Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

Do Republicans Really Have a Death Wish?

Conservatives open their summer offensive against legislation to legalize undocumented immigrants.  
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The immigration crucible begins this week in the Senate, where conservatives opposed to legalizing undocumented immigrants will begin a summer siege.

The legislation will both expose and challenge the core pathology of the Republican Party -- that recurring tic by which the least constructive faction on any particular issue calls the ideological tune. (A budget compromise to put the nation's fiscal policy on track? Nah. Let's hold the global economy hostage over the debt ceiling instead. Negotiate improvements to Obamacare? No way: Better to cast toy repeal votes by the dozens.)