I'm completely with Genghis on this, though I'd say that what I think the smartest conservatives (like Burke, Hamilton, maybe Churchill on a good day) mean by "evil" isn't really a Calvinist's vice, but a tendency to take advantage of human freedom in selfish ways that can destroy the foundations of that liberty. The "good" conservatives, in my view, seem to think that the liberty given to us by nature is not the same thing as the truer liberty which is made possible only through a politically active citizenry intent on securing a democratic order. Hamilton has some great lines in the first Federalist on the issue of why "the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty." Some of the so-called conservatives today like Bush have a very narrow idea of liberty -- at its very best, it means only freedom from government interference, at worst it means the mere freedom to shop. That's just to say that conservative elected officials haven't been showing their best face lately.
