It's surprising that she was able to fool honorable conservatives for so long. Bill Kristol, an otherwise intelligent man, stuck by her until the end. Well, if as Palin says, you are judged by the people you associate with, we don't think much of you anymore, Bill Kristol.

We had long assumed that conservatism concerned itself with tradition, the value of learning from the past, holding fast to that which is solid and durable.

Sarah Palin was an expensive clothes horse for conservatism. The outfits cost $150,000 but her ideas were worthless.

According to its defenders, conservatives act wisely, never rushing to change things for change's sake, never leaping from one trendy idea to another, always ready to champion a good but unpopular idea over one that glitters brightly for the moment. That, as we saw by John McCain's erratic campaign, was and is baloney.

Never in the history of modern campaigning has a candidate been more willing to try any underhand and foolhardy trick to win a few yards of ground.

McCain-Palin's dirty campaign included attacks on Obama's patriotism, his faith, his commitment to justice and fairness, his desire for government to work for ALL its citizens, not just those considered by conservatives to be "real Americans".

Right up until election day, McCain and Palin were not telling us what they would do, but what Obama would not do. Conservatism had turned itself into knee-jerk opposition. Whatever was considered questionable, objectionable, unpopular, and devious, McCain-Palin told us they were the opposite of that.

The voters didn't buy it. The scare-mongering became tedious... Obama a muslim, yeah right. Obama, a socialist, yawn, yawn, yawn. Obama, a pal of domestic terrorists, oh pleeez. Yes, we were really going to buy that one.

On election day, conservatism was dealt a swift kick up the behind. It's now wounded in the gutter, and not many people seem to mind. We're sick and tired of conservatism, weary of its inability to practice what it preaches and walk what it talks. Conservatism has become the big, broken lie. As Colin Powell said of Iraq, but it applies equally to conservatism, "If you break it, you own it". Until conservatives sort out their house, America is siding with Obama.

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