On this day in history

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Sedition Act of 1918 into law.  Progressives, chaffing at opposition to their plans for remaking the Republic (only better, this time) made it a crime to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" concerning the US Government, or to cause others to view it with contempt.

Progressively (so to speak), some 200 people were convicted of this heinous crime, including presidential candidate Eugene Debs.  The whole sorry episode sputtered to an ignominious end in 1920.  Oddly, those convicted had to serve out their sentences anyway.  Very "Progressive".

Come the Revolution Brave New Progressive World, you'll all keep your mouths shut, y'hear?

On this day in 1966, the Red Chinese kicked off the very Progressive Cultural Revolution.  Chaffing at opposition to their plans for remaking the Middle Kingdom (only better, this time), the ten year Cultural Revolution saw the progressive death of between 750,000 and 1.5M Chinese.  Huge numbers of ancient relics, artifacts, and archives were destroyed; after all, who needs all that old junk when the new Progressive utopia is being built?

But hey, all for a good cause, right Progressives?