'Moderates'

John Sopel, the BBC’s North America News Editor on the news  last night described the problems Joe Biden was having getting climate change measures past ‘moderate’ Democrats. Thus a ‘moderate’ is somebody like Senator Joe Manchin, the in-hock-to-coal retard from West Virginia. Where does that leave Joe Biden? Is he now a hard-leftist Corbyn-style loony? Perhaps it was a slip of the tongue, given that most people would describe Biden as being ‘moderate’ to his roots (if not out-and-out rightwing, judging by his record). Language matters, Mr Sopel, tidy up your act! Joe Manchin is not a moderate—he’s basically holding the world to ransom for his local fossil fuel buddies. What’s moderate about that? The Guardian uses slightly different language—Manchin is described as a ‘centrist’ in its columns. In which case let's all damn ‘moderates’ and ‘centrists’ - they are the new scum (as Labour Party deputy leader, Angela Rayner now wouldn’t say, having apologised for describing Tories in such terms). Do these labels matter? They certainly do, if they set the bounds of acceptability. I must now apologise for describing Senator Joe Manchin as a 'retard.' I was merely being polite.