Once the nation’s second most populous city, Chicago’s now fallen to third as thousands flee it and a Cook County riven with crime and violence, high taxes, and a hopeless financial outlook crippled by the award of exorbitant public pensions. Companies like Boeing have relocated elsewhere.

The Obamas have taken their many millions out of their adopted town for far-away waterfront estates. And even the Chicago Bears, the bruising Monsters of the Midway, have purchased a vast tract of land for a new stadium in suburbia.

And yet, the Democratic National Committee has just passed over Atlanta to select Chicago once again as the site of its 2024 national convention.

[This is a rare non-VIP column for my pal and partner at RedState, and a heartfelt one as well. He used to love Chicago, but now it’s lost. Democrats will perhaps regret showcasing the city’s fall next year in their electoral pitch. — Ed]