The Republican establishment wagons are circling at long last around Donald J. Trump, folks.

And as my collegue VegasJessie has said, "One of the shortcomings Trump has revealed, from time to time, is an accidental outburst of reasonable thoughts." Unfortunately for the Republican establishment, they can't count on those outbursts of reason to be consistent.

So yesterday morning on MSNBC, former RNC chair Michael Steele became the latest to suck up to the Republican frontrunner, predicting a "reset" on Trump's message toward something "more progressive." No, really.

KORNACKI: ...You'll see a different Trump if he gets the nomination, do you buy that?

STEELE: Yeah, I do. In fact it's something that I and a few others have been saying for a number of months now... Donald Trump himself, Steve, has said that, you know, when he gets to that point when you don't have to contend with 17 people beating him up and you know the violence of the primary process, that you would see a different Donald Trump.

As we turn towards a general election...Donald Trump has to have a different branding for a general election. It's a reset!"

He hails the addition of Paul Manafort to Trump's staff, who, Steele claims, will guide him through a much needed reset to his campaign. Steele expresses no reservations that this new and improved Donald will be able to unite the party. But really. They have no choice. Trump is going to be their nominee or there's going to be a yuuuge civil war in the Republican Party.

So apologists like Steele have to circle the wagons and clap "let's make pancakes" after the "Mexicans are rapists," "Like to punch them," blatant White supremacist rallies of the primary season. Pretending that stuff never happened and "resetting" for the general election is all they've got.

It's a typical Republican pattern, though, because of what no one in the mainstream media will say. Republican primary voters are vicious Limbaugh-licking Fox-Newsican anti-government anti-woman anti-gay White supremacist Confederates. And any Republican primary candidate must win with that crowd before they can have the nomination. Of course, being the candidate that appeals to that mindset means guaranteed failure in a general election where, you know, women who like their birth control and non-whites and non-straights who affirm they are rightful citizens of the United States actually cast ballots. But we all can borrow a Southern phrase to show appropriate pity on Michael Steele's predicament: bless his heart.