Conservative? Up to a point, Lord Copper

I have recently been involved in a discussion of a post by Callimachus at Done With Mirrors. The post, entitled All Liberals Now, explains why Callimachus thinks that for most of us, it's impossible to describe ourselves as conservative now:

What would a conservative manifesto call people back to? Standing astride the path of history and shouting "stop!" appeals to everyone on one issue or another. But very few want to take it as an overarching philosophy of politics or life.

The problem, as I see it, is that, whatever labels we choose to use for ourselves and one another, we're all liberals now, in one or another of the the philosophical senses of liberalism -- and we all believe in changing the world for the better -- as we define "better."

Or, to put it more bluntly, what kind of idiot would want to conserve the ghastly state of the body politic now?
I urge you to read the post and the comments as I think both are illuminating.