I heard this line from someone again on Saturday.  I hear it from people all the time now.  I'm sick of it.  It's a lie, pure and simple.  Granted, it's not like the people who proudly proclaim this are being dishonest on purpose.  They honestly believe that there is a difference between being a Conservative and a Republican, but it really just means they're naive.  I understand the desire to separate the two.  The Republican Party is fairly corrupt, and doesn't hold to the values that anyone would like any more.  Claiming to be a Conservative and not a Republican is a great way to show displeasure with the party.  But let's take a look at a few basic facts.

Conservatives Vote for Republicans:  I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again.  If it walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, then it's a duck.  If you vote for a Republican, and you support Republicans, then you are one.  Owen once talked about how the real battle is in the primaries, but I frankly just don't believe it, especially since Republicans who uphold "core Republican values" aren't challenged successfully in primaries by other Republicans.  And before you mention Larry Craig, also be prepared to explain how David Vitter hasn't been forced out yet.

Conservative Values Have Led to Big Government Republicans:  This is where "conservatives" get naive.  The major complaint among conservatives regarding Republicans is that Republicans have lost their way when it comes to big government.  The problem is, you can't enforce the core Conservative beliefs without big government.  How do you fight the War on Drugs^TM without a huge investment by the government in both size and money?  The current battle costs us billions of dollars annually, and we're still losing it.  The War on Drugs has done more to diminish our basic constitutional rights than the War on Terror ever has, and most Conservatives I talk to think we need to go further to police drug abuse.  Moreover, the War on Drugs is used as a model for how we attack other things that Conservatives and Republicans decry, that are part of the nanny state push like how we eat, and drink, and exercise.  The War on Drugs was the original nanny state idea.  How do you keep people from gambling if you aren't willing to have a big government that snoops in on every transaction that flows through your bank account?  The list goes on an on.

Most Conservative core values affect things that are really about free adult choices, that Conservatives want to limit.  You just can't limit choices without creating a government that can enforce those limitations.  And once you've created a government infrastructure which capable of policing it, it can now be used by others (read liberals) to police other things.  After a certain period of time, that government is so large that corruption and bureaucracy takes over.  Sound familiar to anyone?

Republicans are really just realistic Conservatives.  They're the ones who have taken Conservative ideals, and actually tried to implement them.  The irony is that the only way to implement Conservative ideals is to create a government which Conservatives hate.  The even bigger irony is that Conservatives don't see it, and then complain to the Republicans that they have tried to give them everything they wanted.