Right Wing vs. Left Wing: a Note on terminology

Recently, in a piece on the Roberts Supreme Court nomination, I heard an NPR reporter refer to prochoice and antichoice (my words, and a most objective description, surely both sides would have to acknowledge) advocates as “left wing and right wing groups”. I recognize that NPR must be terrified of being attacked against by the fascists in Congress who are not content to control merely the private corporate airwaves, but is it really balanced reporting to refer to those trying to preserve 30 years of case law as “left wing?” Especially when the other side bases their position on their vision of a religious fundamentalist theocracy, how is it possible to justify this “left wing/right wing” paradigm?

It is unfortunate that NPR and the rest of the media cannot or will not be intellectually honest enough to admit that, for all intents and purposes, there is no “left wing” left in America. There is a liberal or progressive wing; there is a moderately liberal (and in the current crisis quite useless) wing; there is a conservative wing (although their voice in the GOP has been shut down because they can’t raise as much cash as the rlght wing); and then there are those whose goal is to destroy the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution, an extreme right wing position if ever there was one.

There’s a great bit by Lenny Bruce explaining separation of church and state. Everyone should hear it. I’ll try to find out the name of the bit. I probably cannot post it here due to copyright considerations.