[leacturavar]

Cool topic, especially since it gives me a chance to rant about how "conservatives' aren't really conservatives anymore. There was a time when conservatives were anti-big government, anti-defecits, anti-government surveillance, anti-intrustion into privacy. The whole idea behiind conservatism was that Americans could do just find on their own thank you very much and didnt need anyone helping or monitoring them. It seems like modern day conservatives have held onto the idea that the government shouldn't help people (anti-welfare, anti-social security, anti-public education etc) but totally forgotten the anti-big government parts of their ideology with this War on Terror situtation. And completely forgotten theit laissez faire roots by backing the biggest corporate welfare administration this country has ever seen, ever. Conservatives used to be anti abortion AND anti death penalty, because they felt the government can't sanction the taking of human life.

Liberals on the other hand have been forced into an equally problematic position. They tend to normally be in favor of major government intervention into peoples lives in the form of social assistance, education, job training, fair housing programs etc etc. Yet they've found themselves divesting of homegrown institutions due to their lack of support for faith based grassroots organisations.