Almost condone American suppressing Republican discussion (8)
I believe the answer is:
excursus
'discussion' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Detailed discussion' mean 'excursus' so perhaps 'discussion' could also mean 'excursus')
'almost condone american suppressing republican' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'condone' becomes 'excuse' (synonyms).
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'suppressing' is an insertion indicator.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'excuse' with its final letter taken away is 'excus'.
'excus'+'us'='excusus'
'excusus' placed around 'r' is 'EXCURSUS'.
(Other definitions for excursus that I've seen before include "Narrative digression" , "Detailed discussion" .)