There was a time when most Democrats would have defined themselves as "liberals." "Liberalism" used to denote an emphasis on individual liberties and civil rights. Liberals certainly believed in a strong welfare state and higher taxation to support it, but they would never have supported endless wars and the military-industrial complex that profits from them, the weaponization of federal agencies -- including law enforcement -- and surveillance of private citizens. Or denial of First Amendment rights by major multinational corporations serving as de facto censors, state propagandists and spies for the federal government. Ah, but that was liberalism. What we're dealing with now on the left is progressivism. So, we're in lefty la-la land now. Today's leftists defend corporate control of information and government surveillance of private individuals -- and even call those who object "anti-American," as MSNBC analyst Henry Weissmann said about Tucker Carlson last week. Today's leftists excuse, admire and even aspire to emulate Communist China, arguably human history's most brutally repressive regime.