Yes, the old stick-in-the-muds were an impediment to progress. Yes, the old mossbacks were dull and predictable. Yes, their old knees jerked whenever they thought someone might be having fun. We despised them all.

Still, we miss the old fuddy-duddies. You could count on them. When something new presented itself, they wouldn't like it. They would resist it, not from any intellectual point of view, but just resist it the way a man resists a new pair of shoes or a dog resists a new collar.

The essential quality of conservatism is not a specific agenda. Neither to lower taxes or raise the flag, for example.

But now the old geezers are gone. The codgers and grumps are voting for liberals this year, we are told. And what choice do they have? At least the big-spender, Bush, is serious about defending the nation from the “bad guys.”Big-spender, Kerry, as far as they can tell, might be a bad guy himself.

More and more, we see columnists, pundits, military strategists, politicians, and even friends of ours; refer to America's purported enemies as “the bad guys.” No one knows who the bad guys actually are or why they are so bad, but we all know the difference between a “bad guy” and a “good” one.

According to the popular press, the bad guys may not be just a few malcontents and nut balls, but the entire Islamic population of the globe! The Muslim mind, say the neo-cons, is locked in the past...it mistreats women...it is anti-democratic...anti-progress...nihilist...and profoundly, irretrievably stuck in a death struggle with the good guys in the enlightened, free, open minded, fun-loving, capitalist West. It is a “clash of civilizations,” as Samuel Huntington put it.

The old time conservatives would be a little suspicious.

When a man flatters you, it is almost certain that he means to take your business, pick your pocket or sleep with your wife. When a man flatters himself, on the other hand, he might just as well put a revolver in his mouth and pull the trigger; for he has already lost all touch with reality. A delightful little book has fallen into our hands. Amin Maalouf is the author. He gives us "The Crusades from the Arab Point of View."

"That day, Omar made his entry into the city on his famous white camel while the Greek patriarch of the holy city came out to meet him. The caliph began by assuring him that the lives of the citizens and their property would be respected. He then asked to visit the city's sacred Christian sites." While they were in the church of Qyama, the Saint Sepulchre, the Moslem hour of prayer came around. Omar asked his host where he could spread his prayer rug and prostate himself. The patriarch invited him to do so right where he was, but the caliph replied: 'If I do it, the Muslims will proclaim the place sacred, saying, 'Omar prayed here.' Taking his rug, he went outside to pray."

Jersalem was taken, again, in July of 1099. This time the Christians were the victors, and the handover much less gracious.