Death penalty and humanity

Does it seem wierd to anyone that the traditional conservative stance is to oppose abortion, oppose medically supervised suicide (i.e. desperately trying to keep brain dead Floridians alive) and generally fostering a "culture of life" as Bush puts it, yet they will execute people with little disgression? I am not asking this in an accusatory sense, it just seems contradictory. You would think that those who want to maintain this culuture of life would oppose the death penalty. Seems kind of dumb to me, but then again, I am pretty liberal. I think...

This all makes me wonder about the fundamental differences in the left and the right. Is there any central philospophy that guides either one? If so, its a loose association. What is the central ethos behind a conservative philosophy, a liberal one?

If I had an ethos, this would be it: I think there are way too many people in the world. We have overpopulated and are thoroughly destroying our planet, as well as our own sense of humanity. Because we are so populated, disease, famine and poverty, have made life miserable for millions. Thus, I am guided by the principle that we should maximize the number of happy, safe, comfortable lives that can be maintained on our planet. Currently, we are not doing a very good job. So I say, why bring unwanted children into the world? Why force people who would rather die, to live a hell on earth, and stay alive. Why waste millions of dollars on keeping prisoners alive who have raped, murdered, and cannot be reformed? Lets focus our efforts on the people that want to live peacefully within society, but cant find a job or lack basic healthcare. How many villages could have been fed on Terri Schiavo's hospital bill for the past 20 years?

Actually, I dont know if all that is true. Again, I am "trying on" an argument to see if it really holds water. Funny how most of them dont, especially if Blake is your friend. But what a better way to find out that a central philosophy is flawed than to post in on your blog for all you smart people to read and criticize!