EVERY NOW AND THEN I am reminded that no matter how mainstream, moderate, and refined a gentleman I consider myself to be, there is always someone who can demolish that assumption in a second.

My version of conservativism is a painting composed with random touches of leave-me-alone libertarianism, we-are-doomed traditionalism (or should I say mark-steynism?), and having a distinct theme of America as the "city on a hill". As my positions are clearly defined in most areas, I have befriended a number of people who think the same. Although I can't escape the treasonous blather of the MSM, I make sure not to waste time discussing politics with someone from the other camp.

And to minimize the risk of turning a friend into an acquaintance, and an acquaintance into a hostile stranger, I avoid politics as much as I can.

Which brings me to the obvious: when politics cannot be avoided, you would be surprised by the number of things people actually believe.

I had two encounters that made me think hard. One was a friend-of-a-friend whom I met at a party. Let's say his name was Alan. He's educated, charming, and moderate in vocabulary. He's lived in Europe for many years now. When I asked him when he's going to return to America, he replied, When European armies liberate us. He then continued with a passionate tirade about Bushitler, no blood for oil!, and how pro-Bush the New York Times is.

The second was an English couple from my Bible study group. Whenever we come to their place, I can feel the glory of the British Empire restored. They have a well-behaved dog and a real fireplace; on the coffee table lies The Daily Telegraph. Yet when we eventually brought up the P word, all hell broke loose. And I realized that half of our group honestly believes the U.S. went into Iraq for oil, and that the whole "liberation thing" was a cynical ploy.

So here I am now, wondering how moderate I can really be if the "moderate" school of thought teaches that America is inherently evil or corrupt or incompetent or all things at once, and even people with whom I share many values subscribe to it.

Yes, you are an extremist, my wife said when I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. Well, so be it. At least now I know.