They're all conservatives, of course. All Republicans, except for one. Can you name him?

That would be George Wallace (fifth from left), elected Alabama governor four times, and three-time Democratic presidential candidate. It's important to note that once upon a time greedy corporatists had the Republican Party pretty much all to themselves, while the Democratic Party actually contained within its "big tent" the "social" conservatives, mostly from the south. Wallace was one of those. Of all the figures above, he is the only one to ever regret and recant much of the conservative bile he spewed during his active political seasons. It seems even the staunchest of conservative Democrats can at last admit they were wrong.

Republicans? As they will tell you themselves, they are never wrong. But aha, that's their mastery of wordsmithing, phrase-turning and disinformation at work... where the truth is actually the opposite of what they say it is. The sad reality is that they are always wrong. They count on you having a very short memory about that.

The 17 figures above are among the titans of the conservative movement over the past century. Look at those faces. What do you see, aside from a gaggle of sour pusses? Here are some terms that variously apply and describe: corrupt, incompetent, arrogant, elitist, bigot, liar, zealot, crook, bully, thief, uncaring, humorless, short-sighted, mean-spirited, staid, stodgy, ruthless, stubborn, boor, irrational, out-of-touch, coward, thug, disloyal, unethical, alcoholic, drug-abuser, ego-maniac, criminal, dangerous, fascist, traitor, evil. For additional insight into actual conservative character and values see the official definitions and synonyms at right.

In the 1960s and 70s those ultra-conservative Democratic politicians, and their true believers, realized they were becoming more and more out of sync with their party and its traditional quest for progress, equality and opportunity for all Americans. You see, conservatives never, ever really want progress, equality and opportunity for all Americans... only for their, particular chosen group: affluent, white males. So en masse they began moving to the Republican Party, which was comparatively untainted by the labor movement, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, scientists, teachers, artists, musicians, non-conformists, environmentalists, women, and other rabble. Today there are very few real conservatives left in the Democratic Party. Surely one of the most conservative Democrats of the modern era was Bill Clinton. As president, he gave the conservatives much of what they wanted, and still they hated him.

Yet even with the influx of millions of former conservative Democrats, the Republican Party -- particularly following Watergate -- seemed in disarray and entirely out of touch with the nation's direction: rapidly evolving progress in the fields of education, arts and sciences, civil rights, women's rights, environmental concerns, workplace safety, industrial and corporate regulations, and much more.

But then a strange combination of events turned things around for the conservatives. The tumultuous 60s, the Vietnam War, Watergate, the continuing and seemingly never-ending Cold War, a misfiring economy, the rapid expansion and politicizing of evangelical Christian sects, combined with uninspired leadership at all levels of government culminated in a national crisis of confidence in the mid and late '70s. Democrat Jimmy Carter, certainly one of the most decent human beings to occupy the White House, inherited this malaise, but was unable to turn it around on the basis of his administration's philosophies: honesty, openness, rationality, and long-term planning.

By 1980 the voters had grown impatient with Carter, and turned their hopes, dreams and trust over to a Hollywood B-movie actor. Ronald Reagan had not even taken office before he betrayed that trust. But he got away with it, and he would set the stage for a hostile takeover of American government by the nastiest, most ruthless political animals the nation has ever known: the conservatives.

LIBERAL - lib·er·al
–adjective
1. favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2. (often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.
3. of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.
4. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
5. favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.
6. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
7. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
8. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.
9. characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor.
10. given freely or abundantly; generous: a liberal donation.
11. not strict or rigorous; free; not literal: a liberal interpretation of a rule.
12. of, pertaining to, or based on the liberal arts.
13. of, pertaining to, or befitting a freeman.
–noun:. a person of liberal principles or views, esp. in politics or religion.

SYNONYMS (courtesy Roget's Thesaurus)
CONSERVATIVE
bourgeois, cautious, constant, controlled, conventional, die-hard, fearful, firm, fogyish, fuddy-duddy, guarded, hard hat, hidebound, holding to, illiberal, inflexible, middle-of-the-road, not extreme, obstinate, old guard, old-line, orthodox, quiet, red-neck, right, right-wing, timid, traditional, traditionalistic, unchangeable, unchanging, uncreative, undaring, unimaginative, unprogressive, white bread

LIBERAL
advanced, avant-garde, big, broad, broad-minded, detached, dispassionate, enlightened, flexible, free, general, high-minded, humanistic, humanitarian, impartial, interested, left, lenient, libertarian, loose, magnanimous, not literal, not strict, permissive, radical, rational, reasonable, receiving, receptive, reformist, tolerant, unbiased, unbigoted, unconventional, understanding, unorthodox, unprejudiced