The term "conservative" means to me a cautious approach to economics, government and society in general. This reactionary radical-right Administration is anything but conservative but profligate and greedy.

I think the "liberal" world view is different from the traditional "conservative" in that (as George Lakoff has ably pointed out) the "liberal" is more given to a "nurturing" approach and the "conservative" tends toward the "authoritarian".

A nurturing view would place value on helping society and those less fortunate by assigning some of the help to government.

An authoritarian view would emphasize less independent thought and more reliance on leadership. It would place a value on individual gain at the expense of society rather than a contributor to it.

We have seen the fruits of "authoritarianism" and it hasn't worked very well in the last decade. The "me first" at the expense of the "law of the commons" has reduced our government to corrupting influences and the privatization of corporations who tend to be insular and protective of their resources. We have street people, crime, fraud in the home mortgage industry, the deterioration of our public schools, needless wars, gas price gouging by oil companies, mercenary armies that do damage to our image abroad and aggravate international problems, elimination of important government programs to aid the shrinking middle class and the new emerging class of the "working poor". We see unreasonable opulence at the top of our economic ladder which robs the American people through taxation as the money travels upward. A lot of these policies can be attributed to the new Leo Strauss definition of "conservatism" or "neo-cons".

Wal-Mart is an example of selling shoddy material from China (with lead-based product) that panders to the less affluent Americans while their corporation reaps the money. Trade unionism which used to protect the working American has been gutted by the "authoritarians" in government and private enterprise. "Authoritarianism" has led the US to the new "Gilded Age" of robber barons and Wall Street con men. In short, the "conservative" agenda as "authoritarian" is not good for our country. Unfortunately men like McCain reflect this world view.

I don't know where Obama will go. Will he run to the "right" and embrace the authoritarian viewpoint? I worry about his Faith-based initiatives and the problems it sets for the First Amendment of the Constitution. I worry that he is pro-military and wants more soldiers in the Mid-east. (This is definitely an authoritarian approach).

Both John Dean and George Lakoff have addressed this issue of world view in detail. I recommend those who are interested to check these men on the internet.

What is called "conservatism" today in the US is harmful for our country. I don't think this is what was originally meant by the term.

Frank Hamilton