Did the "Republican Establishment" Unwittingly Commit Suicide?

I often lament the death of the Republican Party in which I was in many ways raised. For most of my life, my entire extended family voted Republican and in doing so believed that they supported a party that placed value of intelligence, reason, and some modicum of civility. Those days are gone for certain and in large part as I have noted before because of the short sightedness of a party leadership that placed short term gain over a long term plan. Truth be told, the Christian Right and later the Tea Party should never have been allowed to hijack the GOP. Yet many of the so-called "establishment" closed their eyes and held their noses and allowed the inmates to escape and take over the asylum. One need look no farther than John McCain and his delusional decision to tap the utterly unqualified Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008. Now, lunatics like Palin sadly are the true face of the GOP. Andrew Sullivan has a good analysis in a post today. Here are some highlights:

Let us now play the tiniest violin for what is called the "Republican Establishment". I'm not sure what this phrase means or represents any more . . . But the concept of a responsible, sane, pragmatic party leadership able to corral or coax or manage a party's base is, it seems to me, a preposterous fiction on its face, as we are seeing.

The Republican Establishment is Rush Limbaugh, Roger Ailes, Karl Rove, and their mainfold products, from Hannity to Levin. They rule on the talk radio airwaves and on the GOP's own "news" channel, Fox.

In this universe, there is only black and white. There is only them and us. Anyone who diverges an iota from this schematic is speaking without a microphone in front of a revving airplane engine.

Listen to Gingrich's victory speech. . . . . there is the imputation to the other side of malign motives, secret agendas and foreignness that has been Gingrich's hallmark since the very beginning, when he assaulted the traditions of the Congress until that institution eventually had to repel him.

Listen to Limbaugh, the GOP's chief spokesman. How does a Romney channel that level of viciousness and rage? Listen to Hannity. How does a smooth manager reach a base that wants the same Manichean approach to foreign policy, in which there is only one ally (Israel) and enemies everywhere else (Europe, China, the Arab world, Russia)?

This is the current GOP. It purges dissidents, it vaunts total loyalty, it polices discourse for any deviation. If you really have a cogent argument, you find yourself fired - like Bruce Bartlett or David Frum - or subject to blacklists, like me and Fox.

This now is the party of Palin and Gingrich, animated primarily by hatred of elites, angry at the new shape and color of America, befuddled by a suddenly more complicated world, and dedicated primarily to emotion rather than reason.

This is Gingrich's party; and Ailes'; and Rove's. They made it; and it is only fitting it now be put on the table, for full inspection. Better sooner than later.

Only through suffering crushing defeats can the Republican Party perhaps save itself - after the lunacy and open embracing of hated, bigotry and ignorance of the Christianists and Tea Party is driven away or leaves on its own after defeat. Until that happens, I can never consider being a Republican again.