The year 2032:
Political scientists for decades have puzzled over how exactly the Republican party self destructed in the years 2007-08. In the years and decades that followed, the GOP was routinely trounced in national elections, and the Democratic coalition often held huge filibuster and veto-proof majorities in the Congress. Democrats held the White House for a quarter century, beginning with President Al Gore in 2009, then President Barak Obama in 2017, followed by President Bono in 2025. The former lead singer of U2 was given honorary US Citizenship in 2016 after he, Bill Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton permanently solved Africa’s HIV-AIDS and poverty crises by the year 2020. As a US citizen, Bono was able to constitutionally seek the presidency; and more importantly, turn on an entire generation of Americans to the sheer bliss of Guinness Stout. The Guinness brewery formally relocated to Burlington, Vermont in 2026, where former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was often seen “tying one on“, and yelling “YeeeeeAhhhhhh!”
Blind loyalty to an unpopular president and an illegal war in Iraq are cited as the reason for the GOP collapse in 2008. But, political scientists have often found this to be an unsatisfactory explanation. It is a central tenet of political science, that Parties will choose self-preservation, over blind loyalty to one man. In short, the survival of the party always trumps blind loyalty to one politician. In theory, it makes absolutely no sense for a party establishment to flush its own credibility down the toilet, along with the failed legacy of one man.
What happened in 2007-2008 may have been a unique event in the history of politics: George Bush was one of the most unpopular president’s in history, he engaged in what is widely acknowledged as an illegal war, was responsible for the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands, and he nearly bankrupted the US Treasury and destroyed America’s military. In spite of this death spiral, 30% of the American population (the GOP base) spent 8 years braying about how great Dear Leader was, and that any sort of criticism of Dear Leader and his War was tantamount to treachery and treason. The GOP leadership followed the lead of their base, and in the critical years of 2007-08, stood shoulder to shoulder with Dear Leader, abstaining from any substantive criticism of Bush or his war, or his policies. Stunningly, the GOP presidential nominee for 2008, Rudy Giuliani, promised another GOP presidency similar to Bush’s, only like a Bush-on-steroids: a worldwide military crusade against the evil doers. Giuliani’s campaign only came down crashing and burning, after videos surfaced of him dressed in drag and patrolling public men’s restrooms, offering to perform oral sex on men for 20 dollars. At any rate, it was only when the military draft was implemented in 2008, and Jenna Bush and Mary Cheney were the first names drawn in the conscription lottery, that congressional republicans acquiesced in permitting american forces in Iraq to redeploy.
To this day, the slavish, GOP devotion to one of America and the World’s most reviled politicians in history, appears to go beyond the realm of political science study and theory. Many have suggested that deeper, psychological issues with the GOP base and leadership in those years need to be understood, in order to understand how the GOP willingly destroyed itself. Researchers familiar with cult psychology, and with historical analogies such as Jim Jones and the kool aid suicides, are currently researching the phenomena.
Political scientists for decades have puzzled over how exactly the Republican party self destructed in the years 2007-08. In the years and decades that followed, the GOP was routinely trounced in national elections, and the Democratic coalition often held huge filibuster and veto-proof majorities in the Congress. Democrats held the White House for a quarter century, beginning with President Al Gore in 2009, then President Barak Obama in 2017, followed by President Bono in 2025. The former lead singer of U2 was given honorary US Citizenship in 2016 after he, Bill Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton permanently solved Africa’s HIV-AIDS and poverty crises by the year 2020. As a US citizen, Bono was able to constitutionally seek the presidency; and more importantly, turn on an entire generation of Americans to the sheer bliss of Guinness Stout. The Guinness brewery formally relocated to Burlington, Vermont in 2026, where former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was often seen “tying one on“, and yelling “YeeeeeAhhhhhh!”
Blind loyalty to an unpopular president and an illegal war in Iraq are cited as the reason for the GOP collapse in 2008. But, political scientists have often found this to be an unsatisfactory explanation. It is a central tenet of political science, that Parties will choose self-preservation, over blind loyalty to one man. In short, the survival of the party always trumps blind loyalty to one politician. In theory, it makes absolutely no sense for a party establishment to flush its own credibility down the toilet, along with the failed legacy of one man.
What happened in 2007-2008 may have been a unique event in the history of politics: George Bush was one of the most unpopular president’s in history, he engaged in what is widely acknowledged as an illegal war, was responsible for the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands, and he nearly bankrupted the US Treasury and destroyed America’s military. In spite of this death spiral, 30% of the American population (the GOP base) spent 8 years braying about how great Dear Leader was, and that any sort of criticism of Dear Leader and his War was tantamount to treachery and treason. The GOP leadership followed the lead of their base, and in the critical years of 2007-08, stood shoulder to shoulder with Dear Leader, abstaining from any substantive criticism of Bush or his war, or his policies. Stunningly, the GOP presidential nominee for 2008, Rudy Giuliani, promised another GOP presidency similar to Bush’s, only like a Bush-on-steroids: a worldwide military crusade against the evil doers. Giuliani’s campaign only came down crashing and burning, after videos surfaced of him dressed in drag and patrolling public men’s restrooms, offering to perform oral sex on men for 20 dollars. At any rate, it was only when the military draft was implemented in 2008, and Jenna Bush and Mary Cheney were the first names drawn in the conscription lottery, that congressional republicans acquiesced in permitting american forces in Iraq to redeploy.
To this day, the slavish, GOP devotion to one of America and the World’s most reviled politicians in history, appears to go beyond the realm of political science study and theory. Many have suggested that deeper, psychological issues with the GOP base and leadership in those years need to be understood, in order to understand how the GOP willingly destroyed itself. Researchers familiar with cult psychology, and with historical analogies such as Jim Jones and the kool aid suicides, are currently researching the phenomena.
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