Bill Moyers
spoke recently on the evolution of progressivism in the United States to the Take Back America Conference. It is a stunning speech. Here is a small part that you need to hear:

"We should pause here to consider that this is Karl Rove's cherished period of American history; it was, as I read him, the seminal influence on the man who is said to be George W.'s brain. From his own public comments and my reading of the record, it is apparent that Karl Rove has modeled the Bush presidency on that of William McKinley, who was in the White House from 1897 to 1901, and modeled himself on Mark Hanna, the man who virtually manufactured McKinley. Hanna had one consummate passion – to serve corporate and imperial power. It was said that he believed "without compunction, that the state of Ohio existed for property. It had no other function...Great wealth was to be gained through monopoly, through using the State for private ends; it was axiomatic therefore that businessmen should run the government and run it for personal profit."

There is a great deal more including some words that might make you more hopeful. The title of the speech is This is Your Story - The Progressive Story of America. Pass It On. I am trying to do just that.