A Relativist is Someone Who Argues for Moral Consistency...

Check out Robert Jensen's recent op-ed on moral clarity and "relativism". Amongst other things, he writes:

These days, we no longer talk of civilizing the natives, but about bringing freedom and democracy. Such a goal, if pursued in humane and lawful ways under the appropriate international institutions, would be to the good. But simply because politicians say that is their motivation for foreign and military policy does not make it so.

Upon examination of those messy facts, it becomes clear that the United States goes to war for the same reasons great powers have always fought - to secure markets and resources, to extend and deepen domination of strategic regions of the world. Old-style colonialism and conquest have been replaced with new modes of control through economic domination and the selective use of military power, but the goals remain the same.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in the Middle East and Central Asia. Although sold to the public as a war on terrorism, the war in Afghanistan and the war the Bush administration is planning against Iraq are about control of those strategically crucial, energy-rich regions. The United States seeks not to own the oil outright, but rather control the flow of oil and oil profits

Conclusion:

So, moral clarity, as the president uses the term, means just the opposite: the amoral - and sometimes immoral - self-interest of the powerful. An even more curious inversion of reality comes when those of us raising critical questions are accused of being moral relativists.

If moral judgments are applied consistently, it's clear that the United States, like other great powers, has much to answer for. Making this simple point these days leads to further accusations that I must hate America, another curious claim. How is it hateful to apply moral standards to one's own nation? If I articulate clear moral standards and try to apply them to myself as an individual, it is usually taken as a sign of maturity. But when done at the level of a nation, it is widely condemned as a sign of insufficient love of country.