I wasn't arguing that progressives today are to blame for early Progressive history any more than this old white man is to blame for our history of slavery. I was just trying to point out the fault line between progressivism and liberalism, and perhaps sounding a precautionary note about what can happen with a poliltical philosophy that acknowledges no limiting principles. When progress is enthroned as the highest good it is a short journey to believe that anything that stands in the way of your ideas of progress is evil and must be done away with.

I would say that, if you are one who believes in the limiting principles of enlightenment institutions, then you are a liberal and not a progressive. Today "progressive" is used by many to mean something like a super liberal, but this muddies the water of the national discourse. It is a rather hopeless genii to put back in the bottle, I know, but I admit to being a chauvinist in the original meaning of the term.