is correct about this, at least.

S_A_M

Ty, you'll need to rally your blogger cites
 

I think the Picasso parable works here. Interesting account of Tora Bora.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0304/p01s03-wosc.html

And on Nov 29, Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC's "Primetime Live" that, according to the reports that were coming in, bin Laden was in Tora Bora."I think he was equipped to go to ground there," Mr. Cheney said. "He's got what he believes to be a fairly secure facility. He's got caves underground; it's an area he's familiar with."


But it's irrelevant because W has said we don't have to worry about OBL anyway.

Caption Contest
 

Agreed that the far left and far right are essentially mirror images of each other in some ways. I'm just questioning how the convention came to depict them at the far right of the spectrum. Except for Mussolini getting the trains to run on time, those people share nothing with people like Buckley. Take out the hatred and elbow-room stuff, and you have run-of-the-mill socialism run amok.

Caption Contest
 

Buckley, of course, has often described himself as a liberal - in the original, 19th century use of the term.

First, not much socialist about them - they very much allied with large industry in Germany, not against it. It is that alliance with big business and their rapant nationalism, both characteristic of the right in the 1930s, that earned them a label as right wing. Also their strong opposition to the left (cf. Spanish Civil War).

Yes, conservatives today have different views of the world than conservatives did in the 1930s, and a libertarian and Nazi are at least as far apart as an anarchist and a communist. Still, if you think all conservatives in the world are libertarians, I'd recommend a visit to Europe, South America or South Africa.

Caption Contest
 

Which more than anything shows that the labels have been skewed to the point of meaninglessness. As for the Spanish Civil War, that was ultimately Russian-centric nationalism cloaked in Soviet Internationalsim for the most part on the left. So I don't really see that "nationalism" angle distinguishing any philosophy from another; rather, it only distinguishes the propoganda they sold to the masses.

And big business in cahoots with the G? How different is that from the G being the big business? Not the Right of the ancients or the moderns by any measure.

Hello

Inappropriate Behavior
 

Condi Campaigning

People do all kinds of things to save their jobs.

But somehow, we aren't seeing Colin Powell on the hustings. Even though he is arguably in a more political position.

Caption Contest
 

I know you don't post on the FB, but I think you should go make this your debut. Might liven things up a bit.

Caption Contest
 

Taxwonk has been peaceful. Snarky, but peaceful.

Caption Contest
 

I disagree.

I think Fascism is depicted as "on the right" or, rather, "way off to the right" because it generally includes as a matter of core philosophy strong elements of jingoistic nationalism and xenophobia. Its economic policies, etc. were also infused with a corporatist/statist mix of the state supporting large industry.

Fascism has nothing of the class-based "universal brotherhood of man" model essential to socialist and communist theory. It also generally doesn't centralize and redistribute property.

S_A_M

Kerry on the war on terror
 

he said modestly.

Good news from the 22nd Congressional District
 

From Kos