By Robert A. Vella

We progressives, that is;  and, our ranks are thinning with each passing day.  But, we are still fighting;  and, we’ll continue to do so despite the mounting odds against us.  Why, you ask?  Because what we’re fighting for is both central to our very nature as progressives, and because the world would be in even worse shape should our collective voices fall silent.

First of all, I shall dispel a myth.  Progressivism is not synonymous with, nor is it aligned with, the Democratic Party or any political party.  It emerged in the 1890s as a social movement against the rampant abuses of corporate power prevalent in the Gilded Age.  In fact, two of the leading champions of progressivism were originally Republicans – President Theodore Roosevelt and prominent Wisconsin politician Robert La Follette.

The reason why today’s Democratic Party is commonly misperceived as being progressive results…