The Republican Party must be entirely replaced if conservatism is to have any chance at viability

 I've tried mightily to give a respectful hearing to arguments that the Republican-Democrat duality that has characterized national, state and local elections since 1860. Many people I respect still hold that view. The main argument goes something like this: No one has the combination of resources - finance, connections, influence in media, broadcast, print or social, extraordinary leadership qualities - to build something requisite to the task of serving as a foil to the remaining party.

That argument becomes less compelling in the light of new revelations about what the Republican Party has become.

There are three that have transpired in recent days. 

One involves a lobbyist close to Kevin McCarthy - who, let us remember, while under siege in the House chamber on January 6, was so exasperated in a phone call with Trump about Trump's unwillingness to put a stop to the insurrection, that he screamed, "Do you know who the fuck you're talking to?", but weeks later was making the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring - and, almost certainly, McCarthy himself:

A prominent Washington lobbyist close to Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, is warning Republican political consultants that they must choose between working for Representative Liz Cheney or Mr. McCarthy, an ultimatum that marks the full rupture between the two House Republicans.

Jeff Miller, the lobbyist and a confidant of Mr. McCarthy’s dating to their youthful days in California politics, has conveyed this us-or-her message to Republican strategists in recent weeks, prompting one fund-raising firm to disassociate itself from Ms. Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming.

In response, The Morning Group, a fund-raising firm she hired to help prepare for a primary next year against a challenger endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, informed her last month they could no longer work on her campaign, according to Republicans familiar with the matter.

Then there is the kid-gloves treatment for Steve Bannon - he who said on January 5 on his podcast that "you made this happen and tomorrow it's game day. So strap in. Let's get ready. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. It's all converging and we are on the point off attack tomorrow" -  in the House, where all but nine Republicans voted against holding Bannon in contempt for thumbing his nose at the January 6 select committee's subpoena.

And now it seems that January 6 planners had numerous meetings with Republican Congresspersons and their aides. The expected bunch of fine upstanding legislators, including Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorne, Andy Biggs, and Louie Gohmert have been enumerated. Potential preemptive pardons were discussed.

This is a party that has jettisoned all its principles and scorched the political terrain so that it's uninhabitable for actual conservatives or anyone with a subatomic particle of integrity. 

And to those who counter that the GOP stands a good chance of taking back the House next year, I would ask how that can possibly be construed as a good thing. It just sets up November 2024 to be a nightmare.