It's they who have gone astray, Bear - not you.
Somewhere along the line it became tres chic to be a hard-nosed conservative with no tolerance or care for anyone other than the individual. Every man for himself, as it were.
As cheesy as it may sound to them out there, I choose to be a compassionate conservative.
Well...FWIW I think the articles posted/linked too have become more tabloid than they used to be.