I continue to be puzzled by the vocabulary used by our print and electronic media regarding American politics. Who are the “radicals” and who are the “moderates”?

Ned Lamont wins an election in Connecticut, representing a point of view held by nearly two-thirds of the nation (according to the most recent CNN poll on the invasion of Iraq), and he is seen as a “radical.” Joe Lieberman, whose views are supported by barely a third (and probably less than that in Connecticut), is portrayed as a “moderate” or “centrist.”

In Maine, we are being told to support Olympia Snowe, because she is a “moderate,” although she also supports the Iraq invasion. There is nothing “moderate” in supporting the most horrendous mistake ever made by a president in the history of the republic.

There is nothing “moderate” in assisting him in packing the court system with ideological extremists.

There is nothing “moderate” in supporting tax laws that widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Supporting the Iraq invasion, packing the court system and assisting the revolt of the rich against the middle class are examples of radicalism, not moderation.

These radical elected officials need to be put out to pasture, beginning in New England with Lieberman and Snowe.

Lynn H. Parsons

Castine