Previously I posted Here’s what GOP extremism looks like… and these are just headlines from the past 24 hours and The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad GOP dissension-slash-implosion. Republicans are struggling, to say the least, and their radical policy positions aren’t helping.

The far right wants a government shut down and to them, compromise is a dirty word, gun safety is unconstitutional, and don’t get me started on immigration reform.

The Republican party is a mess, and rational Republicans are more than aware of that embarrassing fact. Intransigent tea baggers (they coined that name themselves) have done the party no favors and a GOP civil war is a-brewin’.

In fact, in some circles, the “R” word is verboten. Via Yahoo:

The Republican Main Street Partnership, a Washington-based group that has promoted moderate GOP lawmakers and policies, will remove the word “Republican” from its title and welcome center-right Democrats in 2013, Yahoo News has learned.

The organization’s board of directors voted Tuesday morning to scrap party identification from its title and be known simply as “The Main Street Partnership.” The group’s new president, former Ohio Republican Rep. Steven LaTourette, told Yahoo News that he plans to begin conversations with Blue Dog Democrats and centrist groups in the coming months.

Before we get too cocky, it’s important to note that Tourette and his group are still “right of center” Republicans. As for Blue Dogs and ConservaDems, their numbers are diminishing. We need Progressives and Dems in Congress who vote like Democrats, not Republican Lite.