Conservative or Liberal?

I mentioned this post over at Opinione in my previous post, but feel it deserves special mention on its own.

Opinione discusses how the terms liberal and conservative have different meanings depending one where one is in the world. He also points out that: "Looking at Barack Obama from a European perspective, the only issue Obama is considered a liberal on is the support and endorsement of liberalism as an economic model and his liberal support of continuing the perpetual use of military power."

Opinione also says that "After spending a considerable amount of time of living in Italy, it is safe to say that even the most liberal American politician would be a candidate from the conservative polity party of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy or the political party of Pier Ferdinando Casini and the Union of Christian Democrats." One doesn't need to go to Italy or other Continental European country to see that the US is far more right wing than Europe. One can go to The United Kingdom to see that even the Conservatives would seem liberal by US standards.

I have to admit that I find it amusing at the misuse of the term "liberal" in US politics. Even more amusing is the abuse of the term "socialism". Fortunately, it is quite easy to get the American public to work against their own self interests.