The leadership of the MRP- and the Administration that supports it, got slapped upside the head at the latest convention like a mouthy teenager that finally crossed the line with their fed-up parents.

The principled and Conservative grass roots of the Party threatened to take away the car keys if the powers that be didn't shape up and start flying Right.

So what does the Administration do? They wait 3 days to show us who's the Boss, yank their indebted Speaker's chain,and then tell the team to vote Snyder's Exchange baby out of committee. And despite hundreds of hand delivered warnings the very next day- while staring us dead in the eye with contempt, they ran right out there into heavy traffic and played Kumbayah with the Democrats and passed the bill with righteous indignation.

Well, now ya done it!

Having been a dumb and uppity teenager, as well as the parents of one- we've seen this movie before. And not surprisingly, all hell broke lose immediately following this latest transgression in the House.

In the annals of parent/child relations, this wasn't your run of the mill talkin out of turn dust-up. This was more akin to a "stealing the neighbors car and gettin drunk in it" crisis. And as such, an appropriate response from the entire family ensued.

The principled Conservative grass roots came unglued. Their moderate cousins lashed out with uncommon ridicule and disdain. And even their old guard grandparents- loyal and true for decades of thick or thin unconditional love, weighed in with threats, wrath and venom. It was a withering assault visited upon the House, the Senate, the Administration and even the Chairman's office.

At last, the Michigan Republican Party was united.

Except of course, for a few leaders acting like a kid with the earbuds on and the volume cranked up.

The message has been sent. The message is clear. And the message has been received.

And yet, emanating from the Senate is the sound of crickets on a hot summer night. The sound is deafening, and the lack of respect is profound. Who does this errant child think they are?

Do they really think that we won't change the locks on the front door and get on with our lives?

For the sake of the family's well-being, sometimes tough love becomes a viable option of last resort. Sometimes the only recourse is to cut the ties that bonds them and let the kid go it alone.

In reality, quickly and deliberately killing the exchange cancer that keeps reappearing is a no-brainer. Right next to it on the front burners are the gas tax bomb and the Medicaid-expansion weapon of mass destruction. This is a recipe for disaster.

And yet the bubble boys in Lansing keep thumbing their noses at us, playing with matches and apparently unaware of the fuse sitting there in plain sight. The ensuing blast will kill this dying relationship between the Conservative grass roots and the Party that needs them to survive.

Indeed, we have a problem.

For some, placing limits on the growth of govt and crafting tax-free solutions to our state's longstanding decision to ignore our crumbling roads and bridges is a bitter pill to swallow. And their inability to understand our resolute opposition to blindly off-loading financial responsibility for today's Medicaid costs onto our heirs via the federal govt is deeply troubling.

We've been yelling loud and clear that we've had enough already.

The price of admission to the GOP Fan Club is way too high, the benefits are too strikingly similar to the Democrat package, and it's becoming increasingly clear that it's time to start shopping for a better place to park our investments of time, expertise and money.

The time to wake up and smell the roses has long passed. Insolence and intransigence is no longer an option. Limited govt, responsible governance, reasonable taxes and unfettered freedom are not just lofty catch words.

They have always been, and will always be- principles to live and die for. And consequently, those who live by them will not support a Party that doesn't.

Failure to acknowledge this is an option. Failure to abide it is not.