Yeah, the U.S. have been instrumental in propping up governments and it does result in Blowback which Ron Paul tries to let people know about on a constant basis, but the old political spectrum we stole from the French Revolution no longer works.
The Right isn't any more "right" or less "left" than the Left, it just depends on the State we're in. Nixon was highly instrumental in the food stamps program, and created the EPA (if I remember right) but those things are outlawed in the party today.
Pat Buchanan, who i probably considered by casual observers a strict conservatives has written a book called "A Republic, not an Empire"
I'd like to think that those that stand a large enough chance of winning the American presidency know more than I do and that largely what we're hearing with the "take no options off the table" talk is just war time propaganda. Iran's mullahs would love nothing more than an invasion and I think both sides are going to be unhappy when the international bodies for Nuclear power goes into Iran, says their running a peaceful operation and takes the bite out of their "scare potential."
But I read books on both sides of the aisle because I think its important but one of the arguments that conservatives make is that right now, for better or worse, America keeps stability as much as possible with "corruption existing on the back burner."
I think folks know that our presence around the world does prevent the massive outbreaks of violence that might otherwise occur, even if they think (as we saw above) that we shouldn't be there.
But lets take a few examples from "America Alone" which is slightly illogical but legitimately hysterical.
If America's military intervention was such a train wreck, or unneeded don't you think that the problems would only exist where America went? Furthermore, would you oppose or support American intervention in the Sudan? I certainly would and I think the most embarrassing thing about it is that The West in general has used justification as to why we haven't gone in. Handfuls of other Euro nations could swing in their and improve the situation ten fold, but refuse to openly, and I think History will paint this a black spot at a time when Iraq should be the only thing "ugly" about this time period.
As far as Clinton and Obama being too conservative because America is slanted heavily to the right, do you not think that means The "developed world" is slanted heavily to the left? And as one final pot shot, maybe your view of Americans is faulty because you live in the Bible Belt.