The problem with reading a war post on andrewsullivan.com is that it is usually followed up by a domestic politics post of sheer stupidity. Andrew announced this week that (1) he's for a high gas tax, and (2) he doesn't drive. Well isn't that special! Andy wants to jack up taxes that HE won't be required to pay! This speaks for itself.
Sullivan goes on to quote a fawning reader's email on the subject:
"One of the things that's always surprised me about many supposed conservatives is their refusal to acknowledge what I've always believed in, and what strikes me as the essense of classical liberalism, i.e. personal responsibility, which applies to environmental concerns as well."
Okay people, I'm going to give you a quick political philosophy lesson: CLASSICAL LIBERALISM IS NOT CONSERVATISM. See, a classical liberal is a classical liberal. A conservative is a conservative. As I've said before, just because the Left is no longer dominated by classical liberals and instead has been taken over by radical nihilists does not mean the classical liberals get to take over the Right. They can go fight it our with their former brethren for all I care, but we conservatives are happy to stay conservative and run our own show, thank you very much.
Sorry, I just really hate it when people assume conservatism is or should be classical liberalism. For God's sake, the whole intellectual history of the nineteenth century revolves around the formation and struggle between the conservative and classical liberal movements!