Professor Reynolds has a link to a BBC story on more incipient revolution in Iran. It's an interesting story, but what caught my eye were these two sentences:

The reformists believe the next step will be the prosecution of numerous reformist deputies on economic corruption charges as part of a right-wing scheme they believe is aimed at bringing the parliament down.

and

While the right-wingers accuse the liberals themselves of trying to precipitate just such a development as part of a plot to overthrow the Islamic system and to save their own political lives.

Just what is it that "right wing" means in the context of an article about Iran? Does it mean that they want school vouchers? That they favor fewer restrictions on the right to bear arms? Do they want lower taxes? Are they opposed to growth in the mullah-run government? What?

And does it mean that the reformers are "left wingers"? Probably not--this is not a phrase often used in the press, other than in "right-wing" media, like Reason or the National Review. In the editorially-condoned jargon, "crazy extremists" are "right-wing," while their opposite extremist counterparts are "mainstream." Often, they're even the editorial staff...

Some have pointed out that such concepts as "left" and "right" don't translate well to the Middle East. I don't think that they're very meaningful even for domestic political discussions, and are generally a sign of political simple-mindedness. I think that statement holds even more true for this article. But of course, such terminology makes it more natural and easier to call "conservatives" in America the "American Taliban..."

Good start on a quest to redefine words (plwase see F A Hayek). By re define I suggest that we use the original intent and claim all interlopers as such........

whhjr

How about calling those who support the free market and individual rights "liberals" and those who support extensive government regulation to satisfy the predilections of the ruling class "mercantilists"? That has a nice 18th century ring to it, and it is also more or less accurate. Which goes to show that there really is nothing new under the sun.

This isn't new. For the media "right wing" means bad guys there or here in their typical moralisitc passion play. The Communists in Russia and Eastern Europe were called 'conservatives' for years, because they were trying to 'conserve' the communist system. The liberal media don't, won't and will never remind people, how similar the communists are to their own beliefs.

How don't know, when the media is actually going to try honesty as a marketing ploy to increase their sales. Network news and the big newspapers have lost millions and millions of viewers and subscribers. They're still trying 'diversity' to save themselves. That's like an alcoholic switching from whisky to beer to save themselves. It's laughable.