Over the past century our nation has slipped toward statism in a plodding, almost deliberate manor. This is a result of what Polifrog has referred to in the past as the slipping pivot. Social mores, and acceptable political thought, and so forth shift over time, then shift back. At one time the flash of an ankle is considered vulgar while at another time sting bikinis are acceptable, then later the flash of a knee may become vulgar. The pendulum swings. Polifrog contends that that pendulum swings from a slipping pivot and that that pivot has been slipping left fot 150 years.
The Overton Window has become the common term for this concept.
This excerpt from Instapundit and credited to Sung Chun Kim points to an answer as to who currently controls the Overtom Widow.
Meanwhile, reader Sung Chun Kim writes:
Why is no one calling for the outing of the 400 JournoList members and an investigation of whether there were any other attempts to collude and to coordinate the media narrative? Is no else as disturbed by this as I am? We’re constantly told that the media are special, that they’re the Fourth Estate, and that their proper functioning is vital to the health of the Republic. Well, is no one else profoundly disturbed that no one is watching the watchers? Or that the watchers are actually colluding in a virtual smoke-filled back room to massage and frame the narrative?
Imagine if a conservative listserv were discovered, and that it included Rupert Murdoch and 400 conservative pundits and journalists. Imagine if it were disclosed that the participants actively discussed coordination in framing stories so as to benefit the Republican Party. Do you think there would be a ho hum “Oh, it was just a private list” response? Of course not, the liberals would be howling to the rafters about the existential threat to the Republic.
So why all the frivolity here? Even now, the Weigel story is breaking down into stupid distractions like whether Weigel actually wished death on Drudge, or whether people on a listserv have an expectation of privacy. Seriously, why is that even remotely important compared to the fact that 400 of this nation’s most prominent journalists and pundits were having discusions about killing or promoting stories based on whether they hurt the Democratic Party agenda? If there is any justice or sanity in this world, this should be bigger than ClimateGate. I want to see an archive of the JournoList postings and then compare them to any contemporaneous stories written by participants. Once that is done, we can tar and feather the bastards for betraying their profession and the people of this country.
JournoList is an example of Overton Window control and that that control extends beyond JounoList. There is no outcry over JournoListers. The double standard is clear when considering a hypothetical conservative JournoList. Imagine the outcry under those conditions. Double standards are often the result of a shifting Overton Window.
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