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.
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3.5 In reading books like these I'm trying to get a understanding of how our country came to be where it is today. A country that seems hellbent on throwing our hard won democracy away, while in the Ukraine they are fighting and dying to hold on to theirs. Tim Miller was an insider who worked on various campaigns, a challenge, a game of one upmanship, until Trump. There he drew the line and in this book he
explains why he did while so many did not. People he worked with, friends who saw the thre 3.5 In reading books like these I'm trying to get a understanding of how our country came to be where it is today. A country that seems hellbent on throwing our hard won democracy away, while in the Ukraine they are fighting and dying to hold on to theirs. Tim Miller was an insider who worked on various campaigns, a challenge, a game of one upmanship, until
Trump. There he drew the line and in this book he explains why he did while so many did not. People he worked with, friends who saw the threat Trump posed, but still were drawn into supporting a man many knew was unfit and a detriment to this country. He explains them by type, uses specific names and shows how these people became complicit, many who still are. Power, self delusion,wanting to be an insider, so many reasons, so many who knew and know better. Chris Christie, Elise Stefanik and
others who continue to play a game with our very lives, makes me so angry, helpless and very afraid of what will be left of our country. If those in power won't speak the truth. When the quest for power embraces the lies, runs on hate and makes the extremes the normal, where do we go from here?
Trump is a psychotic monster. The author gets that and says that.
The author speaks of three phases he went through. First, he saw politics as a game to manipulate the rubes and mislead with half- truths but most of all to get your blood riled up and click on Facebook memes and send five dollars to his preferred candidates and make you feel better because of the hate he was giving you. Then the second phase starts with John McCain who picked Sarah Palin. She marks the turning point when the stup The author speaks of three phases he went through. First, he saw politics as a game to manipulate the rubes and mislead with half- truths but most of all to get your blood riled up and click on Facebook memes and send five dollars to his preferred candidates and make you feel better because of the hate he was giving you. Then the second phase starts with John McCain who picked Sarah Palin. She marks the turning point when the
stupid became real. She believed the non-sense she was spouting. “I’ve read about him, I can’t trust Obama, he’s an Arab”, Palin’s superfans would say as if Arabs and Muslims are one and the same, but when it comes to hate reason need not apply. The comment sections of World Net Daily, Breitbart News or the Wall Street Journal reflected who they really were, not the stories contained in the articles, but the raw hate, fear and uncertainty that they espoused in their comments and believe
with their hearts not their heads. As Miller notes, Birtherism was perfect for Trump. It is racist to its core and it was within the fevered swampland of all comment sections. They shout ‘stop thinking and follow me’, they are all in on the joke while thinking that everyone else is the real rube and not them, because they know that Trump is saying what they feel. Trump is the psychotic monster and they are too, because it makes them feel good, they like the hate and they want to thrash
anyone that is not them. Just say the words “Kamala Harris”, around a Republican. You’ll see them physically shake with anger and they’ll mumble something about her policies or beliefs or ‘thank you Brandon’, or ‘they are teaching our children CRT (critical race theory)’. Read the comment sections on their sites, they hate without restriction. That is who they are. Tolerance is not a suicide pact. We don’t have to be tolerant of fascists who want to destroy democracy and only
support equality for their privileged group. We are close to losing the republic and they honestly believe the election was not a fair and free election because they feel Democrats cheat. Trump tells them how to think and they tell Trump how to think. The mob is not possessed by a demon they are a demon and are entwined with Trump. Democracy is at stake. The third phase the author shows is how the enablers convinced themselves that Trump is for the best. They can’t quit Trump because they
love him so. He makes them feel good with the hate he engenders. Trump is a psychotic monster and they are pathological. Trump makes them feel good about themselves and his deplorables love him all the more for it. Trump is not unique. He is not a Svengali. They love the hate, the fear, the uncertainty and the doubt that he sows. The mob creates him and they are the mob. Palin had that ability too. Re-watch ‘Game Changer’, most Republicans will see Palin as the hero, not the foe. There is
one story that Miller says that I want to repeat. Steve Schmidt foisted Palin on McCain and that’s not the worst of it, he was more than willing to support Mr. Starbucks (Howard Schultz) for president even if the most likely result was to siphon votes from Biden and re-elect Trump in the process. Miller said wisely that Schmidt would have created generational wealth for Schmidt and in the process destroyed the country. I like Schmidt as much as the next person because he articulates my dislike
against Trump and his fascism better than almost anyone, but I realize that he can’t be trusted. It is not a game I want to participate in. The New York Times sees the politics as a game. It is not. The headline two days ago (6/2022) ‘Supreme Court hands Biden a loss on EPA ruling’. My god, it is not politics, the country was handed a loss on dealing with pollution. It is not a game! The election was a fair and free election and Trump tried to instigate a violent overthrow of the country.
It is not a game. Democracy is at stake. Call Trump the psychotic monster that he is and every single person that supports him for the danger that they are enabling. Miller gets it and definitely is warning us against what is currently happening. I almost universally hate books written explaining the evil that Trump is because they miss the real story. Miller’s book is a pleasant counter to that genre of books. Democracy might not survive and Trump is a special threat because he is a
psychotic monster and Miller does a good job at explaining how dangerous Trump is and the pernicious game that is being played at our expense.
