Moral Exo-Skeletons and Endo-Skeletons: A Key Divide in the American Body Politic‪.‬

IN THE MONTHS AFTER the 2004 election, when the red states were said to have voted on the basis of their "moral values," many observers noted that the sleazy television shows and movies so energetically denounced by the traditionalist and Christian right tended to get their highest ratings in the same parts of the country most populated by such people. (They noted, as well, that some of the family pathologies that traditionalists decry are found at high rates among these most vocal proponents of "family values.") Some took this as a clear indication of the hypocrisy of conservatives: what they denounce, they also secretly enjoy. They aren't as concerned about morality, this critique declared, as they pretend to be; while they maintain a posture of devotion to righteousness they're indulging their forbidden impulses in hidden ways.