I would be very careful about how you attach yourself to the term “progressive”, HelenL. I appreciate your blog postings that you are a well-meaning person with a big heart, but…

The Progressive movement was a late-19th Century movement that made unholy alliances with dictatorship and eugenics. Jonah Goldberg makes a well-documented cases in his book, “Liberal Fascism”, that it was the American (not European) progressive movement, much of it sadly rooted in my alma mater (U. of Wisconsin) that laid the philosophical foundations of Hitler’s race theories. It also motivated one Margaret Sanger to found Planned Parenthood as a tool for culling society of “undesirables” which, at the time, was a largely euphemism for black people that I know hold a special place in your heart.

The Progressives were not nice people.

Or you meet them only from those that support some of Bush’s policies.

Instead of outlining the policies they don’t like,

Or rather they outline policies they don’t like, but they aren’t ever the policies Bush is advocating or instituting.

Instead of outlining the policies they don’t like,

Or rather they outline policies they don’t like, but they aren’t ever the policies Bush is advocating or instituting.

While Green Mountain State activists high-five each other over pints of “Chunky Monkey” and “Cherry Garcia,”

Why, oh why did they have to drag Cherry Garcia into this. That is my favorite guilty pleasure.

There are few “progressives” who are willing to:

1) CALMLY and coherently state their beliefs as well as solutions to problems that exist; and
2) Provide hard evidence that forms the basis of their beliefs.

Again, this goes back to what was discussed on this blog recently: folks on the left operate on emotion (including hate); rarely on reason.

Take the “progressive” reaction to anything associated with President Bush. I could completely respect a person who, again, calmly and coherently states why they disagree with his decisions, ideas, etc. I have yet to meet one of those people. Instead, progressives tend to spit, sputter, and turn red in the face the moment President Bush is even mentioned. They can scarcely form a sentence, such is their anger. Instead of outlining the policies they don’t like, they just state over and over again, “He’s so stupid.” “Everyone hates us because of that idiot.” And on and on and on . . . .

Needless to say, it makes for a frustrating conversation.

Deana

Others just have a need to hate…I still come across people who get foam-flecked when the name “Nixon” is mentioned, even though they can’t tell me about him (for crying out loud, this was 30 years ago). So, who will they next make the focus of their paranoid fantasies? McCain? Sasquatch? I would like to think “Islamic Jihadis” but that would be wildly unrealistic.