conservatives vs. Conservatives

I was reading another blog a while ago and something that the author was whining about stuck with me.  I've been thinking about it for a while now and can't shake what they wrote. 
Here's what it boiled down to:  Why is everyone picking on us conservatives?  They wrote that they and their parents were conservative - they recycled their stuff, cared about the environment, and so on.
On its face, I would say the author is conflating conservationism with conservatism.  But (and I admit that I don't remember the post or where I read it), I think they were trying to make a larger point.  The author also wrote something negative about dirty, rowdy Occupiers.  They were clearly getting some of their Occupy talking points from Fox News.  Which is where I completely lost interest.  Not because of their opinion, but their lack of either facts or experience to back up what they said. 
So, let me start with that.  Occupy Wall St, and its progeny did suffer from a certain amount of notoriety and lack of clear messaging.  In this 24-hour news cycle world, tea partiers are better at getting their exact message out and the basis of that movement was simple - people felt that federal bailouts of banks and industries were not good for the US.  Now, big money like the Koch brothers got behind the movement, paid for buses to round up people and take them to events and, wham, you get "Keep your government hands off my Medicare" signs.  In its infancy, whether I agree with their position or not, the Tea Party had a certain ring of sincerity to it.
Occupy, on the other hand, not so well messaged in the media, not so well funded.  Perhaps I should say not so well funded so not so well messaged in the media.  However, the people that were serious about it, on some level, would have agreed with some of the early tea partiers.  Why are we bailing out those who crashed our economy?  Of course, while the TP wanted nothing done, Occupiers wanted the people bailed out.  All those underwater mortgages would be better served by forgiveness or money to pay them down.  More money pumped into the lowest earners in the country would revive the economy more.  Occupiers felt that trickle down was the 1% pissing on their heads and telling them its raining.
So, anyway, back to the original post.  I yelled at my screen "Teddy Roosevelt was a conservative".  You'll remember him - President, Rough Rider, National Park starter.  Eisenhower was a conservative.  He's the one who warned of the military-industrial complex.  He's the one who started the interstate system.  The men and women in Congress that have an "R" after their names are not conservatives.  They're Conservatives.
Those are the people we progressives have a hard time with.  Those are the people that, if Reagan were President, would think he's a RINO.  There is very little in common between the current clown car that is the RNC and the RNC of Teddy, Dwight or even Richard (he started the EPA).
So, to my conservative friends out there - progressives don't hate you.  We hate Conservatives.  The ones that want smaller government yet call for trans-vaginal ultrasounds.  The ones that want fewer regulations, but want money when a privately owned fertilizer plant blows up a town.  The ones that vote against money for Hurricane Sandy relief, but want money for their state ravaged by floods.  The ones that are all for tax breaks for the people who don't need them and want higher taxes on those with the least to give.  The ones that think companies are people too, but don't want to help feed actual humans.  The ones that care so much about making sure every baby is born, but couldn't care less about them after that.  The ones that talk about how marriage is a sacred institution and so same-sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry but are on their third wife (I'm looking at you, Newt).  Those are the ones we don't like, don't respect and don't want trying to run (or ruin) the government.

T-Minus 27 days

So, yeah, Chicago is less than 4 weeks away and what have I done?  Well, in some ways, quite a bit.  I've really picked up my mileage and have brought my times down a skoosh.  The weather in the midsouth has gotten a bit more temperate and morning runs have not been quite so arduous, so that's helped.  I ran a 10K in just over an hour (9 seconds to be exact).  That's the kind of pace I'd like to do the marathon in. 
On the other hand, I've lost weight, but oh so slowly.  At the rate I'm going, I'll be in prime shape for Chicago 2015.  I have 4 weeks to make sure that, at the least, I'm down a few pounds and priming my body for the rigors of 26 miles with good fuel. 
I have one more long run before the marathon.  I'm torn on which way to go.  Do I just do 18 or 20 miles and call it good or do I try for 23 or 24.   There's a part of me that wants to be sure I can do the distance, but it will only be two weeks out from the race and I have a tough 10 miler the week between so I'm leaning more towards a shorter run.  I'll probably let how I'm feeling and the weather and all that decide. 
I did a 15 mile trail run on Sunday and man, I am sore.  It was a tough run with lots of up and down hills.  Lots of logs to jump over, duck under and generally avoid.   Stinging nettles and thorns to run through.  Stumps to trip over, etc.  I'm hoping that this was good muscle building for the marathon.  My running partner wants me to do a race on the trails we ran in February.  I'll have to make a decision on that soon.  If I do it, I'll have to subject myself to that course a few times for training.  Some parts of it are really beautiful, some are tortuous. 
Anyway, that's about where I'm at.  My longest run since the MS River Marathon is just under 20 miles.  I'm doing about 120 miles a month.  Some runs have been great and I've felt strong afterwards.  Others have been abject failures and made me question my readiness for Chicago. 
Four weeks from yesterday will be the test.