General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Without endorsing TPP, some things to consider about it. [View all]True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)It has nothing to do with rhetoric, and nothing to do with the superficial form of the vehicle through which progress occurs. I consider Eisenhower a progressive, even though his politics were superficially conservative.
And I know the difference: I do not consider Hillary Clinton progressive, despite some of her positions being anecdotally on the left, nor do I consider someone like Dennis Kucinich progressive, because he squanders a political platform to make vain speeches instead of actually do anything that other people in politics could possibly get on board with.
A lot of people on the left are basically art critics who think that makes them artists, and a lot of people in the center think obsessing on excuses not to do something is the same thing as realism. Neither strike me as progressives. The people who speak the language of achievement, not of fantasy and not of fear - that's the signal of a progressive mind.
Barack Obama is not a member of anyone's cult, nor is he interested in leading his own. He's merely an American President. Like all the great ones were.