“You’re a sensible, principled conservative. You want America to be a land of boundless opportunity and freedom, where people are treated as individuals and judged on their merits. You reject the divisive identity politics of the left — what matters most about any of us, you would insist, is not race or class or ethnic origins: it is personal character and achievement. There are few things about contemporary politics you deplore more than the demonizing or scapegoating of entire groups (’white males,’ ‘the rich,’ ‘the Christian right’ ‘gun owners’), as though every member of the group is interchangeable and indistinguishable, wholly defined by a single disparaging label. But let someone mention ‘illegal immigrants,’ and your principles fly out the window.” (11/22/09)