ok i don't have the patience for this (flapjacks)

If we can simply determine whether Johnson was "conservative" or "liberal," for instance, we can use that comprehensive allegiance to determine where he would have stood on every issue, just as we make the same blanket determination for ourselves. No need to look at particulars. In other words, we should like to know which sort of cant would best suit the man who told us to clear our minds of cant.