[bert]

Being a sceptical cynic, It might be that Mitt is the designated opposition

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Being a skeptical cynic, It might be that Mitt is the designated opposition

Off topic, partly: I have lately been interested in analyzing cynicism, and IMHO cynicism is very different from skepticism. Whereas skepticism is openminded, cynicism is arbitrary. If I am cynical about “A,” I am perforce naive about the opposite of “A.” And if you are cynical about society, you are naive about government - which is opposite to society:

SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.

Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness;

the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices.

The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions.

The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil . . . - Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)