Touché, Ann. With apologies to this thread's spirit....

The Papers, saving those read in Kent,
Back the Tories in any event,
And though the Beeb says
It’s balanced always,
All studies show it’s Tory in bent.

Nigel,

I fear that I may sound perverse
if I attempt to state in verse

a fact that may have been forgotten:
The Mirror likes the Left a lot, and

Labour's the party they've rooted for
ever since the last World War.

That said, I will agree with you;
the landscape here seems largely blue.

If one leans rightward far enough
then one can read all kinds of stuff

that's centrist, rightist, anti-trot
and deem it lefty when it's not,

That's why, I think, that John sees red
where you and I see blue instead.

(Yet one must speak the truth in verse:
This logic may work in reverse.)

best,

Matt

... deleted for publication requirements

Though almost everything I read is commie tosh
Or liable formerly to have appeased the Bosch,
There is one source of news whose mind is fair:
My dear Spectator, rag of freshest air.

(Yes, it really does depend where one's looking from...)

Boche?....

Let me be boring.

The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express and The Sun are on the right. The Guardian, The Daily Mirror, The Financial Times and The Independent are on the left. The Times is centrist.

Anyone who supposes the Beeb is right wing is nuts. Nigel you are nuts.

John,

Your poem seems to have no rhyme or metre,
I cannot scan it into metric feet, or
spot a single pun. Redeeming features?
I've found none, nothing satirical or biting --
so what's the form? Is this free verse you're writing?
See Ann's new rule: In verse or else no fighting.

- Matt

When I was in 6 th grade (circa 1962) The encyclopedia had maps of the US states where red denoted Democrat - voting states and blue denoted Republican states. This made sense, since red was associated with Communism, and blue was the color of the uniforms on the Union Army in the Civil War. Also, the Republican party had its inception at about that time, and supported the Union side. ( the Dems were the Secessionists; they wore gray uniforms, if they were fortunate enough to have actual uniforms at all)

Sometime later ... I'd guess the early 1980's ... the colors reversed. I suspect red became the Republican color on account of rural rednecks tending to favor the Republican party. How the blue got connected to the Dems I never figured out. "Blue Dog Democrats" were Southern Dems with conservative voting records, but that is hardly a label the rest of the Democrat party would like.

So, my question here is, was the Red for conservative / Blue for liberal something in the UK that got transferred to the US? Inquiring minds want to know

(sorry for the lack of versification).

No ifs or buts.
Our Nigel's nuts.

I'm glad we can at least agree on Farage, John.