Jul 08, 2022 Susan Tunis rated it it was amazing I will write more later, but for now I'll simply say: This is the book I've been searching for, all these years of reading books by Republicans and trying to understand what is happening to this country! Kudos to Tim Miller for coming clean and finally saying the quiet part out loud. Without a doubt, this will be one of the best books I read this year. I will write more later, but for now I'll simply say: This is the book I've been searching for, all these years of reading books by Republicans and trying to understand what is happening to this country! Kudos to Tim Miller for coming clean and finally saying the quiet part out loud. Without a doubt, this will be one of the best books I read this year. ...more
This is well worth reading if you want to see how sick and conflicted and messed up in the head are the young people who
chose to work for the treasonous sociopath who was allowed to occupy the White House prior to President Biden. However, for a better overview of how corrupt and evil the Republican party has been for many decades, I recommend Stuart Stevens's book, It
Was All a Lie. Tim Miller is a millennial, so his experience with the party is fairly short and recent. Stuart Steven This is well worth reading if you want to see how sick and conflicted and messed up in the head are the young people who chose to work for the treasonous sociopath who was allowed to occupy the White House prior to President Biden. However, for a better overview of how corrupt and evil the
Republican party has been for many decades, I recommend Stuart Stevens's book, It Was All a Lie. Tim Miller is a millennial, so his experience with the party is fairly short and recent. Stuart Stevens is at least twenty years older, and spent decades working to help Republicans get elected, thinking he was promoting a specific set of values and policy ideas. He discovered IT WAS ALL A LIE, and takes full responsibility for helping to advance the greedy, power-hungry monster that is now openly anti-democracy and pro-violence. ...more
I liked it, it was good, maybe even pretty good. I suppose the best thing is when he focuses on his former good
friend and previously like minded poltico, “Caroline". He really presses her and tries to dig out WHY she went for Trump…ALL IN for Trump. The answer isn’t clear, but the part that surprised him was her anger. Anger at liberals, the media , Democrats…really just anybody not in with Trump. It reminded me of the psychologist Scott Atran who (among others) says there is a part of the brain t I suppose the best thing is when he focuses on his former good friend and previously like minded poltico, “Caroline". He really presses her and tries to dig out WHY she went for Trump…ALL IN for Trump. The answer isn’t clear, but the part that surprised him was her anger. Anger at liberals, the media , Democrats…really just anybody not in with Trump. It reminded me of the psychologist Scott Atran who (among others) says there is a part of the brain that holds “sacred values”
once that part of the brain is tied to a thought, it is really UN-movable, especially not affected by logic or inconsistencies in that belief. THAT is what TRUMP is and of course there is much more too it. In my unwritten book I say such “sacred values” are something people yearn for in order to bring certainty to a demonstrably UN-certain world. In fact, the ludicrousness of the belief forces a sort of “in for a penny in for a pound” way of living. So not only are these believers not
swayed by argument and evidence, the double down, triple down, all in glee at “sticking it to them”, the libs or whomever. Well, that is me, now back to Tim… Later in the book he touches on the tripling down thing… Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian who studies strongmen, wrote, “The authoritarian playbook has no chapter on defeat.” Acknowledging weakness pops the bubble of disreality. It can’t be accepted or broached. Caroline, with her Trump family friendships, understands the
rules of omertà. - Location: 3,449 He does an honest job of describing his past and you feel he feels bad about most of his contribution to the degradation of the Republican party. But I get the feeling he really liked the jousting between sides with each using slightly dubious oppo research…but still going out for a drink with the other side at the end of the day. [BTW the dude sounds like he can really hold his liquor, so don’t get in a drinking contest with him] For my
notes here is his taxonomy of enablers and hangers on He has examples of each group and it make sense. But really it is just one way to look at people and why they do things. There are probably a thousand
other ways to describe what type of people go for Trump, or any nut job really. Still, it is as good a way as any I suppose so nevermind. Consider Chris Christie: a Little Mix and Team Player and Junior Messiah all wrapped up in Costco Club packaging. Christie is a Churchill in his own mind but was
turned by Trump into a sniveling church mouse. - Location: 1,940 Were it not for one Joe Farah, the future birther-in-chief might never have discovered the issue that engendered a romance between rank-and-file evangelical Christians and a potty-mouthed, thrice-married adulterer who overcompensated for his tiny hands and aspic belly by periodically assaulting buxom blondes. - Location: 2,830 Most critically, birtherism allowed Trump to separate himself from all the
other patsy pols who were just too weak to fabricate a xenophobic conspiracy against a political rival. Vice presidents have no actual duties besides being truckling toadies to their boss and no vice president in history truckled harder than toady Pence. - Location: 2,998 Although some of them require a quick Google assist to translate, He was no more porangi than half the other jabronis walking around the West Wing - Location: 2,983
And it ends at the right spot but somehow I kind of feel the last line was one he wrote early on, because his story seems like it was heading to this conclusion from the start. The road that brought us to this place was long. It seems as if it might just go on forever. - Location: 3,606 Addendum: Cultural references I had to Google
It takes either a tremendous amount of balls or a tremendous lack of self-awareness to quote James Baldwin in the forward of your book about how you were instrumental in the “trumpification” of America.
