I wish we lived in a world where it wasn't just the poor and powerless that went to prison for doing awful things.

I'm pretty sure Vice President Justin Bieber's performance at the 2053 Super Bowl halftime show is likely to be the most embarrassing moment of the 21st century.

There were a great many adults who were taken in by this little stunt, but I can overlook that, even though any adult should have been able to see through it. (A 13-year-old can be excused for not having perspective on war drums and the beating thereof.) And I can even forgive people who simply let themselves believe in the righteousness of the Iraq War, all evidence to the contrary: it was an emotional time and people are apes at heart, looking for an alpha male to follow.

What I find inexcusable are people who, after the Iraq War started going poorly, simply shrugged their shoulders and said "oh well". No, you don't get to walk away from this like it's nothing. Since you don't have enough decency to be mad that you were lied to, and you don't have enough conscience to feel guilt over what you helped bring about, the only remaining possibility is that you are a shitty person.

The 2004 election was the point at which people could have redeemed themselves, by voting against Bush. If you voted for Bush in 2004, and you couldn't justify your ignorance -- say, having lived in a cave for the previous three years -- you are broken.

STAY THE COURSE!

Sounds like someone wants all those soldiers' deaths to have been for nothing!

I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I saw him slinking off to the helicopter after he was sworn in the first time - everything about his body language said "crooked used car salesman." I had no idea just how bad it would get, though, and I loved through Reagan.

But at least he refused to deploy drones in Mexico.

@Old Zircon: I assume you meant 'lived' through Reagan.

I did, but it's better the way it came out.

"Alpha males" are a media-fostered myth, that's no excuse for being taken in by a giant douchebag and his corporate backers. Bush was Fredo but incompetence doesn't make his intent any different.

I don't think "alpha males" are a myth at all; about the only way to explain modern conservatism is if people are trying to apply ape tribal instincts to modern society. It's a better explanation than any I have heard for many puzzling phenomena, from the Log Cabin Republicans to the adulation of the wealthy.

What's more, I have asked recovering conservatives whether the tribal explanation holds up, and they say it does. So for example, when Democrats make speeches about good policy that benefits all Americans from all walks of life, what conservatives are hearing is that the Democrats are willing to dilute the tribe's strength and don't even understand the importance of protecting it from outsiders.

People can do better, they should do better, and often all it takes is being immersed in a very different setting (such as college) for people to snap out of it. But for those who don't, being a Republican and going to a right-wing church are matters of tribal loyalty.

I'm going off-point to a very generalized argument. Back on point: show me a 9/11 Republican and I'll show you someone who has reverted to primordial instincts about protecting the tribe from outsiders, and following the most apish alpha male rather than the guy who can actually talk intelligently about the issues.

His administration's flat-out refusal to waiver on anything, no matter how wrong they were, became a point of pride with the neo-con crew.

I think Bush's electoral success in 2000 and 2004 had more to do with his lackluster opponents, namely Al Gore and John Kerry, than anything else.

I mean, can you name a more lackluster, awful presidential candidate since Adlai Stevenson? I don't doubt for a second that either would have been a far better president than Bush, but Jesus Christ, each of them is about as charismatic as a dead squirrel.

John Kerry? The husband of the French ketchup heiress? The guy who makes you want to fall asleep after hearing him speak for more than 30 seconds? Al Gore wasn't any more inspiring, and at least he was able to gain a majority of the popular vote.

It's easy to hate the Republicans in general and Bush in particular, but wasn't there anyone else the Democrats could have rallied around? At least in 2004? What's particularly painful for me is my certain belief that Gore could have won the electoral vote easily in 2000 if he would have allowed Clinton to campaign for him. The Clinton fatigue that had developed in the latter years of his presidency had absolutely nothing to do with Democratic policies and everything to do with Clinton's personal failings. Clinton's problems didn't touch Gore's campaign at any point. No one thought Al Gore was capable of having sex with his own wife, much less someone else's.

In the 2004 election, I could tell at a glance that Kerry would lose. I mean literally at a glance: my initial impression was that his face looked like a Cabbage Patch Kid Herman Munster, and this country simply isn't going to elect someone who looks like that.

Plus he couldn't speak in a way that connected with the common man, he was from MASSACHUSETTS of all places (second only to "Hollywood" as a code word for "where America haters live"), and "married to a ketchup heiress" sounds like the back story of a "Seinfeld" character.

Kerry had my vote of course, but in a country where people vote from their gut, Kerry was a losing proposition.

TAXACHUSETTS?

I wish I was in my early teens during this shit instead of the vast majority of my 20's, because that would have given me an excuse to be ignorant of the shame and horror of this incredibly shitty time.

Oh dear lord, thinking back in 2013 that the century couldn't get any worse...

By this time I completely gave up on TV news, I've only seen photos of this.

2000: many traditional Democratic supporters were sick of the Democrats by then. Now, a lot of people were dullards who didn't understand that a Republican House Majority meant that Clinton wasn't going to be able to dictate what legislation passes, and blamed that on him. But beyond that, there was some seriously shitty policy coming from the White House, mostly foreign policy. The Clinton White House was an ardent supporter of sanctions on Iraq, and continuing them not only until Iraq showed UN weapons compliance, but until Saddam was out of power. This meant the deaths of hundreds of thousands in an effort to depose Saddam, and as Madeleine Albright put it, "we think the price is worth it". Then there's the small matter of Kosovo, where the US would attack Yugoslavia unless they accepted by the Rambouillet Agreement, the most unreasonable ultimatum given to a Balkan nation in the 20th century (and no, I haven't forgotten that other one).

By the 2000 election, the mental arithmetic I was performing was: Clinton is about as bad as Bush Sr -- worse in some ways -- and while the Republicans have a lot of shitty Representatives like Newt Gingrich, they're not going to put someone that crazy into the White House. And hey, Dick Cheney served under Bush Sr, he understands workable foreign policy. So maybe this election, my goal shouldn't be to block the Republicans, so much as support a third party (Nader).

Boy, that worked out well. In all fairness, I don't think I could have foreseen what complete ass-clowns Dubya's entire administration were. I figured he couldn't be any worse than Reagan, who, while an idiot, at least remained on a short leash.

2004: A lot of Americans are more ape than human. I know that many people have since grown disenchanted with the Republicans, now that it's cool, but I figure the 2004 election was the point at which you showed your true colors.

I was a freshman in college, and it was the first time I voted. I had been pretty intellectual in high school, but was completely disinterested in politics, and hadn't followed any of the issues or campaigns. (It didn't help that I was attending an extremely conservative evangelical fundamentalist church at the time.) I knew that it was between Bush and Gore, and believed it was my civic duty to vote, but had no clue who to vote for, so I voted for Pat Buchanan, because I knew he wouldn't win, and so I was casting a neutral vote. If you ever read the statistics about how Buchanan won a higher percentage than anybody expected, know that at least one of those votes was a confused teenager who didn't know any better.

"And hey, Dick Cheney served under Bush Sr, he understands workable foreign policy."

What you forgot to remember was that Cheney worked under Nixon, and has been quite bitter and angry about his guy losing the imperial powers of the Presidency just because he got caught breaking into the Watergate.

Further, it's worrisome when the guy put in charge of finding a VP candidate picks HIMSELF.

And what really capped the thought that Bush & Cheney had loads to hide (be it incompetence or actual evil deeds) and probably should've been in court was when they testified WITH EACH OTHER at the 9/11 hearings. They might as well have wore t-shirts that read "What the other guy said, that's our story."