Wall Street Journal thinks readers are too stupid to understand meaning of "GOP"

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Oh great, we have degenerative ignorance now. The GOP acronym is all the prevents the confusion of the modern day GOP with Jefferon's "Republicans". Since academia has abandoned use of the term "Democratic-Republican" for the more histortically accurate designation of "Republican", this couldn't be worse for ensuring accurate knowledge of US political history.

Accurate knowledge of political history? Maybe but personally I find it inaccurate that we call these Republicans the Grand Old Party, instead of the grander and older Jeffersonians.

How is it inaccurate?  Even if the Democratic Party is older (and 1826 vs. 1854 isn't really all that long a margin), the Republican Party is still definitely "old" by any stretch of the imagination at the ripe old age of 157.

There aren't many political parties older than 157, true.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think the Democrats and the British Tories are the only parties in the world right now that are older; they're definitely the only major ones that come to mind.

Strictly speaking even the Tories aren't as old.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Conservative Party proper was not founded until 1834.

And the modern party was only established in 1912.