I’m on Facebook and noticed that The Washington Post has an app called “Political Compass” that gives you a few questions about politics to answer to find out how liberal or conservative you are. Not only are the questions frustratingly vague. For example :

The federal government should raise taxes so it can provide more help for people who need it

Which taxes? On whom? What kind of help? For whom? That’s the only question about taxes.

Law-abiding citizens should have more access to guns

Law-abiding citizens? Did the NRA write this question? Why not ask whether or not criminalizing guns will ensure that only criminals will have guns?

The United States must do more with its military power to fight terrorism around the world

I agree…in Pakistan. For one of the most important and complicated issues facing our country today, isn’t this a little vague?

The military should be given a timetable to leave Iraq

Once again, this seems written to willfully misinterpret the views of those who favor withdrawal to fit in with the President’s line that he listens to “the generals on the ground”. The timelines are for the Iraqi government, not the military.

The death penalty should be available for those convicted of heinous crimes

This one just annoys me because it’s poorly written. I suppose if criminals want to be executed the death penalty should be “available” to them, but I don’t think many are going to chose it.

Illegal immigrants who have shown they are productive members of society should be given amnesty and receive social services

Illegal immigrants getting amnesty. Peppering these questions with conservative language is like nails on a chalkboard.

I know getting annoyed with this sort of trivial thing is like getting mad at the horoscope for not coming true, but c’mon. This is the Washington Post. Couldn’t they have done a better job finding somebody to explain these in terms that would actually more accurately gauge someone’s place on the “political compass”?

For what it’s worth, here’s how I fared :

I’m a lot more liberal than that.