Taken the Political Compass test recently?

[Drogue]

Speer: Seems about right to me. I'd probably put Edwards closer to Kerry and Dean, Braun and Gephart further left (Dean and Gephart on employee's rights, Braun on Affirmative Action), but otherwise pretty correct, IMHO. I think Kerry's in about the right place, and Lieberman I'd have as the most right-wing.

[Al B. Sure!]

i got a question about British politics... when they had the Spain train bombing, there was that message going around from Al Qaeda saying if european countries ceased support for US, they wouldn't be attacked. i remember the news shows having the scrolling message, "British opposition leader calls message repugnant" or something like that.

but who's the opposition in England? Aint it the Tories and the Liberal Democrats? if anything, aren't the opposition "our guys" from the Republican perspective as opposed to the Labour party. Aint the Tories and Dems more supportive of America, war on terror, etc. than even Blair?

[Al B. Sure!]

Drogue:

yes lieberman should be the most right... instead, Edwards is ???

and Kerry should be more right wing than Dean and Clark... how the pundits were claiming, them two pushed the democrats (Kerry) to the left so they couldn't be more right wing than Kerry...

[Drogue]

Well, I'd say Dean was left of Kerry, Clarke probably quite close. Both slightly more authoritarian though. Edwards a bit out, but not that far. He was elected by a Southern state, and is more towards the right of the Dems.

As for the UK. The Tories (Conservatives) are in opposition, and Michael Howard is the leader of the opposition. He was Home Secretary under Major (and part of Thatcher's era?). The Tories support the war, and are traditionally more for imposing western values than Labour. However recently they have been against some of Blair's policies, claiming he's mishandled the peace. The Lib Dems are also in opposition, but are the 3rd party. They've been against the war from the start, but don't want to pull the troops yet.

It was Howard who made that comment.

[Al B. Sure!]

Drogue:

so when Fox News, CNN, etc. quoted the opposition, it was kind of silly... for example, if the same thing happened in the US, they'd put up a quote from someone like Dick Gephardt or John Kerry... someone who is opposed to the war... so saying, even the opposition who is opposed to the war finds it disturbing...

using the same example, what the news shows basically did by quoting Howard was like quoting Cheney... right?

silly news shows...

[Drogue]

Nope. Howard's official position is the leader of the opposition. He's not a member of the government, but he's the leader of those in opposition. Hence he sits directly opposite Tony Blair in the House of Commons, and speaks for the Tory party, the largest party in opposition, and the only party really capable of deposing Blair.

To draw a comparison with US politics, imagine that there isn't a President, but that the House Majority Leader is in charge, with a group of other Congressmen. The House Majority Leader is like our PM, Blair. The House Minority Leader would therefore be like our Leader of the Opposition, Howard.

In the UK, both the Government and the opposition, are pro-War, though they disagree about the way the peace has been handled. The people against the war are the 3rd party, the Liberal Democrats, and some Labour MPs.

Fox can quote that even the opposition found it disturbing, but the opposition is more right-wing than the government, over here.

[DRoseDARs]

Economic: -7.38
Social: -5.28

[Maniac]

This time:
Economic Left/Right: -5.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.82

Previous time:
Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.72

[Jethro83]

Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.05

[Blake]

Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.90

Thats almost the same as Gandhi

[MrFun]

WTF is up with the santa cap, Blake?

[bipolarbear]

I'm kinda close to Gandhi or the Dalai Lama

-5.50 econ
-5.33 social

[Mr. President]

Look how far left all you people are

[joncha]

...and you thought I was just roleplaying.

[Mr. President]

I won't make that mistake again.