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Sandra is of course correct that the word fits the times. In those days, everyone and their uncle was a "progressive", much in the way that politicians of all stripes embrace "reform" today. It is naive, however, not to look at the word in a contemporary context also. Today it has a left-wing connotation.
Words are the weapons of politics. Salon is an unabashedly left-leaning journal. It is appropriate for Salon to expose embarrassing episodes in US history, regardless of the political affiliations of the bad actors. It is another thing, however, to "spin" them in a way that would gratify the editors of the Wall Street Journal.
Consider the words of Robert Frost, "A liberal is a man too broad minded to take his own side in a quarrel."