Aug 04, 2022 Joseph Stieb rated it it was amazing A funny, profane, and often insightful memoir-ish book from Tim Miller, a vehement anti-Trumper who worked on a variety of GOP campaigns in the 2000s and 2010s. Miller is a pretty moderate Republican (in fact, it is often hard to see what makes him remotely conservative)
and a gay man (not all that uncommon in GOP campaign worker circles). He's a true political addict and creature of the swamp, but he had the personal character and moral fortitude to separate himself from Trumpism and then becom A funny, profane, and often insightful memoir-ish book from Tim Miller, a vehement anti-Trumper who worked on a variety of GOP campaigns in the 2000s and 2010s. Miller is a pretty moderate Republican (in fact, it is often
hard to see what makes him remotely conservative) and a gay man (not all that uncommon in GOP campaign worker circles). He's a true political addict and creature of the swamp, but he had the personal character and moral fortitude to separate himself from Trumpism and then become one of its strongest public critics. The first third of the book is a political memoir, and the rest of it is a series of profiles of different GOP pols who mostly ended up siding with Trump and serving his ends.
Miller is brilliant at unpacking the rationalizations, excuses, and mental mechanisms these people used to justify their actions: compartmentalization (as a gay man working for the GOP, Miller was good at this), declaring that the Left or Clinton or whoever is worse, having no other identity or social circle to fall back on besides being a Republican, being stuck in the conservative media echo-chamber, the "junior Messiah complex" in which you convince yourself that whoever would fill your role
would probably be even worse so you might as well serve the administration, the "adults in the room" theorem in which you say "well I'm a responsible adult who can restrain the crazy," wanting to be "in the game" politically speaking, wanting to be important, money, and just pure ambition. A lot of this just comes down to character, intelligence, and self-understanding: can you recognize a scam when you see it? Would you tolerate this behavior coming from the Left? Are you only looking at the
evidence you want to see? What makes Miller special as a narrator is that he knows all of these people and has now broken away from most of them, but he also has indulged in almost all of these rationalizations at one point or another. He's also not really a liberal, so it's not a liberal critique that just confirms all of my personal biases. He makes a great point that people like him (and Jeb, Romney, McCain, etc) long thought that they could run an essentially sane party with an
increasingly insane base and media as long as they threw the crazies a bone here and there (kind of a macro-version of the "adults in the room" theorem). In one great metaphor, they believed they could put forward a balanced diet with occasional bursts of sugar. What was really happening is that a very DC or big city-centric, well educated, often socially moderate party elite was becoming disconnected from an increasingly angry base. Trump sniffed out that disjunct and exploited it to the hilt.
It was candy for dinner every night, a full-on plunge into conspiracy, magical thinking, rage politics, nihilism, and every other bad ism you can think of. Once he took over and proved he could win and "fight," the vast majority of the establishment got on board. There is one area that I disagree with Miller. While I absolutely loathe Trump, it is not insane for conservatives to vote for him. No other Republican would have stood a chance in 2016 or 2020. They had tried the more moderate
route in 08 and 12 and been crushed. What Trump brought to the table was the ability to get people who think that all politics is B.S. to actually care about politics and to show up and vote. Without tapping into that element, the GOP was screwed. Sorry to the authors of the 2013 GOP autopsy (Miller was one of them), but warmed-over centrism wasn't going to fire up the base. Plus, voting for Trump got conservatives of all kinds a bunch of legislation they wanted, a non-stop triggering of the
libs, and domination of the Supreme Court that will last decades and has already had huge returns such as the Dobbs case. This is something the anti-Trump movement (everyone from the Lincoln Project to the Democratic Party) needs to grapple with in a way they haven't so far: if Trump or Trumpism is (seemingly) the only way to win, and winning has high stakes, then why should people of conservative leanings not pinch their noses and vote for him, or just embrace the stink altogether? This is a
great book for the political junkie type, but I would love to hear Miller's answer to that question.
Yeah, I read it, found it impossible to put down, found it insightful in places, but ultimately lacking in any real political understanding. I wanted to take Miller by
the scruff of the neck and force him to answer all of my questions that he never got around to answering. Questions like - "Why were you a Republican in the first place? You think Trump lied to the people but Reagan, Bush I and II, Dick Cheney, etc. were honorable men? To me, it seems that the GOP has been engaged for the past fift Questions like - "Why were you a Republican in the first place? You think Trump lied to the people but Reagan, Bush I and II, Dick Cheney, etc. were honorable men? To me, it seems that the GOP has been engaged for the past fifty years in a largely successful effort to sell crap to the
American people - like deindustrialization will be good for you (ok, Dems share in the blame on this one). Like climate change is a myth. Like pollution means jobs. And on and on. But you thought this an honorable place to be. Like rolling back the Voting Rights Act, piece by piece, all to maintain the rule of corporations and the rich - ALEC, etc. Yeah, John McCain had his moments of integrity, but think of all the Maverick went along with. A relatively thin hook IMHO to hang your integrity hat
on. A book about politics that says nothing about the political stances of the two parties." "What made you unlike so many of your cohort, able to break free? I suppose it was partly your being a gay man in an anti-gay party that set that ball rolling, but you don't really ruminate on that." That would be useful information. My own views are that we Democrats are too high-minded for our own good. It bothers me no end that the most incisive critiques of Trump in 2020 came from
the Lincoln Project, or that the most knife-thrusting prosecutor on the Jan 6 committee is Liz Cheney. Since Biden was elected we seem totally unable to motivate our own voters, at least until the Dobbs decision. We based our entire strategy on passing good legislation, a strategy that had no chance of success since we had nothing but nominal control (and that by a hair) of Congress. The right move would have been a vigorous effort to drive wedges between Republicans and Trump, to say to them
"your party left you" as Nixon and Reagan did to us so long ago. I had hoped for Miller's take on such strategery questions, but that's not what this book was about. On the plus side, some of his dishes are epic and worth the price of the book. But ultimately, it's on the shallow side. Partly good gossip but ultimately still too much of the "rancid remnants of Reaganism."
