The New Look of US Conservatives at About.com

Welcome to US Conservatives at About.com. I hear you're a rowdy bunch. That's good, because I can't stand being bored.

The tech department tells me the discussion board associated with this site had no forum administrator for a few days and soon the posts were so disturbing the whole thing had to be shut down just to lock out the crazies. It must have been pretty bad. I don't even want to imagine what kind of talk can generate that kind of fear.

To those of you who took the time to welcome me warmly into the fold. I want to thank you. I also want to thank those of you whose welcome wasn't so warm. You and I shall get along famously. I've been doing some plotting of my own, and I think you'll like it.

And that brings me to the central point of this blog. You and I are not always going to agree. In fact, it is likely we may disagree considerably on some things. At the end of the day, I like to think I'm a conservative, but I'm realizing more and more that "conservatism" means different things to different people. If nothing else, a disdain for liberalism is the common thread that unites us.

I think that's the gist of what Susan M. Heathfield said in her final blog on this site. Ms. Heathfield, if you'll recall, filled in most ably during the search for a new US Conservatives Guide. I hold her in high regard and have invited her to continue offering her unique brand of conservatism via the guest commentary section of this site. I sincerely hope she consents to do so for the benefit of those who will undoubtedly miss her posts. Conservatives of every stripe have graciously agreed to write commentary for me in the ensuing months, and I’m hopeful I can get some noteworthy conservatives to lend their opinions as well. There is much to discuss and lots to say.

Just this weekend, John McCain was endorsed by George H.W. Bush, a debate began to brew over the right of college students to conceal weapons on campus and Mike Huckabee has refused to step down. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin and Washington primaries loom ever larger.

And so, we begin.