The New Democrat

Salon: Opinion: Heather Digby Parton: Chris Matthews and Ed Rendell, Working Class Heroes, In Their Dreams

When MSNBC which is really not much more than a media operation for Occupy Wall Street, the Progressive Caucus and the Green Party in America, is not progressive enough for you, you know you are on the far-left. Chris Matthews is now the most popular talk show host on MSNBC. Granted that is like say someone is the tallest person at a midget convention with the lack of ratings that MSNBC gets. But people who are as far to the Left as the groups I just mentioned, are not represented very highly in America.

Chris Matthews and Ed Rendell are classic FDR/JFK Progressive Democrats. They go back in forth between FDR and Jack Kennedy on the issues, but they are both mainstream Progressive Democrats. Which is what classical Progressives are, which is mainstream and not thinking that government needs to be big enough to essentially manage people’s lives for them. But big enough to provide the services that we all need to do well like infrastructure and education and help people in need. And create an environment where everyone can do well and not just people born to wealth.

But if you work for Salon, progressive government is not big enough for you. Because that type of government still leaves people free to manage most of their affairs economic and personal. And of course Americans are stupid right, at least according to today’s Progressives “and you need a government big enough to take care of everyone for their own good”. Which is way to the Left of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Who both are by far the most progressive president’s we’ve ever had at least when it comes to economic policy.
.