I've long been seeking a good definition of modern conservatism and something that illustrates the difference from liberalism.  The following passages, religious references notwithstanding, are about the best I've found. 

Conservatism could mean free-market economics, the reassertion of traditional morality, or the endorsement of a religious or classical basis for moral thought."

                   -James Q. Wilson

"...reason operating within tradition."  "...the individual is superior to the state, state power should be limited, Communism and the Soviet Union were deep threats that must be overcome."

                    -Frank Meyer

I think Charles Murray captures the key difference between liberalism and conservatism:

"At root, they draw from different conceptions of the nature of man.  The Left holds an unconstrained vision:  Given the right political and economic arrangements, human beings can be improved, even perfected.  Success is defined by what people have the potential of becoming, not by people as they are.  The Right holds a constrained vision:  People come to society with innate characteristics that cannot be reshaped and must instead be accommodated.  Success in political and economic policy must be defined in light of those innate characteristics."

                     -Charles Murray

Deeply rooted in academia and showing its presence everywhere else from the workplace to Hollywood, the leftist agenda is undermining the American way of life from the inside out.  Even in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 tragedies, academic Noam Chomsky traveled the campus speech circuit spouting out against, not the radical Islamic state and the hijackers it produced, trained and sponsored, but against the United States.  This man, reaping the benefits of this great land more than most, calls it "the world's biggest terrorist state".  Unfortunately, this sentiment is echoed throughout the land at higher education establishments by students and faculty alike.

The protests against the war in Iraq were largely organized by communist aligned groups.  The New York City protest was organized by a group called United for Peace and Justice which is a radical leftist group boasting senior members with roots in the American Communist Party.  This is a fact not often reported by the liberal, leftist press. 

Bill Clinton is single-handedly responsible for dismantling the intelligence and anti-terrorism capabilities in this country.  Through his actions in the name of civil liberties he has left us with a severely diminished ability to collect, analyze and act upon intelligence information.  The fact that there were general indications of increased terrorist activities and even specific information concerning the pending September 11th attacks that were not acted upon by our security forces is not evidence that the current administration is doing a poor job or that intelligence personnel are incapable.  Instead, it clearly shows that the massive intelligence capability draw-down has given us little chance to predict and preempt event he most overtly organized terrorist attempts aimed at Americans.