I responded to the statistics you posted that had nothing to do with the article. However, I agree with most of your points even though I am one of those pesky "leftists".

You shouldn't group all of "the left" in the same category. It's like you have a chip on your shoulder looking to blame everyone on the left for articles that are very liberal. I don't think most of "the right" can be grouped that way either. There are plenty of zany right-wing viewpoints to pick out just the same.

Most people will probably fit somewhere between moderate left and moderate right.