It's interesting how labels get changed between British/European political usage and 'Murrican parlor-tricks. F'rinstance, Republican wingnuts call all US Democrats "far left," when, of course, they're pretty middle-of-the-road or even moderate-right in European terms. We have no labor party, or even one that regularly supports our labor movement, as an example. So our "conservatives" tend to be truly right-wing, while our "liberals" are center-right, and damned few are more than moderate-left, alas.

So the "village people," the communitarians, are generally the Democratis party, while the European "Liberals" are the American "conservatives," and no one is likely to change their use of these labels. And I, for one, think the tendency of the Republicans, in particular, to string perjorative terms together, such as "tax and spend liberals," is bad for our political life. I can't explain it in a few words, but basically, one party here tends to view governing as continuous campaigning, while the other tends to view campaigning as a struggle to be able to govern. And labels, especially ones that provoke emotions instead of thinking, aren't helpful at all.

Songbob