Jul 22, 2022 Steve Peifer rated it it was amazing If you wonder why formerly respectable Republicans abandoned their principles to slavishly follow Trump, this is the book you are looking for. It’s brutally honest and he spares no one, including himself. It’s also a touching and insightful portrait of a man coming to
terms with his own sexuality. I didn’t expect to be so moved, but it is one of the highlights of the book.
Jul 01, 2022 Gretchen rated it it was ok This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book makes me want to take a shower. Tim Miller presents himself as a dishonest, chain smoking drunk who thinks he’s a trendy mover and shaker. Know what Tim? I just don’t think you’re that important. You try desperately to come across as cool, hip, and a real “mixer” as you describe in your book. But you only manage to show that you’re contemptuous of anyone outside the sickening crowd of your self-important ilk in Washington. You call people who donate money to political campaigns names i This book makes me want to take a shower. Tim Miller presents himself as a dishonest, chain smoking drunk who thinks he’s a trendy mover and shaker. Know what Tim? I just don’t think you’re that important. You try desperately to come across as cool, hip, and a real “mixer” as you describe in your book. But you only manage to show that you’re contemptuous of anyone outside the sickening crowd of your self-important ilk in Washington. You call people who donate money to political campaigns names including “rubes”, “boomers with brain rot”, and “catatonic nonagenarians in wheelchairs”. I guess you think that’s funny. You seem to think you and the others in DC who prostitute yourselves for the money in the game are smarter than others - hopefully the majority of us outsiders - who are infinitely more honorable than you. Laughing at people, cheating them, lying, and swindling is no way to change people’s minds. And it’s no way to live your life or pass on any values to your daughter. How can you live with yourself? You just “don’t get it”. I gave this book two stars only because it convinced me to NEVER contribute to any political campaign. ...more
Jul 20, 2022 AC rated it liked it Not the second common of Richard Ben Cramer as Carville gushed, but the last third is nonetheless illuminating. Why did they do it. In the final analysis, it is a cult, Miller thinks. And he shows this through his characters and not simply by stating it.
Sep 28, 2022 Dan Connors rated it really liked it Tim Miller is a former Republican operative who worked on many Republican political campaigns including Mitt Romney's 2012 run and Jeb Bush's 2016 run. He broke with the Republican party in 2016 over its nomination of Donald Trump and became dismayed at how so many
friends and former colleagues rationalized their support of a man many saw as unfit for the presidency. In this book he describes his own journey and interviews several others who are still wrapped up in the MAGA story. Many people treat their work and personal lives separately, compartmentalizing the ugly parts of their work into a series of rationalizations that allow them to sleep at night. Miller, who is gay, had to compartmentalize his sexual identity while working for a party that
routinely bashed gay and lesbian people. His political leanings were admittedly "squishy", as he calls them, but he felt most at home with Republican politicians and campaign workers. Miller had no trouble latching up with moderate Republicans until the party went full MAGA, and now he spends his time lamenting on what went wrong. The Republican autopsy of 2012 went against many of the sacred cows that the party had built up. Rather than moderate their positions to gain votes, Donald
Trump arrived on the scene to make that adjustment seem unnecessary. He supercharged white grievance with coded messages against Mexicans, Muslims, Blacks, Gays, and any other out group that he could use to enrage his base. It worked. This book isn't so much about Trump or his failings, but more about how the people who knew better went along with it anyway. We all have to make similar accommodations to unpleasantness and unfairness in our everyday lives given the imperfect world that surrounds
us. The fascinating question that we all have to confront is- how much moral hazard are we willing to go along with to get what we want? So here is a list of some of the types of enablers that Miller encountered. He names names like Reince Priebus, Lindsay Graham, and Elise Stefanik, but the stories of the mental gymnastics involved are bigger than any one group of people. 1- Messiahs. These were the people who saw themselves as counterweights to Trump's craziness. They worked in
the administration hoping to temper some of Trump's worst excesses, and had some success in that. But they never publicly opposed Trump, and their presence only made Trump look more normal. 2- Demonizers. Democrats and Liberals are bad, evil, and out to destroy America. For those who take these beliefs to heart, any behavior, no matter how reprehensible, is justified. 3- LOL nothing matters Republicans. Fatalistic and cynical, these people went about their business believing that
everybody is screwed already and nothing they do will change that. Politics is meaningless, so what the hell? 4- Tribalist Trolls. Tribal identity is everything with these people. Anything your tribe does is inherently good, and anything competing tribes do is inherently bad. 5- Strivers. Blind ambition was nothing new during the Trump years, but those who wanted to reach higher office, fame, and power knew they had to cater to the MAGA crowd, Fox News, and the Trump
administration. 6- Compartmentalizers. These folks went about their business with blinders on, avoiding the news and tucking bad Trump thoughts deep down in a box in the corner of their brain. Miller goes into great detail about people that he knew who fell into these strategies and more to get through the Trump years with a clear conscience. Many of the rationales above could apply to any party at any time, including Democrats, but the author focuses on his own disturbing experiences with the
Republican party of 2020, which seems to have thrown out many of its previous principles to accommodate a new way of doing things. I've always hoped that government employees kept the notion of public service as primary, and that politicians in a democracy would remain accountable to the people who vote them in. I'm not so sure this is true anymore. Books like this confirm my suspicions that the entire system has been corrupted by money, extremism, religious dogma, power, fame, and
bucketloads of money. Miller talks about "The Game", an inside joke among political types everywhere that nothing matters except winning. Here is a quote that stuck with me: "Something you didn't hear much from players in the Game was self-doubt over whether the political tactics they were employing might hurt the people they were purporting to serve. So, the practitioners of politics could easily dismiss moralistic or technical concerns by throwing down their trump card: "It's all
