"As I have said before, I believe that conservatism--and this includes modern American political conservatism--is fundamentally oriented to the consolidation and perpetuation of power.  Modern liberalism is fundamentally oriented toward the diffusion of power.  Since we are living in a world of increasingly diffuse power, conservatism will face severe strains over the next era."

oxy, you've got it backwards. Conservatism is all about less government, not more. It also embraces federalism, which further diffuses power. Modern Liberalism embraces more government (much more), it approves taking larger and larger shares of people's wealth and earnings to spend on it's causes, it blatantly disrupts the marketplace to advance its own agenda, and it continually attempts to further it's power through the courts rather than through the people. I believe you need to rethink your position.

Mark