I find the use of "liberal" as a shorthand for extreme left really strange. Being liberal means being tolerant of people you disagree with, believing that discussion should be civil and open, and that people shouldn't be bullied.

And you might have all kinds of political viewponts and still be liberal in that sense. It means you don't want to shoot your adversaries down, or shout them down, or send them to jail.

Maybe it's just a matter of arbitrary terminology which differs in various countries. But I can't help believing that there is a political intent to the way the term seems to be used in the USA. It feels as if the idea is to restrict the range of argument, and to suggest that political views which in most democratic countries would be regarded as moderate and centrist, or even right of centre, should be seen as being extreme-left.

Of course other people play word games too. I believe there's a party in Russia that calls itself Liberal Democrat. But in fact, it is what most people in America or England would see as Fascist.