part of the Game." - Policy doesn't actually add up? Who cares, part of the Game - Attack on your opponent not in good faith? Part of the Game: make them defend it. - Getting an endorsement from someone popular but repugnant? Game - Raising money from people you suspect to be corrupt? Game. - Spam emailing supporters with hysterical messages about how their five dollars are needed to prevent the evildoers from stealing everything that mattered to them? That's how
the Game is played." Normally I don't like books about politics or politicians as they are depressingly predictable and rarely insightful. This one seemed different, as it spills open the culture of winning at any price that consumes our media and political worlds. I strongly believe that any healthy society needs to look at both the conservative and liberal sides of things. It's basic Yin and Yang, and any nation that drifts too far to the left or right risks losing its grip with
reality. Liberals are supposed to point out unfairness while putting forth new ideas, while conservatives are supposed to defend the status quo and reinforce rules and order. In today's America, money, religion, conservative media, and racism have supercharged those on the right to believe that they are under siege and that the other side is pure evil. The left has its issues too, but they pale in comparison. For those who follow politics this book will have juicy stories about
recognizable names and how hypocritical and shameless they were. After the events of January 6th, where for a brief few moments it looked like we were all coming back together to renounce this kind of insanity. But by February, things were back to the way they were and America could be facing something even worse in future election cycles. But in my mind the best value of this book goes beyond the Republican mess of 2020. It exposes a culture that's devoid of values, and if we ever want
to return to the noble intentions of the Founding Fathers and the many great people who followed, we need to see this ugliness for exactly what it is and call it out whenever we can.
This is one of the best books I've read in awhile, and I don't say that lightly. I dove into this Republican confessional after a condensed article about the "types of Trump enablers"
was published by Politico, and I was hooked. This is the story of someone who was always a Never Trumper, but it's a tale of someone who was on the inside: someone who saw the GOP fall apart, someone who has known the worst of the enablers, and someone who clearly blames himself for how the party became what it is This is one of the best books I've read in awhile, and I don't say that lightly. I dove into this Republican confessional after a
condensed article about the "types of Trump enablers" was published by Politico, and I was hooked. This is the story of someone who was always a Never Trumper, but it's a tale of someone who was on the inside: someone who saw the GOP fall apart, someone who has known the worst of the enablers, and someone who clearly blames himself for how the party became what it is today. Tim Miller is a gay man and a former Republican strategist, and this is his "travelogue" through a different kind of
coming out: the experience of the Never Trumper. How did a demagogue who bragged about assaulting women, taunted a war hero and a disabled reporter, and alleged voter fraud during the primary and the general election become the Republican nominee? Miller traces his life as a "squishy RINO" to tell this story, and where the aftermath of the so-called Republican Autopsy failed. This book is so strong because it depicts the real people — fueled by anger, money, and myriad other factors — who
made the Trump administration happen. I loved this book because it was a human story. Unlike almost every other piece of political nonfiction I read, it made me laugh. I felt for, and related to, its author. After all, as Miller writes, "It is always, always Veep, not House of Cards."
Are you wondering how we got into this mess? Are you trying to understand the motives of legions of people who have created a
cult around the former President? Would you like to pull your family and friends away from a gaping maw of paranoid insanity, yet fear there is nothing you can do for them? This author has some insights, as he once was instrumental in helping to create the gaping maw. Miller is a former Republican political operative who schmoozed his way up the DC food chain, and has lot This author has some insights, as he once was instrumental in helping to create the gaping maw. Miller is a former Republican political operative who schmoozed his way up the DC food chain, and has lots of war stories to tell about the things he saw and engaged
in. The author got his start at Berman & Co., which, with seed money from Big Tobacco, has created a constellation of lobby groups to ensure its corporate clients are free to conduct business without any pesky ethics considerations getting in the way. [Wonder why animal welfare on US factory farms remains abysmal, and even voter-approved reforms almost always get kneecapped before they go into practice? Berman & Co. has long been there to lend a helping hand to animal abuse, as
well as pollution, public health risks, and other corporate bad behavior.] And, yeah, it’s pretty much all downhill from there. But Miller names names, and he’s not afraid to say the quiet parts aloud, as others have noted, and this book is an important contribution to the discussion of the modern political era.
Aug 12, 2022 Donna rated it really liked it Holy Moley! What a story this is! Life with Republicans is even worse than I thought it could be. Tim Miller is a GOP insider who knows just how much misinformation and disinformation the political communicators throw at us. What’s worse is that they really read the comments
to articles their idiocy instigates and then create new spins directed at those with the most outlandish thoughts. Miller also analyzes the reasons why other normal Republicans went to work for Trump. None of their motives w Tim Miller is a GOP insider who knows just how much misinformation and disinformation the political communicators
throw at us. What’s worse is that they really read the comments to articles their idiocy instigates and then create new spins directed at those with the most outlandish thoughts. Miller also analyzes the reasons why other normal Republicans went to work for Trump. None of their motives were ideological. They either were looking for money, power, or just the chance to stay in the game. I think it’s important to read material from people on the “other side” just so you know what
you’re up against. I read this, but I feel dirty.
Oct 04, 2022 Sandi rated it it was amazing Tim Miller is a gifted writer and makes the horrifying and devastating actually kind of hilarious.
