I have always thought it was funny how liberals both grossly exaggerate and vastly underestimate the influence of right-wing ideas. 1/n https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1194693619124490240

They often talk as if hordes of klansmen were roaming the country in search of innocent black people to lynch, which of course is completely disconnected from reality, but they would be horrified if they knew what their right-of-center moderate friends really believe. 2/n

Of course, they *don't* know it, because the friends in question know better than to tell them what they really believe or the kind of things they read even if they don't necessarily agree with all of it. 3/n

For instance, I can guarantee you that many and perhaps even most mainstream conservative writers read and enjoy @Steve_Sailer, even if they would never admit it. 4/n

I remember hearing Peggy Noonan use the phrase "invade the world, invite the world" on Face the Nation a few years ago. Trust me when I tell you she didn't get that from her colleagues on the board of the WSJ... 5/n

When they realize that there is far less ideological distance between people they think of as right-wing extremists and people they used to think of as moderates, liberals usually draw exactly the wrong conclusion, like Bouie above. 6/n

They conclude that moderates are far more extreme than they imagine, when in fact the right conclusion is that most of the people they think of as dangerous extremists are not nearly as extreme as they imagine. 7/n

Of course, some of them are, but most are not. For instance, I'm sure many liberals, to the extent they know who Sailer is (often they don't even though many ideas they are familiar with are recycled from him), believe that e. g. he is nostalgic for Jim Crow. 8/n

But as someone who has read him for several years, I know that it's ridiculous. It's just that he has some other views that, because they have been made verboten in polite company, are now almost only advocated openly by crazy people. 9/n

So liberals just assume that anyone holding those views is a crazy right-wing extremist, and upon learning that some people they hitherto regarded as moderates hold some of them, they conclude that they are crypto-fascists. 10/n

The reality, however, is that most of those people would be just as horrified as them by *actual* right-wing extremism. Again, there is a huge gap between e. g. Sailer and Anglin, much bigger than the gap between e. g. Sailer and Douthat (who 100% reads Sailer by the way). 11/n

It doesn't really matter whether the views in question are right or wrong or rather it's a separate issue. The point is that, whether right or wrong, many people who pass as moderates hold them or at least don't regard them as crazy. 12/n

Of course, I'm not saying that it's true of *all* moderate conservatives, there are some who genuinely believe exactly what you'd think by listening to them in public or close enough. But for the majority what they project is very different from what they really believe. 13/n

Most of them would deny it, and indeed I'm sure that if you're a liberal and you show this thread to one of your moderate conservative friend, they will vigorously deny it. But I'm equally sure that, in the vast majority of cases, it will be a lie. 14/n

However, it's mostly your fault if they're lying, because they wouldn't be lying if they were not afraid that you were going to shun them just because they have views you consider beyond the pale or at least enjoy reading 15/n

people who hold such views. The problem is that you're only used to hearing a very narrow range of views and have been socialized into considering anything outside of that range as totally unacceptable. But this is also your fault, for the most part. 16/n

I can say that very confidently because I know a lot of people in academia, journalism, etc. and everyone knows that 1) I don't give a shit what people think and 2) I won't repeat it to anyone if you tell me what you think. 17/n

So over the years I have been told a lot of things by a lot of people, including people who are left-of-center by any reasonable standard, they would never say in public. And many of you would be amazed by what some of the people you know think or who they read! 18/n

I often think about that when I hear people say that political correctness is not a big deal. Some of them are lying, and some are just stupid, but I think most really believe that. 19/n

It's just that they really have no idea how much people they know, their friends even, hide from them what they really believe and/or the kind of things they read. It's a really toxic situation if you ask me, but I'm not sure how to fix it or even whether it can be fixed. 20/20

ADDENDUM: As someone aptly noted in a DM, this is also the case of many *left-of-center* pundits. Yes, my dear incredulous left-wing friend who is reading this: not only are they reading him, but they actually *enjoy* it! I can 100% assure you of that. https://twitter.com/phl43/status/1194742963517214724

ADDENDUM BIS: Very good point. https://twitter.com/olivertraldi/status/1194789777972891654