Whereas I agree that the study might be simplistic and its conclusions a bit of a stretch based solely on push-button testing, Mr. Saletan's conclusions are a bit childish and questionable and one truly wonders if he is not living proof that the study might actually be correct:

1. Also, our standard of "information" is a bit tougher than the blips and fads you fall for.

One can certainly agree that your standard of information, such as "FOX news" is tougher: tougher to "comprehend" for any sane, logical person, since 99.9% of it consists of LIES. Actually, FOX has a nasty tendency of twisting information to their own benefit. What blips and fads are you alluding to?

2. Sometimes, these inclinations lead us astray.

"Sometimes" is an understatement. Try "ALWAYS". Of course, "your information" led this country into a war. That is more grave than just "being lead astray".

3. But over the long run, they've served us and society pretty well.

Ahemmm, please give some examples to clarify your point. If all of humanity was conservative and maintained the status quo, we would currently believe that the earth was flat and many scientists would have been dismissed as nuts. It is the revolutionaries, the thinkers that went outside of the mold, that truly wrote human history. Civilization and progress as we know it today is largely due to them.

4. It's just that you notice all the times we were wrong and ignore all the times we were right.

Since when were you right?? I don't know of one instance, one policy that conservatives got right. Have you ever heard of the term:

"Stagnation is death"??

Maintaining the status quo is simply promoting stagnation and preventing progress. If you do not wish to evolve, that is your own choice; just don't try to take others down with you.

Good points and bad points..

I agree wth you on the fact that Mr. Saletan should have never wrote this article because he did a horrid job..But the fact that conservatives never did anything right..Was an incomplete sentence. You forgot to add "Conservatives never did anything right that the liberals liked." Because as you said they like to step outside of the mold which is good..But only every once in a while. You would notice how it is only good every once in a while if youd look at the time period between all the great things theyve done.

Let's see? I would say that our founding fathers were right and they were not liberal. They wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect our freedom to express religion and faith in God, to bear arms, and other important rights.

Liberals are so open minded that child rapists are going free. They want to take away guns from law-abiding citizens. They don't want to support our military and call them child-killers, while all along, the military is protecting your very right to be a jerk. They are willing to die for you! I wouldn't be willing to die for you! I have to give it to our military, they are awesome people! Yes, you liberals are destroying the very fabric of our nation. You have no respect for our flag, our borders, our history, our patriotism!

Don't give me that garbage that FOX news is 99.9% lies. Lies are a liberal way of life. John Kerry lies so much that he can't keep track of what he says on a daily basis.

One thing I do know for sure, Liberals are so far out there to the left that they have no concept of what truly is right or wrong!

Cyrus,

You imbicile....stagnation is following the path of the October Revolution. Communism is dead. Leninism is dead, Castroism is dead, Chavezism and Islamofacism are dying. Its time for you to decide which side you're on....with us or against us. Its getting serious pretty fast bobo. Where you gonna be when drop the next one? Pull your head out and wake up!

ntd

Tearing down your flawed arguments is going to be fun:

"Let's see? I would say that our founding fathers were right and they were not liberal. They wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect our freedom to express religion and faith in God, to bear arms, and other important rights."

Actually, the founding fathers WERE liberals, or I should say REVOLUTIONARIES to be technically correct. What's more, most of them (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson,etc.) were free masons, and THAT is a FACT. Free masons are not conservatives or religious.

"to protect our freedom to express religion and faith in God, to bear arms"

Actually, they stated that all men are free to believe in whatever they wish to believe in, including not to believe in God (atheism). Most of the founding fathers were adherents to deism (<link>) in that they did not believe in "organized" religion or the "divine" nature of Jesus Christ. The "bear arms" notion came from the fact that the citizens HAD TO BEAR ARMS in order to defeat the British and gain independence. It was more a right to form a militia. That has already been done, since the public authorities (US army, Police, etc.) bear arms to protect the people. There is absolutely no need for the general population to be armed.

IF THE FOUNDING FATHERS WERE CONSERVATIVE AND THEREFORE MAINTAINED THE STATUS QUO, THEY WOULD WANT THINGS TO STAY THE SAME (AMERICA REMAINING SUBJECT TO ENGLAND). IF THEY WERE CONSERVATIVE, THEY WOULD BE KISSING THE KING OF ENGLAND'S FEET INSTEAD OF STARTING THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

"Liberals are so open minded that child rapists are going free."

I do not believe that is true. However, if you can prove it, I am more than willing to listen.

"They want to take away guns from law-abiding citizens."

