There seems to be a preponderance of ignorance in the NGs
regarding what a conservative is and what a neo-con is.

There seems to be a preponderance of ignorance in the NGs regarding
what a conservative is and what a neo-con is. I don't remember
reading much of anything on the NGs from anyone I considered a true
conservative. Certainly there are a few, but they are a dying breed to
be sure. I have seen a lot of neo-cons. Many neo-cons actually
believe they are true conservatives, but they are sadly mistaken. One
thing to remember is neo-cons are not new. They have been around for
many decades. They have only fairly recently come to any real
popularity. Many of the original founders of the neo-con movement
were, in fact, socialists. This is a little known fact that neo-cons
would prefer to remain in obscurity.

So what's the difference?

First of all, let me explain what a true conservative is and how they
relate to liberals. A true conservative is not directly adversarial
to a liberal. Both conservatives and liberals have a strong belief in
liberty. Although they don't always agree what the best method is to
attain liberty, the two groups have generally been able to find middle
ground through their mutual respect for liberty. Conservatives
believe the best way to achieve liberty is through a small centralized
government. They reason that the more centralized and small the
government is, the less it can interfere with liberty. Liberals
believe liberty is best obtained when the government exists to enhance
the quality of life for everyone. They believe in a decentralized
government which serves the needs of everyone and treats everyone
equally. Liberals believe that everyone, regardless of class or
social rank should be given the same opportunities. These are the
differences between liberals and true conservatives in a nutshell. It
can also be said that liberals and conservatives are not just an
American institution. They can be found in practically any government
in the world that is based on democratic principles.

Next I'll explain what a neo-con is. It should first be said that
neo-cons do not exist outside the US to any degree worth mentioning.
They are, in fact, an American phenomenon. So what do they believe
in? First of all, they do NOT have a strong belief in liberty, which
is the biggest difference between them, liberals, and true
conservatives. For this reason, they are very adversarial towards
liberals as there is no middle ground on which to base compromise.
Neo-cons favor a larger, centralized government that maintains strict
control over people's lives and enforces morality and traditional
standards. They favor unilateralism and spreading democracy the world
over, by force if necessary. Liberty actually plays a very small role
in their political philosophy. Although they aren't necessarily
anti-liberty, if liberty is the victim of them reaching their goals,
it's a price worth paying in their minds.

Neo-cons actually got their start by support of Nixon and had a small
degree of influence over his administration. Their first strong
showing was during the Raygun administration in which they enjoyed a
very strong degree of influence. When Bush41 became President, he
actually shuffled most of them out of his administration and they
slipped back into obscurity for a while only to come back strongly
with a grass roots effort aimed at both Congress and the Executive
branches of government. They are now stronger than they have ever been
and exhibit quite a large influence over congress and of course, can
claim Bush43 as a strong supporter.