Is Being Progressive Bad?

Bloomington In a September 29 letter to the Sun-Current former mayor and current 41B candidate Kurt Laughinghouse and his wife endorse Karen Nordstrom. The letter states there is no party politics involved, but one statement stuck out.

Karen is far and away the progressive candidate for the position - by activity and background.

This fact was not missed by one Tim Keseluk of Bloomington. He responds with this letter.

Klassen: responsible fiscal conservative To the editor: It is interesting how people see things differently. In a recent letter to the editor, the writer cites reasons to endorse a candidate for the at-large City Council position we will be electing this November. The candidate is described as "progressive" and active in the leadership of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and the Fine Arts Council. While these are good organizations, they seem more like conflicts of interests for someone who will have control of the public purse-strings. I am concerned that even more public dollars (yours and mine) will be devoted to things we can't afford. Property taxes are rising and government spending is the reason. Bloomington Civic Plaza is beautiful, but it is more than we needed and we will be stuck paying for it for many years. What Bloomington needs now more than ever is a City Council that can responsibly control costs. "Progressive" is another term for "tax-and-spend Liberal" and Bloomington can't afford it. I am endorsing Loren Klassen for at-large City Council, a fiscally conservative, responsible candidate. Tim Keseluk Bloomington Source: Bloomington Sun-Current 10/13/05

I think Tim makes some good points, and if you are concerned about fiscal matters, Loren is your candidate. However, let me talk about the word "progressive". If you follow the link to the left you will see Webster's definition. I like meaning 1b "making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities" and 3 "moving forward or onward". The question is is Karen "Progressive" or is she just "progressive", there is a difference. While writing this post I did a little research and found that the word "progressive" is often misued and misunderstood. If you are curious, just go here, here, here and here for starters. The bottom line is that Loren will move Bloomington "forward or onward" and he is capable of "making use of or interested in new ideas", but the difference is that Loren has different ideas or methods to move Bloomington "foward" compared to his opponent. This reminds me of a favorite quote, in fact I like it so much it has been on this blog's sidebar since DAY ONE. It even was used for my email address.. theRIGHTprogress at earthlink.net.

Some say conservatives want to turn back the clock, they're not progressive! I would rather get away from that whole idea of clocks. We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive ... [and] going back is the quickest way on."

C.S. Lewis

Loren will be "progressive", but he is also going to move in the right, or correct, direction for Bloomington.