Where oh where is the Republican mainstream?

Libertarian blogger, Ken Layne:

What is fueling the party faithful? How do self-proclaimed conservatives maintain their righteous frothing at the mouth when it is abundantly clear that their party hasn't the slightest resemblance to Conservatism? How do you avoid Exploding Brain Syndrome when the hated opposition looks like Barry Goldwater compared to your insane tax-cut-and-spend Big Government rampage?

(Yeah, I'm aware that Republicans have done little but wildly expand the size, scope and cost of the federal government since Eisenhower warned us of the Military Industrial Complex he helped build. But at least in Congress, the Republicans of the 1970s, '80s and early '90s served as a useful speed bump for the Democratic majority's spending sprees ... until the short-lived "Gingrich Revolution" was replaced by Tom DeLay's decade-long Pork Festival.)