4 ms·

What does "moderate" mean in this context? From an outside perspective both Biden and Obama have felt extremely moderate for instance.

• skissane 4y ago
  Political labels only have meaning in the context of a given time and place. What’s moderate in one place and time can be extreme in another. What’s right-wing at one place and time can be left-wing at another. (And in both cases, the converse is also true.) Obviously the person you are replying to meant those terms in a contemporary US-centric context - a “moderate” in the US is likely to be a fair way to the “right” by the standards of some countries, and a fair way to the “left” by the standards of others.
• coffeeblack 4y ago
  Both Obama and Biden (and Bush) delivered a couple of wars to the military industrial complex to make trillions of dollars on. If you don’t deliver wars, the media will punish you. That’s what I learned from the past 20 years of U.S. politics.
  • pjc50 4y ago
    The public definitely wanted a war after 9/11. Being anti-war could get you cancelled. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Chicks_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Chicks_controversy
    • coffeeblack 4y ago
      Just like today if you advocated for peace in Ukraine.
      • pjc50 4y ago
        Advocating for surrender in Ukraine will, because that will get a lot of civilians killed, but withdrawal of the aggressor won't. And yes, this is consistent, the US should never have fabricated its pretexts for the Iraq war.
        • coffeeblack 4y ago
          Or publicly stated that it “would depend” on how much the U.S. will help Ukraine. Only a week or so before the Russian invasion. Reminded me of the statement that “the U.S. wouldn’t intervene if Iraq invaded Kuwait” 30 years ago. Again only weeks before the invasion that then gave the reason for the first invasion of Iraq by the U.S. Amazing how often these same tactics work and reliably lead to big sales for the military industrial complex.
    • 18pfsmt 4y ago
      Indeed, the public did/does want war... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent
• treeman79 4y ago
  Both are radicals trying to pose as moderates. Biden is just a puppet these days. Saying whatever’s he’s told to by handlers. That’s been his entire career. How he makes his money.
• weberer 4y ago
  It simply means the respondent checked the "moderate" checkbox when asked.
• jh0486 4y ago
  Great reply from someone else around generational shifts. That essentially answered this for me. To give a troll response: In the current context, I guess it means someone who doesn't live on the internet complaining about issues they do nothing about as if it does something tangible to change the real world.