Why We Did It

A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell

By: Tim Miller

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Former Republican political operative Tim Miller answers the question no one else has fully grappled with: Why did normal people go along with the worst of Trumpism?

As one of the strategists behind the famous 2012 RNC “autopsy,” Miller conducts his own forensic study on the pungent carcass of the party he used to love, cutting into all the hubris, ambition, idiocy, desperation, and self-deception for everyone to see. In a bracingly honest reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment, Miller draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class's Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th.

From ruminations on the mental jujitsu that allowed him as a gay man to justify becoming a hitman for homophobes, to astonishingly raw interviews with former colleagues who jumped on the Trump Train, Miller diagrams the flattering and delusional stories GOP operatives tell themselves so they can sleep at night. With a humorous touch he reveals Reince Priebus' neediness, Sean Spicer's desperation, Elise Stefanik and Chris Christie’s raw ambition, and his close friends’ submission to a MAGA psychosis.

Why We Did It is a vital, darkly satirical warning that all the narcissistic justifications that got us to this place still thrive within the Republican party, which means they will continue to make the same mistakes and political calculations that got us here, with disastrous consequences for the nation.

Great Washington insider perspective

I’ve been struggling to understand the very complex reasons as to what has happened to my Republican Party. I tried to look at it from the peoples’ psychological perspectives but hadn’t realized how much of it was more than that. People didn’t just sell their soul to work in the Trump admin, they were already in the DC machine and couldn’t get out and/or would rationalize why to stay despite their feelings and beliefs in the Mango monster. The author provides so many real explanations and it helped reconcile (in my mind at least) some of the rationalizations for how we got here. Not sure how to get out of the circus, but it helps to understand and maybe have conversations again with family and friends who went to the dark side!

Hard to put down

It's too bad Mr. Miller wasn't able to do the audio version himself. the only thing that would make this offering better would be to hear it in his own voice. Where the author shares of himself you can really tell how his decision to self assess has led to healing, strength, and freedom. in the very intimate way he shares about the social spheres he is connected to his behind the curtain exposure is incredibly enthralling and informative. Mr. Miller definitely brings the receipts.

I despair for my country and maybe my species

First, let's say up front that Tim Miller is witty, funny, and clever. If you listen/read this book, you will be entertained.

Second, my takeaway is that a huge number of people willingly embrace a functional cult out of a combination of unreflective resentment, greed, ego, and pandering in exchange to the high they get out of hurting half or more of the country. especially since these star struck vandals are willing to suffer too, then cast it as dedication.

Personally, I think that most of the people Miller writes about need decades of therapy, deprogramming, ethics classes, and a huge dose of learning history from the first and second level sources instead of Fox news coloring books.

Hilarious, compulsively readable, and terrifying.

Great listen!

Narrator was very energetic and kept my attention. Glad to know that there are still logical thinking republicans still out there

Excellent

One of the best books I have read about the current GOP party and the insiders in the party. Fantastic!