The idea of the Overton Window of using people on the political fringe to change the terms of acceptable debate, that`s an idea that`s been hugely influential in conservative politics since Joseph P. Overton thought it up, making radical ideas seem acceptable by advocating for the unthinkable.
Rachel MaddowWhat I`m starting to think of as the mythical beast of the Republican establishment, which is the sort of inchoate idea that we keep talking about what they`re going to do and it never seems to have much impact or be manifest in very visible ways, obviously, it is one thing for Donald Trump to have taken a shot like he did early in his campaign at John McCain, calling him not a war hero.
Rachel MaddowRidding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. That was the whole idea, right? Thatโs why we went. I am reluctant to let that fact disappear down the memory hole, because if โ as the war ends, or at least starts to end โ if, at this time, the history of the war is written as us going there to topple the regime of a bad man when that frankly isnโt why were told that we were going there โ Arenโt we still at risk of making this horrific mistake again? And, arenโt we letting the people who foisted the WMD idea on us, not many years ago, arenโt we sort of letting them get away with it?
Rachel MaddowSarah Palin uses me as a laugh line in her stump speeches. If you're willing to turn me into a joke, you should also be willing to talk to me.
Rachel MaddowNews about the Russia connections to the [Donald Trump] administration and what we are continuing to learn about those connections. What`s getting to be, I think, particularly unsettling is that simultaneously we are right now what`s going on, I think, is that we are number one nailing down more direct connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government at the time the Russian government was influencing our election.
Rachel Maddow