Interesting. The first thing I usually say about conservatives,actually, is that they are authoritarian. So, the "democracy" in the title is eye catching.

How do I feel about a portion of our population appearing at town halls and yelling and screaming (from what I read) at the democratic representatives? Is this a right that they have? Is this democracy? Is this first amendment stuff? I don't know.

Once upon a time conservatives were scornful of "majoritarianism," and then this changed. Now, I think conservatives are off and on. When it suits them they are in favor of majoritarianism. When it doesn't suit them they are against it.

Does yelling and screaming make you a majority? How can you tell you're a majority...

So, we're going back to the old way of failure if the GOP has its way. Do you think Americans really want a "return to failure?" Hey, that's a pretty catchy slogan for 2010.

As F.A. Hayek says: Life is mostly about luck. Just deserts has little to do with a person's life.

The majority of Americans understand the wisdom of Hayek and are in favor of the socialization of luck. It's generally not your fault if you get cancer, i.e., you're not getting your "just deserts."

So, most Americans believe that the practical and moral solution to lives of luck is to socialize the costs of luck.

Hope y'all are having a grand time.

You are right about complete liberty being anarchy. And there are people on the right of libertarianism who are anarchists for the very reason that they believe in complete liberty.

The conclusion is one that many people recognize, viz, conservatives don't believe in as much liberty as they think they do. Conservatives slide into the "authoritarian" area of political philosophy.

Now, I won't bother you any more.

What you said doesn't make sense. Liberty is not your choice. It's van's choice.

Ultimately we are talking about the legitimacy of the conservative claim that you should be the ones judging peoples choices and exercising the police power.

As far as I am concerned conservatives claims to be the moral conscience of America have no legitimacy.

Then you don't love liberty. Your response was an elitist response. You also don't love merit, it would appear. If he does his job well or superlatively neither his skin color or his political philosophy should be considered.

Now, perhaps you will call me naive for this position. But, if so, what it shows is that in reality these things matter and that conservatives consider themselves an elite in terms of patriotism and morality and are more than eager to use the police power of the state to coerce people into obeying conservative beliefs. But liberty, remember, is the complete absence of coercion. Perhaps I should ask you what it is you don't understand about "complete."

Liberty is every individual being able to make their own choices free from coercion of any sort.

Once you criticize what another person does with their liberty you no longer believe in liberty.

Van's choice of being a communist should draw no criticism from people who love liberty....unless there is something they value more than liberty.

What conservatives don't understand about themselves is that they value stability and order, i.e., the status quo, more than liberty. Actually, liberty doesn't even come in second for conservatives, but that is another tale for another time.

The only group of Americans in play are the independents. I hope they can recognize lies and boorish behavior, vindictive behavior, cynical behavior, etc. when they see it. I think it's only a matter of time before the sheer aggregation of conservative self-serving behavior tips the independents.

Remember, disappointment with democrats is not a ringing endorsement of conservatives. There is always the least of two evils motivation.

I'm an expert in the conservative intellectual movement, having started with George Nash's book by the same name and having gone on from there to do an extensive research on intellectual conservatism. I would love to engage you in a sustained discussion over conservative and liberal principles.