People have a tendency to treat "Progressive/Liberal/Left/Democrat" as though the words are remotely equivalent. To do so is to lose control of the discussion before it starts. A Democrat is a member of, or voter for, a political party, one with no philosophy or principles, merely the desire to maintain itself.

The other three words can be described in terms of political philosophies and hoped for programs that generally include providing decent lives for the 98% of the population who are not rich or, at least, upper-middle-class.

Important parts of Progressive/Liberal/Left ideology are: no wars of aggression (the opposite of the American Empire's hallmark my entire life (1947-)); decent work for a living wage; the ability to easily join a democratic (small d) union; the importance of social welfare programs: unemployment, affordable, effective health care, defined-benefit pensions (NOT defined-contributions (401k plans)); accessible education for everyone through college for those capable and interested; a society welcoming to all, regardless of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, reproductive freedom, etc.

None of these are functional principles of the Democratic Party, most especially since the rise of the DLC under Clinton and the election of Obama.

Anyone who wastes time focusing on the origins of these policies among the right wing to deny the responsibility of the Democrats for enabling and continuing their expansion and normalization is, to my mind, a part of the problem, not the solution.

I feel that that people who consider themselves to be Progressive/Liberal/Left and yet support--or even tolerate--Obama and the Dems are delusional and self-defeating.

We must start making clear to the Dems that people on the left--and that is everyone who wants the society I sketched out above--must stop voting for, supporting or talking up--in any way--Democratic politics.

Yes, the Rs are marginally worse, but the margins are trifling and the continued support of the Dems does more damage than what the Rs may accomplish: It normalizes those policies, makes them bipartisan (Obama's excuse for every vile thing he supports and every good thing he doesn't).

If you want to change the country, stop voting for any politician that doesn't commit to complete repudiation of this president's viciously anti-human policies.