In the last two-plus years, I’ve veered hard to the left — or at least what’s defined as “left” in contemporary political jargon. Among other things:

I’m an avid supporter of embryonic stem-cell research and a middle-of-the-roader on abortion: Full rights to the mother in the first trimester; primary rights to the baby in the second and third trimesters, with the notable exception of threats to the mother’s health and life from carrying the baby to term.

I believe government can and should play a prudent “safety net” role and I’m entirely accepting of an even greater role — and associated spending — in the context of the current economic crisis.

I support civil marriage for committed gay couples.

I think we should move promptly but intelligently to close Gitmo; I appreciate a President who speaks softly and graciously on the international stage, and I don’t believe you can call what the Bush/Cheney administration authorized anything but torture.

While I have substantial faith that markets are generally better at allocating resources than government, I know all too well that the participants in free markets are capable of disastrous decisions and thus need a healthy dose of regulation to prevent great harm.

Confessing these transgressions into leftish territory, I similarly confess my stubborn retention of certain right-leaning principles, namely: fiscal restraint; respect for the rule of law (even when — especially when — it’s inconvenient to “worthy” political ends); and a fair if dynamic level of deference to state’s rights.

While I voted for Obama/Biden in November — and would do so again today, believing they still represent on balance a far superior, studied, reasonable ticket than McCain/Palin — my enthusiasm has been increasingly dented by their wanton disregard (in certain cases) for the conservative principles outlined above. George Will provides today’s case in point.