Except the part of modern conservatism that's baffling isn't their values, but constant support for things in direct opposition to them. Things like people who believe in balanced budgets constantly voting for the party that runs up the most debt, or people who say they prefer small government supporting warrantless wiretapping, etc. And, of course, the opposition to facts we've been discussing, which is a different question from values entirely. That there are people out there who think the equivalent of Sharia law is a good idea is very concerning, but not really such a puzzle.

The disregard of facts makes perfect sense to me. If people like to vote their values, then facts won't make much of an impact on them. People vote for Mitt Romney because they think the rich deserve to keep their money. The fact that his budget plan will increase the deficit matters less than the fact that he espouses the same values that they do.

I think liberals in America tend to end up on the side of the facts more often because the American liberal ideology encompasses a respect for the scientific method. Although of course they aren't immune - millions of people voted for Obama thinking he was more liberal than Hillary Clinton, when the reverse was true.

I don't really think leftwingers value authority much less then rightwingers. However in general leftwingers tend to trust in the authority of rule sets and procedures, while rightwingers trust in the authority of individuals or groups (such as soldiers, police, upstanding citizens ect.)

I am suprised about the bafflement issue. Since i quite often get to rightwing positions, if i just take my first gut reaction, without thinking things through. Not neccessarily to the theoretic philosophic construction they give, but in what measures should be implemented, and whoose side should be taken.

There are some issues of personal preferrence, where i have to switch labels to get there, such as being an atheist, all churches would fall under the dubious foreign religion class, while enshrining reason and rationality, would be my equivalent of the right religion, or where i have to do some similiar mental arithmetic.

Natrually this does not cover each and every rightwinger.