In politics, it's a red flag because it is often used to defend bad policies that only appear good when one doesn't have the fortitude to understand the better policy.
A lot more "intellectuals" defended Pol Pot and Milosevic compared to ordinary chums. The denial of the Cambodian genocide was known as the "Standard Total Academic View on Cambodia".
I can't think of a position on anything that someone couldn't twist into an appeal to 'common sense'
There are different cheap rhetorical devices that some intellectuals use. I don't like that either.