I had high hopes for Tim Miller’s Why We Did It. Subtitled A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell, I expected—as promised by promotional materials I’d seen—a witty examination of the Trump presidential debacle. After all, Miller, a communications expert for political campaigns, spent his time on the peripheries of the Trump campaign and subsequent presidential term. Adding to that is the fact the promos promised the unique viewpoint of a gay man working in Republican circles. And yet, Mil I had high hopes for Tim Miller’s Why We Did It. Subtitled A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell, I expected—as promised by promotional materials I’d seen—a witty examination of the Trump presidential debacle. After all, Miller, a communications expert for political campaigns, spent his time on the peripheries of the Trump campaign and subsequent presidential term. Adding to that is the fact the promos promised the unique viewpoint of a gay man working in Republican circles. And yet, Miller’s being gay doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the tales he imparts. As for the book being one I would enjoy, I was wrong. I found the book tedious and not witty much at all. Miller relies much too heavily on extended metaphors to make his points, so heavily I often got bogged down forgetting who or what he was talking about and often not even understanding his metaphors. I found my mind wandering. I love classic literature, I’ve taught literature, I’m a writer myself, so I feel like I have some small bit of intelligence, but much of Miller’s writing flew right over my head. He is prone to use words, both real and I suspect of his own invention, I have rarely encountered and have no clue of their meanings. For someone who is producing a book he, I assume, wants to sell zillions of copies of and spread his message to the world, I fear he limits his audience by trotting out the big words. Miller has made his career as a writer, and yet, this book doesn’t show it. I fully admit I’m not politically savvy. Many of the people mentioned in the book were either unknown to me or just names I knew. That made it difficult for me to follow Miller’s narrative when he chose to dub them by his supposedly witty metaphorical nicknames. I simply think this book doesn’t accomplish its purpose—that is if I even understand what Miller’s purpose is. Finally, I was annoyed by a sentence construction Miller uses two or three times on each page. It involves the word “that.” Judge Judy famously says the word “like” is a filler word, as it is, but the over-usage of “that” constitutes using a filler word that becomes extremely annoying and detracts from the message. Example: “I had just come out of the closet and felt alienated from the party that I feared was getting too extreme.” Remove “that” and what’s left is “I had just come out of the closet and felt alienated from the party I feared was getting too extreme.” Another example: “Even his biggest apologies admitted that the best way to get him to do the right thing was to prey on his insecurities.” Take away “that,” and you’re left with “Even his biggest apologies admitted the best way to get him to do the right thing was to prey on his insecurities.” These two examples (and most of the others) are far more elegant without the offending “that.” And I submit that almost every sentence constructed this way can lose the filler word and be a better sentence. In fact, as I read Miller’s book, I found myself silently skipping the filler word, and I was a much happier reader. ...more
Miller is refreshingly honest and self aware which makes his damning conclusions about Trump enablers hit that much harder. Similar in theme to Stuart Steven’s, “It was all a Lie” but Tim comes from a place of anger instead of sorrow which makes this a more bracing and in some ways more entertaining read. (Although I enjoyed Stuart’s book as well)
Awful. The fact that our political system is guided by a load of noxious individuals with no moral compass is established in the first 60 pages. The rest is just repetition.
So right there I found in you someone who finally got it on paper. I had tried for the last 6 years to understand the what
people saw in that shithead, but I think you got it right. Thanks for sharing. i ll.
Jul 06, 2022 Reed rated it really liked it Funny, frightening, snarky (creatively and entertainingly so) by a political insider/outsider who loathes Trump as much as, or perhaps even more than, I do. There's nothing really new here, if you've been following the demise of our decency and governmental savvy at the hands of the Trump troglodytes, other than the refreshing, revealing takes on exposing the hypocrisy and grift of the players in the MAGA world. And boy oh boy, does it get direct and personal! Love it. It reminded me a bit of a Funny, frightening, snarky (creatively and entertainingly so) by a political insider/outsider who loathes Trump as much as, or perhaps even more than, I do. There's nothing really new here, if you've been following the demise of our decency and governmental savvy at the hands of the Trump troglodytes, other than the refreshing, revealing takes on exposing the hypocrisy and grift of the players in the MAGA world. And boy oh boy, does it get direct and personal! Love it. It reminded me a bit of a more unfiltered, much more profane (creatively and entertainingly so) version of Stuart Stevens' It Was All a Lie -- as told by a sometimes annoying (yet creatively and entertainingly so) GenY/Millennial voice up on all the insider slang. (Had to look up what the hell "pwning" means, assuming it wasn't a typo, among other currencies.) Still, a strong 3.5 stars for the book, rounded up, because of the 5 full stars for the laughs and the scary truths and insights. ...more
Jul 05, 2022 Ronald Gruner rated it it was amazing Miller’s book is different from other books purporting to tell the inside
story of the Trump White House. Rather than power-brokers, Miller’s world are the PR flacks, money-raisers, opposition researchers and other foot soldiers who populate political campaigns. Miller knows that world well having spent twenty years as a GOP operative working for the John McCain, Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman presidential campaigns. But he refused to work for Donald Trump. Written in High Hipster, Miller describes th Written in High Hipster, Miller describes the descent many
of his peers took from Never Trumpers to outright Trump minions willing to ignore, rationalize or even promote Donald Trump’s worst impulses. How did it happen? Miller spent hours, occasionally days, speaking with friends and associates--many now former--who abandoned earlier loyalties and principles for a seat on the Trump train. There were many reasons. The “LOL Nothing Matters Republicans” were so cynical they didn’t care. The Nerd Revengers were looking for validation wherever they found it.
