Burning the GOP house down to save it?

A Tea Party-backed candidate you've never heard of has driven Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) from office. Lugar is a member of the moderate conservative species being blasted to extinction like the buffalo on the Great Plains of American politics. A while ago, former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) said, "If Dick Lugar, having served five terms in the U.S. Senate and being the most respected person in the Senate and the leading authority on foreign policy, is seriously challenged by anybody in the Republican Party, we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption." Yesterday, Lugar lost his reelection bid in Indiana's GOP primary by 20 points. Conclusion: The GOP is beyond redemption. But I hold the minority view that before the GOP can reverse its march on the Road to Perdition, it first has to burn its own house down. Lugar's demise is the latest bucket of gasoline being thrown on that fire.