Isn't it great how "conservative" is now a bad word and "liberal" is synonymous with human decency?

No...I don't like seeing either as a bad word. Though liberal, I respect principled conservatives. I don't agree with them, but I respect them (if they are principled, and not self-serving and power hungry, such as Tom DeLay or Newt Gingrich). Pragmatically, neither ideology fits all problems. Sometimes, a conservative approach is needed, and sometimes a liberal approach is needed. That said, it thoroughly disgusts me that conservatives have appropriated the word "liberal" and treat it and say it as if it were a term describing pure filth.