The whirling noise you may have heard recently is all the moderate Michigan Republicans who are spinning in their collective graves over the direction their beloved party has taken since they departed.

Donald Trump is the leader — and unelected, at that.

Yeah, defenders of the current incarnation of this party point out there are duly elected co-chairs. They are Ron Weiser and Meshawn Maddox. He got his votes from what’s left of the establishment wing of the party and she rode to an easy victory with a big boost from the former president, who, in reality, is the unelected head of the state party.

Two of those aforementioned grave-spinners are Bill McLaughlin and Jerry Roe.

Back in the 70s, when moderates actually had a pretty strong foothold on things with Gov. Bill Milliken in the saddle, the handsome, gray curly-haired McLaughlin was chair, and his nuts-and bolts, rather frumpy sidekick, Roe, did all the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting.

Jason Roe remembers it well.

The son of Jerry Roe was a little tike in those days and was probably relegated to licking envelopes, but, these days, as a grown-up, certified political consultant, he opined the other day on the future of the party.

“Well, there are definitely things to be concerned about. I’ve never seen the party more fractured than it is now,” he begins his analysis of what’s going on and what will happen next.

Now, all you Democrats out there gloating about this internal civil war that threatens to cost Republicans the governor’s race, secretary of state race, and the state attorney general’s office — and maybe even legislative control — get beyond your partisanship and note that two healthy and diversified political parties are good for the state and political discourse, and we don’t have that now.

Roe goes on.

During the four years of the Trump presidency, “the Republican hierarchy here was demolished … there is no party leader, or a governor-like person who can kinda lead the party from this wasteland where Donald Trump could ride unfettered.”

Now, all you President Trump supporters, take a bow for taking over a party you never much liked in the first place when all those moderates were calling the shots, but your critics would advise you that winning a battle is one thing, but not working with others who hold a different viewpoint could cost you the war.

More and more in this town you are hearing the scuttlebutt that, if the GOP takes a bath this November, it creates the opportunity to configure a new party.

“If we lose, and if we lose by wide margins as a party, we’re going to have to do a little self-examination about what direction we’re going to go,” Roe said. “If we’re out of power, everyone is going to sober up a little bit and take a look at how we move forward if we’re going to be relevant …”

Which takes us to that obvious question: Who the heck is the person who can paste Humpty Dumpty back together again?

Roe says that search could be complicated if Mr. Trump runs for president in 2024, which means he will continue to do everything within his power to keep his stranglehold on the state party, allowing no room for reinvention to take place where authority is shared with others.

Any volunteers?

The line forms to the right. The far right or the sensible center? That’s the sticky question, and some would say there is only one answer to stop all that spinning racket.