Rejecting the 'Values Voter' Tag

"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."

This from George F. Will in Thursday's Washington Post. It is a must read for anyone who gets fet up with the hijacking of the language that takes place on both sides of the isle (the far Right has been trying to monopolize the word 'family' for years while some on the other side have tried their best to politicize words like 'Christian' --as in 'Christian Right').

But give George Will some credit here. He often seems to be ahead of the pundit curve, resisting some strong Republican currents while maintaining his staunchly conservative viewpoints. To quote Andrew Sullivan, Will's 'rebuke of the "values voter" appropriation is overdue.' Give the column a quick glance.