I absolutely have areas where I'm not conservative.
But when I sign up to all the leftist activism groups....then send out their newsletters and days talking points, then I see the same typical suspects parroting those talking points here...well you know the rest.
Yeah, I do. THAT is really desheartening. It makes you wonder "Who's scammin' who?"
I really believe that the heart of all of this is that, in this day and age, fewer and fewer people are capable of tracing their views back to root principles; whatever the reason for that may be. Begin with bad principle -- or no principle at all -- and one ends up with bad values, which translate to bad views that, if implemented, will be bad policy.
That reasoning from principle is not core to education at all levels is, I believe, the greatest single damnation of our present system of public instruction. For it is one thing to say, "So-and-so believed this," but it is quite another thing entirely to continue from there and to explain, "And this is why So-and-so believed this."
As a sort of coda to my previous post, although it is thought sufficient to identify a view as "conservative" or "not conservative" -- to see that the marble is red or blue -- it is more wise to ask the follow-up question, "Why?"
The Christian and the cannibal may both express opinions against abortion, but only by asking, "Why," can we discriminate which expression is admirable and which is damnable. In the arena of politics, however, we assert that such differentiations are unnecessary; petty, even, in the face of garnering a few more political allies. So, since the cannibals are against abortion; we are to jump up, glad-handing all around, clap them on the back and welcome them to the "conservative" big tent.
Aside from the actual number of people expressing conservative v. liberal views, it is the pooh-poohing of the significance of underlying values that most concerns me.
I would far rather meet an honest liberal, than a card-carrying conservative with views predicated on damnable values.
In sum, there is no expressed view either admirable or infernal, but what the underlying value and the foundational principle make it so.