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  • The Overton Window

    Something not out of the paper today but that’s been on my mind for awhile.  I sometimes feel like I’m nuts; like I’m the only one who’s still clinging to the past with my old fashioned notions of working hard, saving money, living within your means, treating people fairly, not eating with my elbows on the table.  I’m physically very happy engaging in my own little urban renewal on the West Side but somehow my brain is still on the far Northwest Side and it’s still 1985.

    Well it turns out that society (I, you, we) has been manipulated over the years by forces beyond our control.  And for whatever reason I have a personality that I guess is just slow to change.

    The Overton Window is an interesting concept named after a guy you’ve never heard of called Joe Overton.  Perhaps it’s fate I like this because Joe and myself share a few things in common.  We’re both guys who have engineering degrees, went to law school, but really love political science.  Maybe Joe was a genius; maybe I’m just eating fruit from my own tree.

    Anyway, a brief explaination of the concept is this:

    Imagine, if you will, a yardstick standing on end. On either end are the extreme policy actions for any political issue. Between the ends lie all gradations of policy from one extreme to the other. The yardstick represents the full political spectrum for a particular issue. The essence of the Overton window is that only a portion of this policy spectrum is within the realm of the politically possible at any time.

    Let me put it another way: on the spectrum of ideas on any topic there is a range of acceptable ideas and people with thoughts and ideas outside of that range on either end are considered nuts.   Now sometimes the window is moved in a good direction. e.g. racial integration.  And sometimes the window is moved in a bad direction. e.g. prohibition.

    The reason I’m explaining this now is because this is going to be a standing topic.  I will point out examples of where I think politicians and the media are trying to move the Overton window.  And I will need you to tell me if I’m right or if I’m outside of the acceptable range, a/k/a paranoid.

    Maybe you can think of a few examples of your own.

  • Trib Editorial Board on the Warpath

    Since the days since – days to election countdown calender first graced the editorial page we knew this was coming:

    We hope you’re among the millions who are infuriated. And we hope you’ll reach for that broom. If you’re just coming up to speed on Illinois politics, fine. We’ll help because, next year, you have to be a change agent

    My first question is, why did this wait until the week between Christmas and New Years?  This is kinda like the White House releasing news at 4:00 PM on a Friday.  It gets no where.

    My second question is, where is the rest of the outrage?  The last poll I saw had the mayor at a 30% approval rating.  How can that be?  Where are the mayors defenders and what is going on in their minds.  I really want to know.  Someone find me one to talk to.

  • Federal Spending and Education

    WOW!!  That’s all I can say, WOW!

    Video and chart on what we’re getting for our education dollars.  Click Here.

    Will someone please please review what the Dept. of Ed. is doing for us other than washing money and skimming 5% off the top.

  • Foundations

    A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

    The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.  Great nations rise and fall.  The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.
    — Attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler  (additional background here)

    Is this not what appears to be happening?  Where is our Howard Beale?

  • Welcome.

    Hello and welcome.

    I’ve chosen WordPress as a blogging tool because it’s generally fast and easy to setup and I don’t have a lot of time at the moment.  So little in fact that I’m off to let the dogs out and then head to bed.