Posted on 02/02/2010 9:34:47 PM PST by Texas Fossil
“Progressivism” is a reform movement that began in the 1890’s and has remained active to this day. At times it has had a lower profile but it has been an active force in American politics for over 100 years.
So what is my beef with “Progressives” ? In part 1, I gave you the history of the movement and the names of some of its’ current members. For the second part of the answer I offer you a compilation of the Progressives in their own words:
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WOODROW WILSON, 28th U.S. PRESIDENT:
“The President is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can. His capacity will set the limit; and if Congress be overborne by him, it will be no fault of the makers of the Constitution … but only because the President has the nation behind him and Congress has not.”
“Government does now whatever experience permits or the times demand.”
“All that progressives ask or desire is permission–in an era when development, evolution, is a scientific word–to interpret the Constitution according to the Darwinian principle; all they ask is recognition of the fact that a nation is a living thing and not a machine.”
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FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 32nd U.S. PRESIDENT
“Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth… I pledge you, I pledge myself to a New Deal for the American people… This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.”
“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.”
“Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.”
“If I went to work in a factory the first thing I’d do is join a union.”
“As new commander in chief under the oath to which you are still bound, I reserve the right to command you in any phase of the situation which now confronts us.”
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LYNDON JOHNSON, U.S. PRESIDENT:
“I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world.”
“There is but one way for a president to deal with the Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it’s really going to work, the relationship between the president and the Congress has got to be almost incestuous.”
“No member of our generation who wasn’t a Communist or a dropout in the thirties is worth a damn.”
“It is the genius of our Constitution that under its shelter of enduring institutions and rooted principles there is ample room for the rich fertility of American political invention.”
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JIMMY CARTER, 39th U.S. PRESIDENT:
“Republicans are men of narrow vision, who are afraid of the future.”
“What has happened at Guantanamo Bay… does not represent the will of the American people. I’m embarrassed about it, I think its wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use the despicable means to hurt innocent people.”
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BARACK OBAMA, 44th U.S. PRESIDENT:
“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure everybody who is behind you, that they have got a chance at success, too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”
“We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don’t want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.”
“It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
“But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as I think people tried to characterize the Warren court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. … one of the, I think the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change.”
Amazing, Simply Amazing.
The enemy is defined. At some point, the threat must be recognized and dealt with.
Watched Beck yesterday and he is lobbing rounds at them now.
Will it get the proper exposure, probably not unless the MSM is forced to recognize it.
“The enemy is defined.”
The enemy is not defined. There are conservative, even here at FR, who haven’t yet determined whether or not 0bama is an ideologue, let alone a communist.
This despite his associations, his writing, his actions, his czars, his statements, etc. He’s a communist if there ever was a communist.
They’ll say socialist and Marxist all day but communist might as well be banned—as if socialist or Marxist are so much better, or proper, to utter than communist.
If you asked Marx himself he would tell you that socialism was the first stop in a two leg trip to communism. It’s a bridge, a transition mechanism, between capitalism and communism.
No, the enemy has not been defined.
They are on the verge of their greatest achievement (felling the United States) and we dolts can’t even bring ourselves to call them by name!
There’s no war. There’s no resistance. This is a rout. This has been a shut-out so far.
It’s insanity.
This came today...
This past week, progressive heroes in Congress worked together with grassroots groups to create huge new momentum behind the public option.
First, 225,000 people signed a petition telling Democrats in Congress to pass the public option through "reconciliation," which only needs a simple majority to pass the Senate.
Then, freshman Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) embraced our cause and worked with grassroots groups to rally a whopping 100 House Democrats to sign a statement to Sen. Harry Reid calling for the public option. MSNBC, CBS, ABC, Huffington Post, and others reported on the momentum.
Can you help us continue this momentum by adding your signature to the petition today? Click here.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) boldly helped us deliver the first batch of petitions to Sen. Harry Reid and other senators, resulting in even more media momentum.
(To see Grayson join the PCCC, Democracy for America, and Credo Action for the delivery, check out the video here.
The more people sign our petition, the more our progressive heroes in Congress will feel empowered to fight for us.
Can you help us continue the momentum by signing the petition today? Click here.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Stephanie Taylor, Aaron Swartz, Adam Green, Max Berger, Natasha Patel, and the PCCC team
www.BOLDPROGRESSIVES.ORG
Our very own freeper, LS, was on Glenn Beck’s Friday program discussing progressives and has written a book on it.
“No member of our generation who wasn’t a Communist or a dropout in the thirties is worth a damn.”
I had to look that one up.
Ackkkkk...
Johnson actually did say that.
http://equotes.wetpaint.com/page/Lyndon+B.+Johnson+Quotes
Now is good for me.
One would have to be ignorant not to see that.
Must be this obsession with the legalization of pot...stay stoned so you can just open the door to communism like an old friend..."hey man come right in! Sorry about my treatment of you earlier on..."
Thing is the word capitalism (like teabagger) is disparaging, derogatory pejorative.
The word first appeared in 1820 and became well known
in 1848 when Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used the term capitalist (Kapitalist) in The Communist Manifesto to refer to ownership of private property.
A system which of course Marx wanted to abolish.
Instead of calling it by the pejorative it would be nice
if we called it by it's real name, Private Property and Free Markets.
Thanks for that information. We think alike; I’m a registered Democrat - I get all their stuff and the ACLU won’t leave me alone.
ROFLOL, I just can’t help myself...I’ve gotta know! Haven’t went that far yet, though :>
BTTT
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