The Patriot's Flag

Today I am flying the Fort Moultrie Patriot Flag … I fly this flag when there is “Liberty-Risky Discussion” happening. And certainly President Obama’s State of the Union Speech tonight will qualify for that.  Since we are in the midst of it, perhaps it is time to begin to better understand the Progressive Movement. The information in this post is a list of references so you can study the subject.

Liberty Risky Discussion

• Note: I will continue to add to this post as more articles and resources are discovered. If you find another excellent resource, please contact me at ThePatriotsFlag@jdlinn.com or add it to the comments.  Thank you.

The Progressive Movement: A movement for reform that occurred roughly between 1900 and 1920. Progressives typically held that irresponsible actions by the rich were corrupting both public and private life. They called for measures such as trust busting, the regulation of railroads, provisions for the people to vote on laws themselves through referendum, the election of the Senate by the people and not by state legislatures, and a graduated income tax (one in which higher tax rates are applied to higher incomes). The Progressives were able to get much of their program passed into law. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were associated with the movement.

Historical Trivia Question

Question: What Political Party did Theodore Roosevelt belong to?

Answer: Republican. however In 1912 he bolted the party and ran as a “Progressive” or “Bull Moose” candidate, but had reverted to the Republican Party by 1916.

The SEARCH AREA information below is designed to help you search for key words to more quickly get you to the information you may need.  I put historical, pro and con information into the search area so you can make up your own mind.  Some of the articles you can browse quickly, and some below are real books which would take a great deal more time.  Mousing over the link will give you information of what is contained in the link.  My views on Progressivism you can find below at The Bottom Line. More information will be added periodically. The information below is only a few of thousands that will give you the most information in the least amount of reading time.

• 19th Century Progressivism
• Wikipedia’s Coverage of Progressivism
• Glenn Beck Video – Cancer in America
• Wikipedia Progressivism in the US
• Progressive Education in the US
• Progressive Education In the School
• Progressive Era
• Progressive Philosophy of Notable People
• McClure’s Magazine – The Progressive Era (Outline)
• Progressive Era Reform (Regent’s)
• Progressive Era (G W Browne Yorktown Univ)
• Org of American Historians
• Handbook of Texas – Progressive Era
• Web Sources for Progressive Era
• Rutgers Egov Archive The Progressive Movement
• PBS.org The Progressive Era
• American History 102
• The Progressive Movement  A Non-Partisan Discussion (DeWitt 1915)
• The Progressive Movement Principals and Programs (Duncan 1914}
• Institute of American History (Good Conservation Links)
• Marginal Revolution: What is Progressivism
• What Progressives Believe
• National Progress Party and Infrastructure (pdf)

Recent (in the news) Posts

• Heritage Foundation: (Jan 2007) Progressives &Transformation of Amer. Politics
• Huffington Post: (Jan 2010) A New Progressive Era (Excellent Read)
• The Seminal: Jan 2010- Why the Progressive Movement needs to reclaim its “Far Left Radicals”
• Progressive.org The Progressive “Web Magazine”

Progressives: Rush calls them “liberals,” and Mark (Levin) calls them “Statists” …but the rest of the world calls them “Progressives.”  Whatever name you give them, if you read through the above materials, and if you are a Conservative, you will find them simply name them “dangerous” to the Founding Fathers concept of the United States of America.  You will find the downplay of God, you will find BIG BUSINESS is the enemy and you will find “conservation” … the beginnings of the foundation for the hoax of Global Warming. Throughout the materials above, you will discover the language being used today is the language they used “way back then” during the last attempt at progressivism. None of this is “new” … Hope and Change is only a resurrection of a dangerously failed ideology of the past. Unfortunately … people “fell for it” again.

The Progressive Process:

• It begins with the worthy cause. A need is identified by people sensitive enough recognize its existence. The need will touch on reality, will be based on a fear of what might/could happen if the need is not fixed, and people will step forward to embrace the crisis and work to solve the problem. Environmentalism,  poverty, the military and big business are the progressives’ usual targets … see any similarities today? (Same  old song, different era).

• It is identified as an opportunity. Because of the potential “universal nature” of the need, the Progressives infiltrate the ranks of well-meaning people who are proposing good and usurp the cause to their own end,. That end is invariably bigger and more centralized government or increased personal power.  The “perceived need” becomes a “glittering generality” logically … taking on the cloak of fiction posing as fact.

