  And so yes here is yet another tedious definition of labels article that are so overdone these days.  " This one however,  he said " is important to you.  Every once in a while I find myself acting like urlLink Nathan Bedford Forrest.
 This usually happens when I have to set some poor liberal fellow straight on a few items,  only to discover when I turn around I then have to do the same for someone calling themself a " conservative.  You remember Nathan.  he's the guy who found himself surrounded and when they asked him what they should do he told his troops to " split in two and charge both ways.
 I know it is only because I am a merciless pedant and curmudgeon- in- training ( don't you have to at least be 60 first?  and I also know that I am running against the modern definitions of the L and C words.  But I have to admit it is fun being a bit of a throwback.
 though some would contest that's what I am.  While most people view the differences between a conservative and a liberal as being the same difference between the past and the future,  I ( unfortunately for you,  dear Yard- reader)
 view the differences between a conservative and a liberal as being the same difference between being and becoming.  You see,  to my way of thinking,  the conservative considers some things as certain truths;  we are supposed to be considered equal under the law and that is sufficient -  while the liberal considers that any truth can be relative and while that is the goal there is no such thing right now as equality under the law.
 Therefore the conservative's view is developed from the idea that equality already is,  and the liberal's view is developed from the idea that equality ain't.  When a conservative stands against affirmative action it is because they have begun with the assumption that it undermines the whole idea of equality.  When a liberal stands for affirmative action it is because they have begun with the assumption that there is no such thing as equality.  To the conservative we are already equal.  To the liberal we are not.
 So the conservative is already doing what happens when equality exists,  while the liberal is forever trying to get there.  Being and becoming.  None of this holds true,  however,  for the sociopaths that often hide under the garb of "
legitimate"  conservatism or " legitimate"  liberalism.  Here I am talking about the skinhead who attaches himself to conservatism.  He isn't actually a conservative -
 he is actually an ethnic socialist just manipulating people with a faux- conservative mindset.  And the " America Is Always Wrong And We Should Hate Ourselves Unendingly"  hairbrain who attaches himself to liberalism is also not a true liberal in that liberty is the last thing he is after,  and is also manipulating the discussion.
 The true liberal honestly believes that it is government's duty to redress inherent problems by intervention.  The true conservative honestly believes that there are certain and specific duties a government needs to address and then nothing further.  Any form of social engineering through government intervention is not conservatism.  This is why the so- called 'religious right"  is not in the true school of traditional conservatism.
 I have written before that I believe there are many people who do not understand that conservatism is actually a more dynamic approach to the human condition than it is portrayed or often portrays itself as.  To me,  it is the difference between being and becoming.  This,  i feel,  is also why it is so hard for some liberals to fathom blacks or latinos who are politically conservative.
 Since they believe,  without being conscious of it,  that we are forever " becoming"  there is an unspoken assumption that " they"
 can't possibly ever be there.  This is why people like urlLink Walter Williams have a right to observe " If there is one general characteristic of white liberals,  it's their condescending and demeaning attitude toward blacks.  It is a matter of being and becoming.  (
And yet another hat- tip to urlLink La Shawn for the lead to Williams' article.  Wonder if she'll be a team member one day?  urlLink MORE…
