“One of the great weaknesses of the progressive, as distinct from the religious, mind, is that it has no awareness of truth as such; only of truth in terms of enlightened expediency. The contrast is well exemplified in two exact contemporaries — Simone Weil and Simone de Beauvoir; both highly intelligent and earnestly disposed. In all the fearful moral dilemmas of our time, Simone Weil never once went astray, whereas Simone de Beauvoir, with I am sure the best of intentions, has found herself aligned with apologists for some of the most monstrous barbarities and falsehoods of history.”
— Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge in “A Knight of the Woeful Countenance” in The World of George Orwell (1972) edited by Miriam Gross, p. 167

And here one finds it exactly. For Progressives, means to an end don’t matter. Thus, anything is possible and excusable. For the religious, the means should accord with the goal. The goal gained through ill means is not gained at all, but merely is a step in the wrong direction. For Progressives, elections are far too important to be left in the hands of the unwashed voters. They will achieve their Great Democracy without the common people. You know, the Demos.