He grew up on the left and assumed that the left stood on the moral high ground.

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Ironically, the one area where Perry is clearly on both pragmatic and moral high ground is where his supporters are turning their backs on him the quickest: immigration.

FORBES: Rick Perry is Right About Educating the Children of Undocumented Workers

And, if that's the argument, then on what moral high ground do Latinos stand to also push -- as we should -- for Latino actors and actresses to be considered for generic and mainstream roles that could have gone to white actors?

CNN: Latino should have played lead in 'Argo'

We are a nation that stands on high moral ground and are in the position to help others have the same.

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And it was the moral high ground he was moving on to.

BBC: Prime Minister's Questions

Perhaps, if we put ourselves on a course of financial prudence, we will have the moral high ground to demand it of our government and corporations.

FORBES: An Alignment of Stupid

But before anyone starts claiming moral high ground, it is worth appreciating why some of the things happening on Wall Street are unlikely to happen here.

BBC: Hong Kong dwells on US scandals

Economists said Berlusconi commanded neither sufficient political authority to push through spending cuts nor the moral high ground to squeeze more taxes out of Italians while he faced trial on various charges.

CNN: February 22, 2013 -- Updated 1131 GMT (1931 HKT)