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Current Events » in reply to No, no -it's that similar traits and beliefs thing.

No, it's an adjective thing
Robert — (archived)

We need to get clear on some etymology to clear up your confusion.

The words "conservative" and "liberal" are adjectives, except in the rare case when they're used as capitalized pronouns by formal political parties.

There is a common usage which looks like a noun, but it's really just a shorthand contraction. When people say "conservatives", they're saying "conservative people" or "members of a conservative political party"; "liberals" are "liberal people" or "members of a liberal political party". The singular forms are exactly the same. The adjectival meaning is preserved by these usages.

That's why it's meaningful, if confusing, to talk about people with liberal political beliefs behaving in a conservative fashion when, for example, they dig in their heels and defend their liberal ideology with conservative modes of thought and expression.

It's similarly possible for people with conservative political beliefs to behave in liberal, even radical ways. Remember The Newt's "Republican Revolution"? The "neocons" are the current examples of proponents of a conservative ideology advancing their cause in an insurgent, liberal, way--to advance an idea that's new (at least in context of a somewhat liberal society) is to behave in a liberal way. That's what puts the "neo" in "neoconservative".

So, it really is about conservative or liberal, in the true meanings of the words. If you understand that, you can understand why your post wasn't a "nice political twist of the knife", just a non-sequiter.

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