[firebrand]

Never heard it back then, but I’ve only been really paying attention since 1993 or so. In any case, it was not widely used until Trump came along in 2015, and then it was popularized as being anti-Trump and pro-reckless-foreign involvement.

[adorno]

Never heard it back then

I heard it used often in the 80s and 90s, and even I argued using it during the last 20 years in other forums.

[jjotto]

I was a big reader of political mags in high school and college (‘70s); The New Republic, Commentary, National Review, etc. Michael Harrington using it as an insult, Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz using it as a description of their disagreements with the Left.

Long time ago…