It is pretty obvious that the conservative "movement" is dead in America. Whatever there was of it has been completely co-opted by the Republican Party. The GOP, like its "adversary" across the aisle, has a simple ideology: whatever our guys do is good; whatever the other guys do is bad.
Life is indeed simple for a good Parteigenosse.
When Clinton attacked Serbia and bombed the Sudanese factory, many members of FR objected, saying that these were violations of international law, based on flimsy or fabricated evidence.
Bush II, in keeping with the family tradition, has launched a ground war on similarly flimsy or fabricated evidence. Point this out and you are a traitor.
When the Clinton administration prolonged its blockade of Iraq, thus aggravating the suffering of its civilian population, I recall that many people on this site took Madeleine Albright to task for her expressed callous disregard for the lives of suffering non-combatants. Blockade is wrong if undertaken by a Democrat, but invasion is right if done by a Republican. Note: Iraqi possession of WMD was the alleged reason for both adverse actions.
Unless I am mistaken, the people from the Clinton administration who were in charge of INS and FAA were still in charge under Bush. Yet somehow, Clinton is responsible for letting terrorists into the country and Bush is not.
Had the Reno Justice Department decided to assume the same sweeping jurisdiction as Ashcroft's, I am sure that the "conservatives" here would have been calling us to the barricades. If a Republican does it, though, it's all for our own good.
One thing that the GOP aparatchiks do not appear to understand is that their ascendancy in DC is not permanent. This is not the 1000-Year BushReich. And the "war powers" that have been assumed by this administration will soon enough fall into the hands of their political opponents.
Then we'll see some fun, I think.