The problem here is that these so called "law-abiding" citizens are also the ones that take their guns and shoot innocent people, because they just got fired, divorced, etc . It is not necessary for citizens to own guns, unless you are saying that the Police can't do their job, which frankly is insulting to our other (non-military) men and women in uniform. I suggest arming the Police even more and forbidding citizens from owning weapons when it is not needed.

"They don't want to support our military and call them child-killers, while all along, the military is protecting your very right to be a jerk."

No need to get rude. The military should be supported precisely when they are protecting us. Of course, when some elements of the military cross the line and shoot unarmed civilians on purpose, then that is questionable. I think liberals support the army, when the army does its job of PROTECTION. Furthermore, invading a country, such as Iraq, for no valid reason (except for oil and money) and therefore putting the military at risk for corporate gains, is not "supporting" the military. Its a big fat F. you in their face. Don't you think?

"They are willing to die for you! I wouldn't be willing to die for you! I have to give it to our military, they are awesome people!"

You are stating that the army will protect us, which is great and noble, but that you wouldn't be willing to protect your fellow Americans if need be. So, in your opinion, other people should sacrifice their lives selflessly to protect us all, which is great, while YOU would "pick and choose"...YOU ARE A JERK.

"Yes, you liberals are destroying the very fabric of our nation. You have no respect for our flag, our borders, our history, our patriotism!"

Wow. Its amazing how far you are from the truth. Patriotism, Americanism is following in the steps of our Founding Fathers, who, by the way, started a War for Independence against the status quo, against the tyranny of the English Monarch. America is what it is today, because men stood up against the system and fought it for liberty, freedom, etc... They VOICED their opposition. Therefore, it is American, it is in within the notion of freedom and liberty to voice our opposition, whether we are right or not. It is American to be against a war or anything else we don't agree with for that matter. You should have the right to voice your opinion. However, calling people "Unamerican" or questioning their patriotism, because they voice their opinion, is not only Unamerican, it is absolutely disgusting. You are just swallowing every piece of information FOX news and the likes feed you, without questioning anything...And then you have the nerve of calling people who question it "unpatriotic". Now that is truly amazing...Following that logic, you would consider the Founding Fathers as Unpatriotic, since they questioned the reason for being under British rule.

"Don't give me that garbage that FOX news is 99.9% lies. Lies are a liberal way of life. John Kerry lies so much that he can't keep track of what he says on a daily basis."

Fact: Politicians of all stripes and colors are LIARS. It just goes with the job. If you don't know that by now, you are really stupid. Kerry, Bush, The Republicans, Democrats, etc.. lie like they breathe. The problem with FOX news and most news outlets (liberal and conservative alike) is that they do not provide you plain facts, which they should. They will always afix to it some form of personal opinion or conviction, which is fine, as long as they don't call it "NEWS". They should call them editorials or opinions. All media outlets are controlled by corporations that have vested interests anyway. FOX news is biased against Democrats, just as CNN is biased against Republicans. What I am adamantly against, is how the media twists information in order to make a case against another country or person etc. and calls it FACT.

"One thing I do know for sure, Liberals are so far out there to the left that they have no concept of what truly is right or wrong!"

One thing I do know for sure, Conservatives are so far out there to the right that they have no concept of what truly is right or wrong!"

That was really easy to do. What proof do you have? Actually, what is right and what is wrong in your opinion?

NTD:

Thanks for calling me an "imbicile". Before calling people idiots as you seem to enjoy doing, you should learn how to SPELL it: its "imbEcile".

The quote is actually Indian (as in the country India; ever heard of it?) and has nothing to do with Communism. You seem to really enjoy "-isms". The only "ism" missing in your incoherent babble is "patriotism", "Americanism", which are embodied in our right to think and voice our opposition. Your "with us or against us" gibberish is Anti-American at best and total non-sense at worst, since it really means: "you don't have the right to think differently".

Thanks for the reply to my post--GarbageInGarbageOut. I am somewhat new at this (a conservative or pragmatic libertarian trying something new) and wanted to follow your thread to see your other comments. I found you to be somewhat conservative (ie. unwilling to change or look at the other side) in your approach to conservatives as well as opposing points of view. I say this in the friendliest of ways. As, what I thought to be, an intelligent seeker of the truth I was surprised to find that you did not see the study for what it is with many flaws in its conclusions and, in fact, a completely political study. Although we all enjoy being stroked and proven right I find that the truth is a lot harder to find, a lot harder to sell to others, and usually an unwanted commodity in these types of arenas. My goal is to seek the truth so when you find it (in any area of study) let me know.