1 The commenters there are dancing around the heart of the issue, but no one went for the kill. The true dichotomy is not between "left" and "right" (whatever those mean today), but between authoritarianism and libertarianism. You've got right-wing statists and left-wing statists and they think they're on opposite sides of the spectrum, but they're right next to each other. Similarly you've got elements of the left and right that are much more liberty-oriented than either of the above. They actually have more in common with each other than with the statist elements of their respective parties. I take a somewhat conspiracy-oriented interpretation of this situation: the current level of high tension between left-right is a distraction and smokescreen for the statists from either side to increase the power and reach of government.

2 The word "liberal" today has become an oxymoron, for those thus titled are not liberal at all. Having lived in San Francisco, I can verify that if you're not in lockstep with the local mantra, you're out of there. And THAT is supposed to be the most "liberal" city in the country.