He’s channeling Steve Sailer.<\/p>\n
David French writes for the National Review<\/a>:<\/p>\n Here is a term you need to know \u2014 the \u201cOverton Window.\u201d Developed by the late Joseph Overton, a former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the \u201cwindow\u201d refers to the range of acceptable political discourse on any given topic. As the Mackinac Center explains, \u201cthe \u2018window\u2019 of politically acceptable options is primarily defined not by what politicians prefer, but rather by what they believe they can support and still win re-election.\u201d <\/p>\n The key to shifting policy lies not so much in changing politicians but in changing the terms of the debate. In other words, \u201cThe window shifts to include different policy options not when ideas change among politicians, but when ideas change in the society that elects them.\u201d The Left \u2014 dominating the media, the academy, and pop culture \u2014 is unmatched at moving the Overton Window. Consider gay marriage, a subject once so far outside the mainstream that less than 20 years ago, Republicans and Democrats united to pass the Defense of Marriage Act to define marriage under federal law as the union of one man and one woman. Now? That view is such an anathema that it\u2019s difficult to get \u2014 or retain \u2014 a job in entire sectors of the economy if you openly hold to the traditionalist position on marriage. <\/p>\n The Overton Window moved even faster on transgender rights. Ten years ago the notion that a man with emotional problems and breast implants could be named \u201cWoman of the Year\u201d was unthinkable. Now, in some quarters it\u2019s just as unthinkable to refer to Bruce Jenner \u2014 Bruce Jenner! \u2014 as a man. At the moment, the Left is working hard to move the Overton Window on the gun debate. The same president who mocked the idea that he was interested in confiscating guns is now openly admiring Australia\u2019s confiscation program. But the president isn\u2019t leading this charge. He\u2019s following the emerging conventional wisdom on the left: that gun \u201ccontrol\u201d is not enough, that advocating outright gun bans is the only morally serious position, and the Second Amendment \u2014 at a minimum \u2014 must be judicially reinterpreted into irrelevance…<\/p>\n Critically, the Overton Window was smashed not by a politician but by a very American hybrid of corporate\/entertainment titan \u2014 a man rich and powerful enough to be immune to elite condemnation and famous enough to dominate the news media. How many people can commandeer live television simply by picking up the phone and calling in? How many politicians can cause Twitter to detonate seemingly at will? While many of Trump\u2019s actual proposals are misguided, nonsensical, or untenable, by smashing the window, he\u2019s begun the process of freeing the American people from the artificial and destructive constraints of Left-defined discourse. Serious and substantive politicians like Ted Cruz will get a more respectful hearing, and PC shibboleths about allegedly boundless virtues of Islam and immigration will be treated with the skepticism they deserve.<\/p>\n To be clear, this change is occurring both for good and for ill. The shattering of the window reflects the shattering of the American consensus, and the result will likely be deeper polarization, and even less civility, with further strains on the ties that bind our nation together. At the same time, however, the Left\u2019s very success at defining the terms of discourse meant that the price of civility and unity was all too often an acceptance of liberal norms and manners. It meant swallowing liberal pieties and confining your discourse to Left-approved terms. In other words, it often meant surrender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He’s channeling Steve Sailer. David French writes for the National Review: Here is a term you need to know \u2014 the \u201cOverton Window.\u201d Developed by the late Joseph Overton, a former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, … Continue reading