Can the word ‘progressive’ be used in context with being a conservative?

Yesterday, a friend messaged me to say, “I wish people of our political stripe would quit using the term "progressive" because in political parlance it means ultra-left wing.”

He then went on to provide the following description of “progressive” as:

… (of taxation or a tax) increasing as a proportion of the sum taxed as that sum increases : steeply progressive income taxes.

… (of a card game or dance) involving a series of sections for which participants successively change place or relative position.

… archaic engaging in or constituting forward motion.

… (of a group, person, or idea) favoring or implementing social reform or new, liberal ideas : a relatively progressive governor.

Leadership means putting the best ideas to work

YES … putting the word ‘progressive’ together WITH ‘conservative’ generally is NOT a good plan, and in fact one could end up with an "Oxymoron" … and as he said, heavy emphasis on ‘moron’.

That said however, in context, and with a comma after the word ‘progressive’, and before ‘conservative’, it can also mean being open-minded (that's good), as well as making use of (or interested in) new ideas, findings, or opportunities.

Here’s more about putting those two words together though, as my friend mentioned:

Hilary Clinton, Barack and their ilk are all promoting that they are progressives.  I have a book by Jonah Goldberg, entitled "Liberal Fascism" and it spells out clearly that fascism is not "right wing" but rather based on government control of everything, progressivism.

There is problem, as I see it anyways, when discussing what it means to be a conservative.  Many would accuse those who are small 'c' conservatives, of being close-minded; I believe nothing could be further from the truth.   

I think all of us, regardless of political stripe, should be open to ideas which can further strengthen our beliefs in how things can be done.

Further, for any political party (or individual for that matter) to ensure they do not become stagnant, they need to be open to new ideas, and / or ways of doing things.  

I acknowledge however that there should be a qualifier.  Those ideas need to stay true to the core values and beliefs that person, or party, has.

So ... back to the original statement, “I wish people of our political stripe would quit using the term "progressive" because in political parlance it means ultra-left wing.”

What do you think?  Can 'progressive' be used as an adjective to describe someone who is 'conservative' minded?

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops … with the thoughts of one conservative.