Have you ever known someone who seems to live in a bubble, where the rules he or she applies to others don't go both ways? They say one thing, they do another; they get in your face about something you've done but won't allow their own deeds to be scrutinized; they lie flat out rather than be placed in a position that might threaten their artificially high self-esteem.

I'm sure you've met a few people like this; they often mistakenly wander into the profession of education, because they feel their moral self-certainty (and self-delusion) gives them an almost religious obligation to mold the minds of the young. Or they end up behind a desk at a government agency, or in the foriegn service. Or maybe they're on your tech help desk. Really, they're more suited psychologically to a job in the stock room, where they can keep order among their plastic-wrapped charges.

They are, in essence, the new Pharisees; the rules matter more to them than the substance (but only when the rules are applied to others). Often, they use the touchy-feely language of pop-pseudo-psych to disguise their contempt for all who do not live in the way they deign proper. They use manufactured emotional responses of offense and concern about potential offense, and political correctness as a weapon against those they want to bring down to the level of their worthless little lives.

How are these people akin to a troll's ass? They are holier-than-thou.

In the world of the new Pharisees, you can never call a troll's ass a troll's ass, because it might offend someone–even someone who doesn't particularly care for trolls.

This is a troll's ass.