[robertpaulsen]

I have to agree with HG's statement, "Conservatism is a reflective term; it describes nothing but a position relative to something else."

Even the article uses phrases like "smaller government", "strong national defense", "limited fiscal policy". Smaller, stronger, more limited than ... what? Relative to what?

Well, the answer is, "relative to the liberal position". The problem is that as liberals drift even farther left, so do conservatives, even though they remain to the right.

That's why conservatives today look like the liberals of yesterday. Because it's a relative position, rather than a concrete position.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Well put. That's why a "conservative" like me cannot support the Drug War, yet a "conservative" like you can. Even amongst ourselves we have different interpretations of the term, and that's the point I was trying to make here.

[rdb3]

Even the article uses phrases like "smaller government", "strong national defense", "limited fiscal policy". Smaller, stronger, more limited than ... what? Relative to what?

Good point. But let me ask you a question.

Would you apply your question to, say, the issue of "principle(s)" that is thrown around like candy around here? I mean, whenever I read someone spouting the term "principle," I ask myself "Which principles?" since the term is never completely defined.

[Cathryn Crawford]

That's why conservatives today look like the liberals of yesterday. Because it's a relative position, rather than a concrete position.

Yes, the conservatives of today are really what used to be called classic liberals.

[Maelstrom]

Conservatism isn't a reflective term.

Smaller government has a concrete basis: the minimum amount of government to fulfill the government's Constitutional responsibilities.

Strong national defense also has a concrete basis: the ability to protect us from foreign enemies. This has meant the ability to fight 2 wars at the same time.

Limited fiscal policy also has a concrete basis: the minimum amount of regulation to prosecute abuse in the free market.

Smaller, stronger, and more limited with respect to it's current situation colliquially, and to the concrete bases that are readily available to anyone who's actually thought about their conservative beliefs.