"I cannot tell you how strongly I agree with this. It's the same line Jon Stewart walks, and it always resonates with me when he tries to throw this back at somebody like Ann Coulter"

However, Stewart is clearly a Liberal. I don't think he'd claim otherwise, and Coulter is a Conservative. You can, therefore, have core beliefs and still come across as open-minded and fair as Stewart does.

IOW, what separates Stewart and Coulter is not that one is a mealie mouthed moderate and one is strongly on one side of the partisan spectrum: it is the level of zealotry, but moreover it's also the level "laidbackness" (let's pretend that's a word). Stewart is trying to be funny and entertaining and appealing to a broad swatch of people, so he presents his ideas and beliefs and take on the Body Politic in a wry manner that can be cutting as well as self-deprecating. If he can poke out hypocrisy on The Left and can do it for a laugh he'll do it. He can postulate that perhaps he and The Left were wrong about bringing democracy to Iraq, for example.

This does not mean, IMO, that he doesn't have core beliefs. I'm quite sure he's still a zealot when it comes to how the American people were manipulated into going into Iraq.

And let's be frank: by the very definition of "Liberal" (from dictionary.com "open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded"), the vast majority of institutions (e.g. "MSM") and individuals (e.g. Jon Stewart) that practise what you call "the new paradigm" are in fact Liberal. It kind of runs against the grain of "Conservativism" to be "open to new ideas" and "tolerant of ideas of others".

This is what kills me. By definition, what makes up the basic beliefs of one side of the political spectrum ("open to new ideas, sees other points of view")handicaps this group in its debates/arguments/interactions with the other side. This is why it's rather hard to have a Liberal radio talk show. Who wants to listen? Only Liberals. Conservative talk shows, however, can count on of course Conservative listeners but also Liberal listeners, who, again, by definition, are not content with just hearing their own point of view.

I, therefore, hope for a different paradigm than you. I hope for the birth and growth of Liberals who give *less* quarter, but do so in the manner of Jon Stewart. I think he's the start of something. A definite Liberal point of view, but one that is espoused in a non-angry manner, with humor and a bit of self-deprecation where neccessary.