The Little Mixes just had to be in the game. Miller provides many unflinching examples. Reince Priebus was a shameless brown-noser. Sean “Sphincter” Spicer craved validation. Lindsey Graham just wanted to be on the golf cart next to Trump. Many of his political operative peers just needed a job, and by the end were willing to claim the election was stolen to keep it. An underlying thread in the book is Miller’s transition out of the closet into a proud and openly gay man. It may be
the only success he recounts in this interesting and highly recommended book
Tim Miller used to be a republican strategist, and as a gay man, he ignored all the things they said about gay people to do the job, which he later reflects on how messed up that is. But this book isn't about that. This book is about him being a Never Trumper and seeing the Republican party evolve into the mess it is today. The first half of the book is how he became a strategist and some nasty things he did, which almost felt like he was bragging, so some of that was harder to read. In the seco Tim Miller used to be a republican strategist, and as a gay man, he ignored all the things they said about gay people to do the job, which he later reflects on how messed up that is. But this book isn't about that. This book is about him being a Never Trumper and seeing the Republican party evolve into the mess it is today. The first half of the book is how he became a strategist and some nasty things he did, which almost felt like he was bragging, so some of that was harder to read. In the second half of the book, he focuses each chapter on a different person in Trump's world and how he watched them morph into being a Trump apologist and convert. I don't think he has a lot of answers in this book to his title statement of why they did it, but it was kind of interesting getting this perspective from an insider. ...more
Jul 06, 2022 Philip Moser rated it it was amazing The Most Entertaining Political Book of All
Time! Tim Miller combines his unique insight into Republican party politics with his gift for authentic, witty writing to create a book only he could write! You are guaranteed a belly laugh within 5 minutes of starting the book. If you appreciate humility, integrity, humor, and schadenfreude, this is the book for you!
Jul 25, 2022 Holly rated it did not like it Avoid - no real insights to be had. Lots of racism & self serving witty banter tho.
A Review of the Audiobook Published by HarperAudio in June of 2022. Tim Miller is a Republican political operative. He previously worked on the presidential campaigns for John McCain (2008), Jon Huntsman (2012) and Jeb Bush (2016), worked for the Republican party as a liaison to the Romney campaign (2012), created "gotcha" content for websites and traditional media, helped run a Political Action Committee (PAC) and writes regularly fo A Review of the AudiobookPublished by HarperAudio in June of 2022. Tim Miller is a Republican political operative. He previously worked on the presidential campaigns for John McCain (2008), Jon Huntsman (2012) and Jeb Bush (2016), worked for the Republican party as a liaison to the Romney campaign (2012), created "gotcha" content for websites and traditional media, helped run a Political Action Committee (PAC) and writes regularly for Rolling Stone magazine and political websites. He's connected. He knows someone on every campaign. He knew people all over the Trump administration. He is also a "Never Trumper". He once made a list compiled by the Washington Post of the top ten Never Trumpers. Miller talks about the motivations of people that joined the Trump White House after they swore that they never would because he was simply not an acceptable candidate or president. He talked with several people and he got the same answers over and over. Among them are these: 1. Fear of Missing Out. The White House is where the action is, no matter who is the President. 2. Fear of damaging their careers. Refusing to work for President Trump could spell the end of their career as Republicans. 3. Looking to further their careers. Enthusiastically supporting the GOP candidate and the GOP President could vault their career ahead. 4. Being the adult in the room. Someone had to keep an eye on Trump and say no to the bad ideas and suggest better ones. A lot of people said this but there were very few times when someone could tell him that they actually did it. There were other categories as well, but perhaps you get the idea. Miller makes an excellent analogy comparing his own life with his colleagues that went to work for President Trump and his own experiences working for multiple Republican candidates as a gay man. He notes that he simply ignored the clear biases that some of the candidates he supported had against people like him. Instead, he focused on the positives because...(insert one of the reasons from up above). Miller's analysis was most likely accurate. However, I wasn't a big fan of Miller's snarky nicknames for people. He was especially rough with Sean Spicer. I am not a fan of Spicer, but I see no reason to call him by an embarrassing nickname that he was given in college over and over and over again. It was unnecessary. I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2022... ...more
I've only read one other character driven political book, David Horowitz's "Blitz." It was one of the stupidest, most unenlightening things I've ever read and I quickly developed a somewhat informed opinion on these
dime-a-dozen books written by Washington insiders that do nothing to enrich or educate, only pander to voting base id and give the author a few quick bucks and a "New York Times Bestselling Author" "status." Nonetheless, Amazon advertised this book to me as a part of a 24 hour flash I've only read one other character driven political book, David Horowitz's "Blitz." It was one of the stupidest, most unenlightening things I've ever read and I quickly
developed a somewhat informed opinion on these dime-a-dozen books written by Washington insiders that do nothing to enrich or educate, only pander to voting base id and give the author a few quick bucks and a "New York Times Bestselling Author" "status." Nonetheless, Amazon advertised this book to me as a part of a 24 hour flash sale and I bought it for $3.99, thinking Why not? This author thinks his story is a must-read, mind changing anti Trump tome (how uniquely impassioned). Maybe I'll learn
of some salacious new facts about popular narratives from someone potentially writing from a place of both passionate conviction an honest look at all sides that would bridge the gap between the different realities in which the current media factions would have us all live. I had high hopes for a $3.99 political book, and they were quickly dashed. Very early on, the author is completely upfront and unapologetic about his RINOism, which really told me everything I needed to know about his
