The Economist’s blog Democracy in America notices us, and one of its commenters says:

To quote the distillation of Burke’s principles found in Mr [John] Micklethwait and Mr [Adrian] Wooldridge’s book on the subject [The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America, 2004], conservatism consists of “a deep suspicion of the power of the state; a preference for liberty over equality; patriotism; a belief in established institutions and hierarchies; skepticism about the idea of progress; and elitism” – with American conservatism emphasizing the first three. There appears to be room for secularists in this definition.

That description is a bit misleading, because in M&W’s view modern American conservatism not merely de-emphasizes but reverses the last three items on the list. The wider point, however, can still stand.