The Paradoxes at the Heart of the "Progressive" Project
Okay, I'm being unfair. Sort of.
CHS made the mistake of painting with too broad brushstrokes. If he had identified the "progressives" he was thinking of, I probably would have agreed with everything he said. For example, there's no doubt that "progressives" like Robert Reich and Arianna Huffington fit CHS's description. But other self-identifying progressives, like Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher, don't.
In many ways, the fault does not lie with CHS but the imprecision of the English language. The "progressive" tent, like the "Tea Party" tent, covers a bit more surface area than that occupied by the apparent leaders of the project/movement. If we'd just foreswear the security of political labels we wear and focus on the actual ideals we profess, a real majority could emerge.
