Admiring what's in the bowl...

La Follette founded "La Follette's Weekly," publishing his own speeches and writings by others. After he died in 1925 his family continued publishing the magazine. They renamed it "The Progressive" in 1929 under a joint operating agreement with the Capital Times newspaper and its prominent editor, William T. Evjue.

The La Follettes retook control in 1940, angry over Evjue editorials supporting U.S. military intervention to stop Adolf Hitler. Rothschild said he squirmed when he recently read the ensuing pacifist coverage of World War II, including the headline "No War with Japan" the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Their position didn't look too good, especially when all the brutality of the Nazis came to light," he said.

The publication shut down in October 1947 because of skyrocketing production costs but readers came to the rescue with donations. It resumed publishing months later under the headline, "Resurrection," and has continued since as a monthly.

Rothschild said finances remain a challenge. More than half the roughly $2.5 million budget comes from subscriptions. Donations and advertising make up the rest. The magazine has 15 full-time employees plus contributing writers and freelancers.

An article written by freelancer Howard Morland in 1979 put The Progressive in the national spotlight. Attempting to end the secrecy surrounding the production of nuclear weapons, Morland used public records to write "The H-Bomb Secret: How We Got It, Why We're Telling It." The piece included drawings showing how a nuclear bomb works.

Tipped off about the pending article, the U.S. Department of Energy sought to stop its publication. A federal judge took the extraordinary step of issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the article from being published, citing the potential of "nuclear annihilation."

Yay!!! Let's all celebrate the 100 year old birthday of a treason rag that gave away nuclear secrets thirty years after trying to advocate appeasement with Japan (the day before Pearl Harbor) and anger of the United States stepping in to stop Hitler.

So, what's The Progressive printing these days? Oh, just the usual puff pieces about admitted terrorists (Bill Ayers). He's a victim, you know.