It has always puzzled me that USians reverse the Red/Blue Left/Right convention.
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledgesays
It has always puzzled me that USians reverse the Red/Blue Left/Right convention.
Well, there are no real “red” parties in the US—even in the Good Old Days™ (before the Overton Window started moving right at Warp 10)—the extreme left of the Democratic party would be center-right anywhere else. So Americans don’t really know what “red” means.
I think the “red state” business is just a mnemonic. On audio cables “right is red”, just to make it easy to remember. I think “red is Republican” is the same thing.
lurker in a strange landsays
You may see red octopi, but don’t forget they are surrounded by a sea of blue.
moarscienceplzsays
It has always puzzled me that USians reverse the Red/Blue Left/Right convention.
From Wikipedia: This terminology came into use in the United States presidential election of 2000 on an episode of the Today show on October 30, 2000. According to AlterNet and The Washington Post, the terms were coined by journalist Tim Russert, during his televised coverage of the 2000 presidential election.[1] That was not the first election during which the news media used colored maps to graphically depict voter preferences in the various states, but it was the first time a standard color scheme took hold; the colors were often reversed or different colors used before the 2000 election.
Before the 2000 presidential election, the traditional color-coding scheme was “Blue for Republican, Red for Democrat,”[3] in line with historical European associations (red was used for left-leaning parties).
David Marjanovićsays
red was used for left-leaning parties
Still is (though of course many of them have drifted to the center and beyond). The difference is that European parties choose their own colors, use them like flags, and are frequently referred to by them. Where I come from, “the Blacks” is more likely to refer to conservative brains than to dark skin.
DonDueedsays
You may see red octopi, but don’t forget they are surrounded by a sea of blue.
No, no, no. It’s sky of blue, sea of green.
(In our ochre submarine, ah-ha!)
moarscienceplzsays
(though of course many of them have drifted to the center and beyond). ,/blockquote>
Yeah. Don’t know about other countries, but in the USA these days if you think that billionaires should pay at least a token income tax, you are a hard-core socialist, bordering on full-blown communist.
Demeisensays
(though of course many of them have drifted to the center and beyond). ,
Yeah. Don’t know about other countries, but in the USA these days if you think that billionaires should pay at least a token income tax, you are a hard-core socialist, bordering on full-blown communist.
Even the Heritage foundation’s own healthcare plan is a socialist plot! What has this world come to?!
On a related note, it boggles the mind how the American far-right has managed to invent an absolutist dogma centered around greed-as-virtue and sociopath-as-saint, then get said dogma accepted as a ‘rational’, mainstream political philosophy.
mikeybsays
Cephalopods are way smarter than rethugs or commies. Check this out.
The best octopus is a red octopus, because red is my favourite colour.
I think I read that red octopi breed in redds.
“We carry the membership; we can brook no delay.”
Too Trek-a-zoidal?
The only good octopus is a red octopus!
It has always puzzled me that USians reverse the Red/Blue Left/Right convention.
Well, there are no real “red” parties in the US—even in the Good Old Days™ (before the Overton Window started moving right at Warp 10)—the extreme left of the Democratic party would be center-right anywhere else. So Americans don’t really know what “red” means.
I think the “red state” business is just a mnemonic. On audio cables “right is red”, just to make it easy to remember. I think “red is Republican” is the same thing.
You may see red octopi, but don’t forget they are surrounded by a sea of blue.
From Wikipedia: This terminology came into use in the United States presidential election of 2000 on an episode of the Today show on October 30, 2000. According to AlterNet and The Washington Post, the terms were coined by journalist Tim Russert, during his televised coverage of the 2000 presidential election.[1] That was not the first election during which the news media used colored maps to graphically depict voter preferences in the various states, but it was the first time a standard color scheme took hold; the colors were often reversed or different colors used before the 2000 election.
Before the 2000 presidential election, the traditional color-coding scheme was “Blue for Republican, Red for Democrat,”[3] in line with historical European associations (red was used for left-leaning parties).
Still is (though of course many of them have drifted to the center and beyond). The difference is that European parties choose their own colors, use them like flags, and are frequently referred to by them. Where I come from, “the Blacks” is more likely to refer to conservative brains than to dark skin.
No, no, no. It’s sky of blue, sea of green.
(In our ochre submarine, ah-ha!)
Even the Heritage foundation’s own healthcare plan is a socialist plot! What has this world come to?!
On a related note, it boggles the mind how the American far-right has managed to invent an absolutist dogma centered around greed-as-virtue and sociopath-as-saint, then get said dogma accepted as a ‘rational’, mainstream political philosophy.
Cephalopods are way smarter than rethugs or commies. Check this out.
And I’d think they were anarchists.
@Monkey #14:
All the old symbols and structures are crashing to the ground and burning…
*trying to think of a succinct tag for the combination of sad and ironic*
@13, MikeyB: Yeah. I often feel grateful they only live a year or two. If they lived longer we’d all be their slaves.
They are also solitary, and they don’t have overlapping generations with younger ones learning from older ones. That’s two more things that help us.