> WE KNOW WHERE YOU STAND. We want to SUPPORT your position, to ADDRESS our arguments to the contrary. [...]
>
> > Mark"The uncompassionate convervative"N
>
> Thank you SO much for making the rest of us conservatives look bad.
>
> S "compassionate conservative" am

For the benefit of us non-American readers out here... What on earth is a Republican "conservative" actually supposed to stand for and represent?

Traditionally and historically, that is. Judging from Sam and MarkN (and Dave P)'s comments, an American "conservative" is a traditionalist who wants to retain the status quo and yet, paradoxically, also wants fewer restrictions and more personal freedoms. HUH? That definitely sounds like an oxymoron.

In Canada, the Conservatives are historically the stable, status quo-loving Old Guard (that part's the same as in the US), but the Liberals are the ones who get portrayed as "jet-setting personal freedom-loving hippies". (Actually, these right/left political orientation-labels have meant little during the terms of our last two Prime Ministers. Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives acted much like money-tossing Liberals when they were in power -- likewise the current Liberal PM in office, under Paul Martin's guidance, has instead done the PCs' traditional job of slashing the budget.)

But never mind the strange bedfellows of Canadian Federal politics. I want to know about Americans. :-) Given the previous paradoxical definition of "conservative" provided by Dave, what is it with what American conservatives want?

Wolf "compassionate conservative?" spirit