The debate over “liberal” versus “conservative” long ago became quite tiresome.
I think it all can be boiled down quite simply to a fundamental conflict: A conservative, by his very nature, is bound to defend established privilege and to lean on the power of government for the protection of privilege. The essence of the liberal position, however, is the denial of all privilege, if privilege is understood in its proper and original meaning of the state granting and protecting rights to some that are not available on equal terms to others.
To protect their privilege, including the ability to plunge into self-dealing while ignoring certain Constitutional rights or legal requirements as inconvenient using the mask of national security, conservatives find it convenient to smear all concepts of liberalism, classical as well as what passes for it these days. In doing so, they assassinate their own credibility.
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