I suppose that you are correct. That type of conservative does not believe in individual freedom, they just believe in their verison of big mama government running everything. They are just as statist as the liberals. They believe that if they ran everything, all would be sweetness and light.
Lesson not learned: Freedom is something that you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to the other guy as well.
No, Mike. Don't say that. As JimRob has posted on this subject (but I can't find it right now), calling a supporter of the War on Some Drugs a "statist" is just as inflammatory as someone calling an opponent of the War on Some Drugs a "druggie". It doesn't contribute anything to the discussion.
Many people, both liberal and conservative, find it more convenient to have the government enforce their moral code on other people, rather than convincing those other people to voluntarily adopt it. But, at the same time, they expect the government to protect whatever set of rights or freedoms that they deem important.
Neither really want a big government and more control: they only want it to be just big enough to do the things they want it to do. However, they don't realize that government generally does not shrink without a revolution: it just keeps growing. It's not a dark conspiracy -- it's just human nature. Governments are composed of humans, so why should we expect it to be any different?
And therein lies the problem. When government restricts the freedom of one group of people that wouldn't otherwise be violating the rights of anyone, it simply provides the precedent to do the same for another group of people. And inevitably, it happens because no one has the courage to stand up and say that even though I think this behavior is irresponsible or immoral, we should leave them alone unless they are hurting someone other than themselves.