3230: Overton

Overton

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Title text: I think I accidentally installed an Overton window in my bedroom. A few months ago, the sun wasn't in my face in the morning, but now it is.

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Explanation

This is one of 64 incomplete explanations: This page was created by JOSEPH PAUL OVERTON, BACK FROM THE DEAD. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

Joseph Paul Overton was a political scientist who created the concept of the Overton window, which is the range of subjects that are politically appropriate to raise during a period of time. The first set of dates, 1960 and 2003, are the years that Overton was born and died.

It is common for political commentators to state that the Overton window has "moved," meaning that the standard for which political positions are "moderate" or "extreme" changes. In the comic, the "Overton window" instead refers to the time span in which Joseph Paul Overton was alive. The dates on Overton's grave have been repeatedly crossed out and replaced as this 'window' has moved. This creates the ridiculous implication that Overton was living at least four lives simultaneously, or that history has repeatedly changed so that the dates of his life shifted, either of which is impossible.^{[citation needed]} Alternatively, it could reflect changes in the frame of reference the keepers of the grave are using to date events.

In the title text, the speaker notices that the sunlight is now being let in earlier in the morning, and attributes this to it coming through an "Overton window" that can physically move. This is unlikely, since the Overton window is an abstract concept, not an architectural feature, and sunlight is not generally influenced by social attitudes.^{[citation needed]} It is more likely that the phenomenon is due to the seasonal movement of the Sun in the sky, where its apparent path across the sky moves further north or south between the summer solstice (highest arc) and winter solstice (lowest arc), changing the place it falls at a given time of day. This shift is caused by the Earth's tilt relative to its orbit. The Sun's position at a certain clock time may also be perceived to change suddenly due to the beginning or end of daylight saving time, as occurred in most US states and many other countries shortly before this comic was published. (This is an issue that Randall has covered multiple times, although apparently not (unless this is a subtle reference) this year.)

Transcript

This is one of 41 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[A gravestone is shown on some grass. On the inscription, all of the years except the last one are crossed out in red, and all except the first pair of years have the years themselves in red. The inscription is as follows:]

Joseph Paul Overton

1960 - 2003

1965 - 2011

1973 - 2018

1982 -

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Discussion

4 January 1960 – 30 June 2003 77.87.241.9 (talk) 18:34, 8 April 2026 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Someday this cartoon will be politically inappropriate. 64.201.132.210 19:16, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

^ Absolutely. 66.154.219.123 21:16, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

randall posting a politics-related comic? which could be construed as discontent with the current political landscape? inb4 somebody bashes complains at kynde again - Vaedez (talk) 22:15, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

I think it's worth noting that the window keeps updating to the right. 50.47.108.55 02:22, 9 April 2026 (UTC) Ale10ander

Only if you consider dates to go from left to right instead of any other direction. 2A02:C7C:7344:4C00:BC19:A5A4:14E8:E888 08:27, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

What's the next death date? 2027? (Just guessin) Cream S.L. (talk / contribs) 03:33, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Does he keep dying because he's gone over a ton? (1 ton = 2000 lbs) 2607:fb91:bd8a:8e2f:858d:1e1b:f461:5f6e (talk) 04:35, 9 April 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Too heavy even the time is altered, i see Cream S.L. (talk / contribs) 05:53, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

F.Y.I.: 1 ton = 2,000 or 2,204.6 or 2,240 pounds, at least.

Also it can be 40, 42 or 60 cubic feet (amongst others). Or 12,000 British Thermal Units-per-Hour. And, at least colloquially, I might use it to describe 100 miles per hour or GB£100. 82.132.238.115 16:02, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Reincarnation - Can someone suggest a suitable Buddhist or Hindu text as citation for them multiple lifes? 87.129.222.20 06:39, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

The windows are overlapping, so no this is not a reference to reincarnation. Zmatt (talk) 16:00, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

For what it's worth, though Wikipedia currently describes Overton as a "political scientist," that is likely to shift soon. (That is to say, unless someone makes a compelling case on the Talk page, I'm going to change his description to "political activist," which I think is more accurate to someone who never had a political science degree, never had academic employment, and worked as an electrical engineer before working at an activist think tank.) 38.69.197.145 12:33, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Does that mean that the Overton Window Overton Window has moved? 82.13.184.33 13:16, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Significance of the Dates

Many of the dates in listed correspond to major geopolitical events concerning US military and diplomatic policy. They may also correspond to milestone events in US domestic politics. This is an attempt to compile some of the key events that the comic may be referencing.

• 1965:
  • The beginning of Operation Rolling Thunder, the US ground invasion of Vietnam.
  • President LBJ signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965
• - 2011:
  • US special forces kill Osama Bin Laden
  • NATO forces without the US intervene in the Libyan Civil War leading to the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
  • More widely, protests spread accross the Middle East and North Africa, dubbed the Arab Spring
  • The last of the US combat forces stationed in Iraq are withdrawn.
  • The Occuppy Wall Street movement begins.
• 1973:
  • The United States signs the Paris Peace Accords, withdrawing from the Vietnam conflict and claiming the war was over
  • The United States Congress overrides a presidential veto to pass the War Powers Resolution, limiting the ability of future presidents to wage war without Congressional approval
  • The Watergate Scandal breaks.
  • Roe v Wade.
• - 2018:
  • President Donald Trump unilaterally withdraws the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka the Iran Nuclear Deal.
  • Congress reverses many of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act's reporting and compliance requirements for all but the largest US banks.
• 1982:
  • Israel violates a 1981 U.S. Brokered ceasefire agreement and invades Lebanon. In response the United States spearheads the establishment of a peacekeeping force to protect Beirut, the Multinational Force in Lebanon.

-- In-Sanity (talk) 22:16, 8 April 2026 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Unfortunately, I suspect that you could easily find such events for absolutely every year across that range... Unless you narrow down the choices to just something current (i.e. specifically the ones related to current Middle East events, I suppose), which are going to be less frequent but perhaps specifically in Randall's mind.

(Oh, and I slightly re-reformatted your amended contribution, presuming that you meant it to look a bit more like it is now.)

I was wondering if there was a mathematical pattern to the numbers, myself. 81.179.199.253 23:00, 8 April 2026 (UTC)
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