What Progressives have brought to America

It isn't as though conservatives, by nature the defenders of the status quo and of the wealthy and powerful, don't have adequate representation; it's called the Republican Party! Too soon after the demise of Abraham Lincoln it sold its progressive soul to the industrialist robber barons and southern racists and transformed itself into a bulwark against any type of change.


Among the changes conservatives have opposed-- usually hysterically, voiciferously, and with great hyperbole, warning about the end of civilization, society, the family and religion, were:


• The American Revolution
• The Bill of Rights and the forging of a democracy
• Universal white male suffrage
• Public education
• The emancipation of the slaves
• The national park system
• Food safety
• The breakup of monopolies
• The Homestead Act
• Land grant universities
• Rural electrification
• Women’s suffrage
• The abolition of child labor
• The eight hour workday
• The minimum wage
• Social Security
• Civil rights for minorities and women
• Voting rights for minorities and the poor
• Cleaning up our air, our water, and toxic dump sites
• Consumer product safety
• Medicare and Medicaid


Every single one of those policy changes, which are literally the reforms that made this country what it is today, was accomplished by the progressive movement standing up to the fierce opposition of conservative reactionaries who were working only to preserve their own power. And for the most part have spent decades slowly trying to undo or circumvent every one of them!


Conservative warriors on the corporate payroll like Jim DeMint, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Virginia Foxx, Richard Burr, Mike Pence, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Evan Bayh, Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, etc and their media echo chamber (Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck,Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, etc)-- will stoop as low as they need to, regardless how much they damage the country or the fabric of society, in order to regain or retain political power!


They always have.


Remember, it was conservatives who predicted the end of the world if Jefferson was allowed to publish the Declaration of Independence, if the slaves were freed, if consumers were protected from businessmen selling poisonous meat, if the minimum wage were enacted, if labor unions were allowed to exist, if women were given the right to vote, if child labor were abolished, if Social Security were passed, etc. It never ends!


Only now, as the internet has opened multiple info sources to millions, the standard lies and fear mongering are no longer as effective, and it is making vocal Conservatives sound stupid, or insane!