Stephanie Miller, host of her independently produced and very funny morning talk show, and daughter of Barry Goldwater's 1964 running mate, spoke to C-SPAN in early January; I caught a clip of it at Crooks & Liars yesterday

Well I think it speaks to a lot of Barack Obama has been speaking to and that is an inclusiveness. ... I think it's interesting Barack Obama personally got elected on the power of we. He never said I. You know he quoted that we're the ones we've been waiting for, um, yes we can, and I think that's what people have been so thirsty for. To me that's what it means to be a liberal.

There are about 2 million defintions of liberalism available to us, and most have to do with the Enlightenment (a good place to start, actually), government, markets, individual liberty, etc. Very rarely is liberalism discussed as "inclusivity." But that is what a liberal government does: include all people in the benefits, and responsibilities, of political and social life.

The interviewer asked Stephanie if she's a liberal or progressive, noting that the two terms seem to be either interchangeable or that many use the latter out of fear of being called the former. She said she's glad to be a liberal, but her understanding of what liberalism accomplishes is, in fact very progressive. As I have written repeatedly, liberalism is about the kinds of political programs and policies we promote; progressivism is how we do the politics. A liberal public service will be encouraged and supported by government, will be open to all who need or would benefit from it and would derive at least partial funding from those able to pay. To make that policy possible requires a progressive movement of support; in other words, ordinary citizens, active in the grassroots, would be a major source of the impetus for that policy. Liberal policy with progressive politics.

(And I owe the distinction to a Daily Kos blogger commenting on Krugman.)

The entire interview is linked at C&L; Miller's show can be heard online, 6am - 9am, Mon-Fri, on KPTK. I miss being to listen to it.