In the long-run, America can have one (and likely only one) of two things:

* An intellectual and institutional establishment that remains inhospitable to conservatives

* A Republican Party that trusts experts, dismisses conspiracy theories, and resists populism

Choose wisely.

My position:

Anyone who wants America to be a decent, functional country needs a theory for how to get the Republican Party to be sane again AND conservatives to feel welcome in the mainstream.

(And no, simply waiting for conservatives to die out is not a realistic plan.)

My points do not rest on the premise that the extent to which establishment institutions are inhospitable to conservatives has CAUSED the radicalization of the Republican Party, by the way.

(Though it is, I think, plausible to believe this played some, likely minor, role.)

A piece of advice for those of you who cannot imagine "a sane conservative idea."