This question phrases the US political situation as:

Today the federal government is in a seemingly interminable pendulum effect going between far-right and far-left.

Coming from Europe and knowing US politics only remotely, I find this a very strange way of phrasing things. From my perspective, differences between the alternatives in the USA are very small indeed, where far-right and certainly far-left has absolutely no chance whatsoever, and everything tends toward the middle (or I might say to the right, but that could be tainted by my own political views). This XKCD infographic, however, also uses the phrases far left and far right, which makes me wonder if the terms have a different meaning in the US than they have in Europe. For me, far left is communism and anarchism, far right is fascism, racism and radical nationalism.

Are any mainstream political ideas represented in congress considered far left or far right in US political terminology? If so, what are the meanings of far left and far right in the US?

This question phrases the US political situation as:

Today the federal government is in a seemingly interminable pendulum effect going between far-right and far-left.

Coming from Europe and knowing US politics only remotely, I find this a very strange way of phrasing things. From my perspective, differences between the alternatives in the USA are very small indeed, where far-right and certainly far-left has absolutely no chance whatsoever, and everything tends toward the middle (or I might say to the right, but that could be tainted by my own political views). This XKCD infographic, however, also uses the phrases far left and far right, which makes me wonder if the terms have a different meaning in the US than they have in Europe. For me, far left is communism and anarchism, far right is fascism, racism and radical nationalism.

Are any mainstream political ideas represented in congress considered far left or far right in US political terminology? If so, what are the meanings of far left and far right in the US?

This question phrases the US political situation as:

Today the federal government is in a seemingly interminable pendulum effect going between far-right and far-left.

Coming from Europe and knowing US politics only remotely, I find this a very strange way of phrasing things. From my perspective, differences between the alternatives in the USA are very small indeed, where far-right and certainly far-left has absolutely no chance whatsoever, and everything tends toward the middle (or I might say to the right, but that could be tainted by my own political views). This XKCD infographic, however, also uses the phrases far left and far right, which makes me wonder if the terms have a different meaning in the US than they have in Europe. For me, far left is communism and anarchism, far right is fascism, racism and radical nationalism.

Are any mainstream political ideas represented in congress considered far left or far right in US political terminology? If so, what are the meanings of far left and far right in the US?

This question phrases the US political situation as:

Today the federal government is in a seemingly interminable pendulum effect going between far-right and far-left.

Coming from Europe and knowing US politics only remotely, I find this a very strange way of phrasing things. From my perspective, differences between the alternatives in the USA are very small indeed, where far-right and certainly far-left has absolutely no chance whatsoever, and everything tends toward the middle (or I might say to the right, but that could be tainted by my own political views). This XKCD infographic, however, also uses the phrases far left and far right, which makes me wonder if the terms have a different meaning in the US than they have in Europe. For me, far left is communism and anarchism, far right is fascism, racism and radical nationalism.

Are any mainstream political ideas represented in congress considered far left or far right in US political terminology? If so, what are the meanings of far left and far right in the US?