standpoints. As I read on, this establishment-neocon-disconnected-from-anything-not-inside-the-Washington-bubble-elitist pov was confirmed time and time again, from his pro-Bush baseline and springboard through his continual derision of populism and his contempt for and judgment of a huge portion of the nation's voters, to his completely un self-aware theme woven throughout that he alone has made his decisions from a place of honesty and integrity. Everyone else has an angle, selfish at best,
nefarious at worst. And that's whatever if he hadn't preempted his memoir with the "everyone must read this, it'll change minds" rally (but maybe every low to mid level political cog-cum-author does this; I don't know). But the hubris of a self-professed RINO insider who does nothing but deride anyone who doesn't want the GOP to transmogrify into a moderate branch of Democrat with a slight edge towards pro-life (an unfortunate fault that can surely be remedied) who thinks he above all else
has the words that will change minds... it's as disconnectedly insider as you can get. This book is a gross, gossipy, mean spirited, narcissistic piece of propaganda and I feel icky for having read it. But for a $3.99 political memoir, it's on me for expecting anything more. I am walking away with a renewed sense that the entire Washington machine is sick. We're all a little bit narcissistic; that's easy psychology. I can't help but think that anyone who desires to entrench
themselves in the political world has varyingly higher levels of dark triad traits. The author admits in the very beginning that all anyone has come to care about is winning and despite his waxing and reflecting on his own issues and morality, I can't help but wonder if it doesn't all boil down to the fact that Washington, for the first time in decades, maybe ever, couldn't sell the American public their chosen candidate, and now they won't let any of us forget it.
Sep 17, 2022 Evelyn rated it it was ok It’s obvi It’s obvious before even reading this book that people jumped on the Trump train for power and money. But this book never clearly explained the Why even with everything Trump said and did. Why did they continue to support
him? Why didn’t they stop him at the early stages of his presidency when they knew what he was capable of doing. That is what I was hoping this book would explain. Why they put themselves first and above the Country? Why did they continue to turn a blind eye? There were a few chapters that I found interesting and learned new information but most were boring and just dribbled on without providing any new information or answering the title of the book. This is just another book by a
Republican who knew how disastrous for the country a Trump presidency would be, but went along and did nothing until all the damage was done in order to “clear their name” and make money. Miller noted he didn’t vote for trump and was an early never-Trumper, yet he continued to work with those who did support him which ultimately furthered Trump’s power and resulting damage to this country. Why didn’t he speak out in 2016 or earlier? Why wait until the damage was done? The first half of the
book was boring and tedious. Another “former” republican who saw the light. Unfortunately he did nothing to help stop the carnage of the Trump presidency and only told his story after the fact to make money (hint, save your money and borrow the book from your local library as I did). The second half improves from a readers standpoint, but in my opinion, never really answers the question of Why We Did It.
Tim Miller does acknowledge up-front that his book may not completely satiate Progressives' and anti-Trumpers' thirst for new fuel for their case(s) against the former president and his lackeys—and he stays true to that acknowledgment. I, though, had hoped for more genuinely critical thinking into The Phenomenon That Is Trump, not merely a means to feed my appetite and affirm my views. Miller, though, routinely devolves into smarmy, patronizing parenthetical attempts in I Guess You Had To Be The Tim Miller does acknowledge up-front that his book may not completely satiate Progressives' and anti-Trumpers' thirst for new fuel for their case(s) against the former president and his lackeys—and he stays true to that acknowledgment. I, though, had hoped for more genuinely critical thinking into The Phenomenon That Is Trump, not merely a means to feed my appetite and affirm my views. Miller, though, routinely devolves into smarmy, patronizing parenthetical attempts in I Guess You Had To Be There humor that merely reinforces his unlikable status and grating persona as a Washington D.C. insider/hack/operative. While he may be trying to either, or both, to 1) offer some explanations behind so many of his cohorts going along with The Phenomenon That Is Trump, even when it pushed against their deepest convictions, and/or 2) seek some redemption for his playing along and being complicit in what has become the ugliness of the REP party today, his coming off so frequently as a self-serving, smug, cynical tool in a machine just renders his intentions in this book a void. I'd give it a "1" on the GoodReads data-gathering rating index, but he does come off in the final couple of chapters as rising above his adolescent streaks and shine some light on what is problematic behaviors and rationalizing of one of his best friends from The Swamp. In the end, though, I highly recommend offering your attention to better reading materials. ...more Related ArticlesDishy memoirs are not, alas, a formal publishing designation. But they really should be. Dishiness may be an inexact term, but we know it when... “Why We Did It is a book about the people who submitted to every whim of a comically unfit and detestable man who crapped all over them and took over the party they had given their life to. It’s about the army of consultants, politicians, and media figures who stood back and stood by as everything they ever fought for was degraded and devalued. The people who privately admitted they recognized all the risks but still climbed aboard for a ride on the SS Trump Hellship that they knew would assuredly sink.” — 0 likes “Caroline has been sucked in by the cult. She is obsessed with Trump and adores him, as incommodious as that may seem. She’s the masochistic follower who feels a compulsion to be tested, abused, and forced to prove they are deserving of the leader’s love over and over and over again. And like many of our parents and grandparents and friends, she’s become unreachable, thanks to consuming petty grievances and an impenetrable media bubble.” — 0 likes More quotes…Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. |
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