Today's mission is a long shot, but one worth tackling.
It's rock-headed, of course, to believe there can be peace between the Hatfields and McCoys, or a single square foot of common ground between D.C. liberals and the Trumpites.
And such is the rancor churning inside Illini Nation, where we hear Honest Abe's words reverberating from Springfield nearly 160 years later: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Well, this athletic operation, at least within the revenue sports, is seen as more listing than standing.
This was apparent again Saturday as the Illini dropped their sixth straight football game, this time to Wisconsin, 24-10.