September 8, 1974. Party of individual responsibility takes on the individual responsibility of avoiding any individual responsibility.

On this date in 1974, the Republican party established itself as the party of individual responsibility when President Gerald Ford took the individual responsibility of pardoning Richard Nixon, and thereby absolving him of any responsibility, individual or otherwise, for the Watergate scandal.

 

The American people were so impressed by Ford’s display of individual responsibility, that they rewarded him in 1976 by absolving him of his individual responsibility to serve as the President of the United States.

 

This left Ford free to tend to his other individual responsibilities – golf, flipping the opening coin at Michigan football games, and driving his shit faced wife home from parties.