Wojtek:
> So in my mind, the parties that you mention ARE pretty much what counts
And what about DIE LINKE in Germany? The NPA in France? The Dutch Socialist Party? Izquierda Unida in Spain? Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal?
You are so blinkered by your grim American exceptionalism that you aren't even capable of recognizing what constitutes the "left" in Europe. DIE LINKE got 12% of the vote in the last Bundestag elections! They're poised to become the governing party in Sachsen-Anhalt!
You're basically saying a party that commands more than ten percent of the vote nationwide, is a governing party in the capital city and some Eastern states, is insignificant, yet a stridently neo-liberal and pro-war policy like Bündnis 90/Die Grünen fits your criteria for "left" relevancy.
I know you think I engage in ad hominem, but your perception of reality over where and what constitutes the "left" is so far out you really have no credibility.
Frankly, I think you're a right-wing pro-market liberal in European terms, but the framework of U.S.-American political discourse is so far to the right that you can present yourself as a "leftist" in that context.