B_Skurka said:
Ah, and now we get to the real nub of things (which is why Bob and I are friends). There are true conservatives and pseudo conservatives, just as there are true liberals and phoney liberals. Frankly, the pseudos and the phoneys deserve every epithet they throw at each other; in other words, for every Michael Moore there is an Sean Hannity; for every Rush Limbaugh there is an Al Franken; and for every Jesse Jackson there is an Ann Coulter.
In an ideal world, if every conservative was a true conservative, and followed the example of Bob and others here with their generosity, there would be no need for liberals like me. I recognize, however, that too many of the so-called conservatives are only in it for themselves, and begrudge any alms to their lessers, thus it is necessary for the government to step in and set things right.
The pseudo conservatives are in it for what they can grub for themselves. The irony is the phoney liberals are in it for the same reason, except they don't want to earn and keep it in the first place, thus are actually worse.
The true conservative does want to teach someone to fish. So does the true liberal. The pseudo conservative wants to keep the riff-raff off the water, and the phoney liberal wants someone else to do the fishing.
Interestingly, the pseudo conservative and the phoney liberal are both racist, both prejudiced, both blind, and both stupid.
In deciding whether to be a true conservative or a true liberal, however, one has to look at the subtleties. In the current environment, being a conservative means one aligns oneself with right-wing religious movements who want to force their way of thinking upon the entire populace through laws. This is actually counter-conservative if one believes in individual rights or even states' rights. It could be argued that those who want to change laws regarding abortion, prayers in school, and many other issues, via the Federal government, more correctly belong to the left-wing, where it's accepted that government will have an undue influence upon our lives. But, the right wing has pandered to them in order to win elections.
Then, there is economic success. The right has tried for at least 17 years through 3 presidencies (Reagan, Bush, Bush) to prove that their economic theories hold water. To call oneself a conservative means that one has to align themselves with that obvious failure (well, it's obvious to me, anyway, I'd like to see a realistic argument to the contrary).
Finally, there is the simple greed and selfishness that leads so-called conservatives to strip and rape environmental laws, reduce or eliminate penalties for environmental damage, raise corporate welfare, reward companies for sending jobs overseas, reduce taxes on the wealthy while eliminating necessary expenditures for health, food safety, infrastructure and the like, and so many other examples of simple greed there isn't room for them all.
The ultimate insult to true liberals (who should more properly be called Progressives or New Democrats), is the blanket tactic of the pseudo right to tar and feather any mention of the term "liberal" or to ostracize anyone who calles themself a progressive. There is no corresponding attack on the right from the left. In other words, progressives are just plain nicer people than pseudo conservatives.
Thus, I'm proud to call myself a true liberal. And, I think that Bob Skurka, Dargo, bczoom and a few others here are true conservatives. I respect that, because I don't think they fit my description of a pseudo conservative. Of course, I also feel sorry for them because they can't see the true light, but I try to keep my pity within bounds...
The irony is that the aforementioned conservatives are sometimes caught in liberal activities, and that I'm probably more of a fiscal conservative than anyone in the current spend-happy administration (they call liberals "tax and spend"; I call them "borrow and spend even more". The sad part is that the interest and the associated costs of borrowing probably cost us more than the taxes).
Harrumph. If all of the foregoing doesn't get me booted off, then this forum has hope...
and a bit more candid 
