So Bush can force the media change 'privitization' to 'personal accounts' under penalty of being shut out of the White House, but a political group can't change its name? Curious.

In the 30s, the underground Communist Party members working for the KGB used "progressive" as a code word to refer to themselves.

I think it is apt that NYT uses a communist code word to refer to the Democrats. After all, the NYT did so much for worldwide communism in the 30s, it wants to do the same for the left now.

The Democrats can hide under the red banner of "progressive". But for me the word "progressive" brings to mind slave labor camps and 80,000,000 executions.

reducing the stigma of weakness attached to liberalism

And yet I hear plenty of conservatives whining about how Christianity is under attack. It wouldn't be so bad, except they're the ones in power.

Wow - that article is the worst nature vs. nurture psychobabble I've ever read in the Times.

They say political opinions are based on genetics, then they say

"It is not that opinions on specific issues are written into a person's DNA. Rather, genes prime people to respond cautiously or openly to the mores of a social group."

So, it's not really genetics, it's behavior. They could also say that hair color, wealth and weight influences responses to the mores of a social group.

Identical twins have similar political opinions, but they also have the same appearance and economic class - which is a sign of nurture & environment influencing behavior, not DNA.

If the Times is any indication, progressive is just another word for psychobabble-spewing luddite. Which isn't really news.

"Liberal" is an interesting word. It used to mean a laissez-faire libertarian (and still does in some countries); in the U.S. its meaning was flipped for economic issues right around the 1900's. Then it gradually become an unusable, dirty word. Probably the same thing will happen with "progressive" (or maybe, per Jake, it already has).

I think it is apt that NYT uses a communist code word to refer to the Democrats. After all, the NYT did so much for worldwide communism in the 30s, it wants to do the same for the left now.

Oh, bullshit. The word "progressive" has a long tradition in American political history, the majority of which has nothing to do with communism. What, was Theodore Roosevelt a commie?

I resent the implication that "conservative" means "old-fashioned" or "afraid of change." I love change. I just want it to be in the rightward direction.