I got your values right here, son.

George Will may not care much for liberals, but he's no fan of arrogant, vain conservatives either. Every week I'm reminded more and more of why conservatism *used to be* a pretty attractive philosophy (before the neocons and holy rollers got hold of it) and why it's so damned ugly now. George is an old school conservative, and I can sense him pining for the old days here.

'Value voters' an arrogant example of semantic vanity

An aggressively annoying new phrase in America's political lexicon is "values voters." It is used proudly by social conservatives, and carelessly by the media to denote such conservatives.

This phrase diminishes our understanding of politics. It also is arrogant on the part of social conservatives and insulting to everyone else because it implies that only social conservatives vote to advance their values and everyone else votes to . . . well, it is unclear what they supposedly think they are doing with their ballots.

The phrase "values voters," which has become ubiquitous, subtracts from social comity by suggesting that one group has cornered the market on moral seriousness.

This is an excellent example of precisely the reason that I'll listen to somebody like George Will even when he's arguing a policy point with which I don't agree. Apprently you need to be over sixty years old to still hold on to any legitimate claim to "common sense" unfettered by partisan blinders these days. You give 'em hell, George.