I'll Have to Remember This

Once in a while I am in a discussion (usually for school) when someone uses the word "progressive" to describe their leftist policy fantasies. Usually usually respond by saying, "I see nothing progressive about resurrecting the failed policies of Dracon, Robbespierre, and Mao." But I just read this in the Wall Street Journal and it is so much better.

It seems to have escaped the authors' notice that the most formidable totalitarian movement of the 20th century – communism – was, by its own lights, "progressive." It seems to have escaped their notice that the essence of a totalitarian system is the denial of liberty (often in the name of progress). It seems to have escaped their notice that "progress" is a word that signifies nothing. Exactly what is one progressing to?

The article from which it is taken isn't about progressive politics. It is about government NewSpeak in the Department of Homeland Security. (I hate that name. It makes me feel like there are cameras watching, like I need to be careful about what books I buy, like I live in east Germany in the 1960s. It really give me the creeps.)