Okay, that's fair enough. I'm not sure if we are getting a good idea of what everyone thinks characterizes the state of being leftish (leftile?).
I'd better warn you that I am kicking myself that I ever entered into this debate because I'm likely to end up saying something foolish. I haven't ever taken the time to educate myself very well politically, much to my shame.
I think the Guardian is lefty because... urm. Well, I guess a significant portion of their comment and analysis section, and their editorial section is written by people who espouse what I think of as "leftish" views... like... Polly Toynbee, or George Monbiot.
In their attitudes towards health provision and other social issues, in their generally wary attitude towards unfettered big business, and in their attitudes towards immigration, they seem to me to be leftic.
Of course, I don't know if my reasons are valid ones. Perhaps other people would strongly disagree that these issues make someone necessarily a person of a leftarian.
But for whatever disagreement there might be, I think most would agree that to find a voice in a national newspaper, they aren't expressing (to UK ears at least) RADICAL sentiments. I guess if people like these were to speak up in the states they would get trampled all over. That's just a guess.
Can I lapse into anecdote? Whoops, I am anyway. I was flabbergasted when I was in the states a couple of years ago by something called something like the O'Reilly (I think thats his name) Factor. It was a section on sex education, and he was saying how sex education and contraception are a really bad idea, because they make kids more promiscuous (or something like that). And then someone pointed out that teenage pregnancy in (possibly) Denmark was significantly lower than in the US, and that their sex eduaction system was like the sex education he was trying to demonise. He didn't have any real answer, but he blustered in what I imagine he thought was an authoratative way. It looked utterly pathetic.
Okay, maybe the guy's figures were wrong: maybe the rate of teen pregnancy in the US is tiny compared to Denmark or whatever. But thats not the point. What was really pathetic was that he didn't attempt to address the facts, he just kept plugging his own view, with total disregard to the data.
Does that have any relevance? I'm not sure. But it does demonstrate how alien different news styles can seem.
I'm not sure what you want exactly. Perhaps best would be for you to look at a couple of comment articles from the Guardian and say what you thought was lefty about them. You might well think they are totally potty. Personally, I think they are fairly moderate, but then I'm biased.
Sorry, that isn't a very satisfactory answer, I know. But I've forgotten the question. Hang on, I've got to look busy again.
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