At the American Enterprise Institute annual dinner, the assembled friends of the think tank caricatured as the heart of the neoconservative conspiracy heard a keynote lecture by Mario Vargas Llosa that some may have found surprisingly liberal. In the speech, titled “Confessions of a Liberal,” the novelist said he favored “decriminalization of abortion and gay marriage.” He spoke of the benefits to America of immigration from Latin America, taking issue with those such as Samuel Huntington who fear that the influence of such immigrants would undermine American culture. He called for persuasion rather than repression in the war on drugs, and he spoke of his opposition to the death penalty. He rejected the idea that free enterprise alone is the hallmark of civilization, arguing, “Ideas and culture are what differentiate civilization from barbarism, not the economy.”

Mr. Vargas Llosa’s talk wasn’t 100% dedicated to testing the boundaries of conservative tolerance. He spoke of the importance of market economies and individual freedom and family. And he noted that between Michael Moore, Oliver Stone, and Noam Chomsky, anti-Americanism was becoming an export product for America.

Still, Web sites have been abuzz with complaints about how at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, a pro-immigration speaker and a representative of a gay Republican organization were booed. At the AEI dinner – where dozens of Bush administration officials, Justice Scalia, Vice President Cheney, and a galaxy of conservative journalists and scholars were in attendance – Mr. Vargas Llosa’s talk was received warmly and without interruption. It’s a sign that despite those who claim otherwise, American conservatives, at least of the AEI variety, are confident and open-minded enough to embrace debates and different points of view.