What is it going to take?
For years, that question has weighed upon the rest of us â and even some of its own members â as we watched the Republican Party slide ever deeper into a morass of political extremism, screwball conspiracies, alternate facts and ambient rage incompatible with responsible governance.
Every time Republicans obfuscated, equivocated and rationalized, every time they broke rules they once swore to uphold, every time they folded, spindled and mutilated values they once claimed as sacred, the question presented itself anew.
Whatâs it going to take to shock this party back to itself?
Mind you, weâve learned a great deal about what will not do it. Public censure wonât. Logic wonât. Appeals to decency wonât. Nor will appeals to patriotism, duty and tradition. Nor will reminders that history is watching.