progressive

What is a progressive to me.
A progressive is a person who believes and works for the welfare and happiness of all human beings.
Progressive principles include Universalism, Social Justice, Economic Democracy, Environmentalism, Rationality, Leadership, and Morality and Ethics.

So what are the real progressive issues, and are any of them being discussed on the campaign trail in North Carolina?

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ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II: Wrath of the SuperDelegates
Friday and Saturday, April 11-12,
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Over the next month, North Carolina is the epicenter of US politics. And, amid the primary party, Traction, the state’s premier social network for progressive activism, is proud to present ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II: Wrath of the SuperDelegates, Friday and Saturday, April 11—12, at The Trotter Building (410 W. Geer St.), across from Manbites Dog Theater, in Durham, NC. Doors open at 7 PM. Tickets are available for a suggested minimum donation of $10 at www.getTraction.org.

Very cool. Frontpaged by James.

Some of you were at the bloggers conference and heard me booed when I suggested we would support primary opponents to BAD Democrats. I won't mention which NCDP staff member booed me, but I think the stats out today on poverty provide a good example of why enough is enough.

If you are a liberal Democrat in North Carolina, and you can't stand up and bash the conservative Republicans and Democrats that have dug us into this hole, then when will you? What will it take before Democrats stand up and take control the way they did under FDR? We were a nation of Republicans, who believed in government keeping their hands out of the till, and it drove us into a Great Depression.

Well, Republicans learned their lessons, they made sure the stock market didn't tank and that those with a lot of money ended up with more. Their New Depression was targeted to those who can't or won't stand up for themselves because they are too busy working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The gulf between rich and poor in the United States is yawning wider than ever, and the number of extremely impoverished is at a three-decade high, a report out Saturday found.

OnPoint Polling and Research has released the results of a poll showing strong support for a progressive agenda.

Thanks to The Progressive Pulse for the heads-up.

North Carolina Voters Strongly Support Agenda for Education, the Environment and, Working

Raleigh, N.C. – Likely voters in North Carolina are overwhelmingly in favor of several public policy proposals regarding education, the environment, and working families, according to an OnPoint Polling and Research survey conducted February 8. The survey was commissioned by AARP North Carolina, the NC Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Conservation Council of NC, Equality NC, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Central NC, and the North Carolina AFL-CIO.

Our “favorite” Congressman, Brad Miller has that designation for many reasons, at the top of my list is that he is a blogger. He understands what few other legislators do, that the American people are hungry for involvement in their government. That the “power of the people” is real and vigorous, particularly among Progressives.

Jesse James DeConto, staff writer for the Newsobserver.com wrote an article entitled “Blogs Are Changing Politics”. (Thanks Love) There are a few important quotes….

"It's a natural progression in the arena of communication from elected officials to constituents”…and …."It just enables a politician to engage in a more direct and intimate conversation with people”

Both very true, however my favorite part of the article is this…

Other North Carolina politicians such as former Sen. John Edwards and U.S. Reps. Heath Shuler and Brad Miller also blog…..then this one…."With conservatives, it's been talk radio and Fox News, and progressives and liberals seem to be more drawn to the Internet.

Noted in a comment here at BlueNC on another thread, Conservatives would rather be hand fed their talking points and opinions, while Progressives form their opinions by reading, reading and reading some more.

Blogs ARE changing politics, for the better imho, and allowing us to stay involved and aware. Here at BlueNC, we have the Southern Dem who jumped on the Kissell campaign and helped to nearly defeat the incumbent, Robin “Flipper” Hayes. Anglico has taken up the plight of the small farmers in Washington County who are fighting the Navy’s effort to put an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in the “worst possible place” in North Carolina. Screwy Hoolie and Drama Queen got behind Heath Shuler and helped him defeat the incumbent Charles Taylor. The power of the pen…er …keyboard is indeed mighty.

Yesterday I received my weekly newsletter from the NC Democratic Party which had another interesting story. “NCDP Chair Host Bloggers" with pictures!

In this editorial praising the selection of Hackney as the Democrat's nominee for House speaker, there was an interesting description:

Hackney also has built an admirably progressive record - for example, defending the environment and going after drunken driving.

Now who could argue against Progressives when all they want to do is save the environment and stop drunk drivers?

In the comments section, I caught some hell for a comment I'd made about the use of "Liberal" and "Progressive". It went a little something like this:

Conservatives are just as guilty as liberals (or progressives or whatever y'all are calling youselves this month) as failing to see the diversity of opinions within the opposition's ranks and making an honest attempt at trying to understand the underlying philosophy behind the argument.

Of course, I've been equally baffled by Neo-Conservative vs. Conservative beyond the Neo-Conservative association with the War in Iraq.

But "Liberal" and "Progressive" are ones that are treated interchangibly by those on the Right, with some mutual exclusivity by those on the Left, and with some confusion by us folks in and around the Middle.

(Posted initially as a comment at edcone.com)

For many years, I was a solid independent and centrist on all things political. Some might even say I leaned right, given my military training and business background.

But then something happened: The radical right wing of the Republican party began its ascension, engaging in a kind of political speech that quite honestly caught me off guard. I couldn't imagine how anyone with any intelligence would tune in and listen to people like Rush Limbaugh. Then came the Hunting of President Clinton and the feeding frenzy of right-wing commentators. Then came the swiftboating of John Kerry.

Most progressives I know sat back and watched this devolution of public debate incredulously. And while I'm sure many on the left pushed back hard, I personally did not. I personally believed there was common ground to be discovered and celebrated.