• Increasing the momentum of the cause.  The cause becomes “populist” … it becomes the darling of the masses and at the same time an even greater darling for the progressives. In our era, the main stream media becomes the megaphone and Hollywood the midway Barker. At this point progressive money, talent and effort added causing the need to be marketed to more people, thus increasing its strength. Truth and fact need not be validated, the “need” and “fear of failure” overcome the need for facts and validity is forgotten and left  far behind in the original history of the process. The original need becomes a dire, must-solve problem, ever spinning greater … a crisis is created. The Machiavellian tiger at the gate begins to roar.

• The Cause is Hijacked.  The original cause for good is hijacked by the progressives who will take control of the process. The progressive machinery within the process begins to prove itself and some begin to take notice. The “new and improved” direction of the cause no longer resembles the “original direction,.” The altered direction moves power to the progressives, sucking it from the good intentions of the original cause and need.

• It Grows or spins out of Control. Progressively, momentum is added to the cause, and like the proverbial snowball, picks up more strength, people and support. The Machiavellian “tiger at the gate” looms ever larger as the process continues.  But the tiger is paper,  and like the fear, was manufactured.  At some point, the altered purpose of the process is exposed and the process self-destructs.  The well-intended people whoo were duped by the process become angry and turn against it, recognizing it for what it is, originally a good idea that was hijacked for personal gain and power.

Modern Day Examples:

• Global Warming … the glaciers will melt, the sea will rise, we all will die. The entire world goes into a frenzy to “save the planet” not realizing that the people who took over the cause and are the greatest preachers of it have become the financial beneficiaries of it.  Al Gore is the perfect example.  And in the end, ClimateGate exposed the hoax, something built and sustained on lies for the good of people exchanging “carbon credits.”
• Hope and Change … The news media decried that George Bush was a financial and war-mongering disaster. And so Obama emerged as the Messiah to save the USA from destruction.  A man with no history or experience … which, as the legend grew, did not matter. So the frenzy grew without fact or truth and was fueled by “hope” and the “need for change”.  Blindly the USA put a Progressive into office … and our financial liability has tripled, the spending is totally out of control and government control is at the edge of becoming totalitarian. (It has taken over banks, GM, Chrysler and wants to control our Health Care!). But the people woke up, and Massachusetts broke the cycle … the progressives were exposed, and now will fail because of the peoples’ anger.
• Federal Income Tax … came from the 2nd Progressive Era.  This moved the money to the federal level where it could be controlled by less than 500 people (and not controlled by the states and local government). With the power of that money, those few people can use the money to bribe and intimidate moving toward even more government centralization.  Examples are the “Louisiana Purchase” (Senator Mary Landrieu’s vote on Health Care, and the “Nebraska Purchase” Senator Ben Nelson’s vote on Health Care. The Progress Process at some point becomes viable to the masses and when it is finally obvious, a revolt begins. In  the present example, the reversal in Massachusetts resulted.  (As a valid revolt to the misuse of the federal income tax,  the FairTax may not be far behind).
• Affordable Housing … starts off as a good-intended thought to help poor people. Then the Progressives decided the banks MUST loan dollars for housing to people who cannot afford to repay the loans. Eventually, the housing market crashes and the government must come in to “help” bail them out. and takes over control of many large banks. Scapegoats outside the system are blamed and more sub-prime loans are continually made … leading to the need for more government control of banks and the banking system. (Why didn’t Canada’s banks need a bailout?  Because they were not government-mandated to give out sub-prime loans!).
• Poison in the Tea? Watch the Tea Party Process carefully.  This is a fertile ground for the progressives. It is a good cause, and has momentum of its own. But it can be (and maybe already is being) infiltrated to divert its original intention.  See “Poison in the Tea?“.  The Tea Party people (like me) must be vigilant.

The more "it" shows ...

Summary: We do not have a Democrat President in the White House, we have a Progressive President.  Know this and understand the difference.  Democrats will begin to realize this is not the “party of their grandfathers” … it has been hijacked and has become something they no longer recognize. And as this happens, the poll ratings for this Progressive President and Congress will fall, people will become angry at being duped (Hope and Change?) and will revolt. The realization has started and Massachusetts was the first indication.The 2010 elections will be the end of this 3rd Progressive Era.  The more the “progressivism” of this President and Congress “shows” … the lower go the polls.  The latest from Rasmussen today (01.28.10) is to the right.

1. Wikipedia: Congressional Progressive Caucus
2. FreeRepublic (JustPiper) Discussion on Progressive Caucus
3. WordPressBlog Uncommon Sense: What is a Prog? and why they should scare you Part I
4. FreeRepublic (JustPiper) Communist Goals … look at how these follow “Progressive” goals
5. Capital Research: Matthew Vadem, Sr Editor: Left puts Blueprint Online THE PDF File HERE

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