And now the news…OY, the Democratic Party. Here is how Jonathan Chait opened his recent account of the Democratic National Committee meeting in The Atlantic:

Speaking to the Democratic National Committee, which met to select its new leadership this weekend, the outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, attempted to explain a point about its rules concerning gender balance for its vice-chair race. “The rules specify that when we have a gender-nonbinary candidate or officer, the nonbinary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced,” Harrison announced.

As the explanation became increasingly intricate, Harrison’s elucidation grew more labored. “To ensure our process accounts for male, female, and nonbinary candidates, we conferred with our [Rules and Bylaws Committee] co-chair, our LGBT Caucus co-chair, and others to ensure that the process is inclusive and meets the gender-balance requirements in our rules,” he added. “To do this, our process will be slightly different than the one outlined to you earlier this week, but I hope you will see that in practice, it is simple and transparent.”

Molly Ball of the Wall Street Journal elaborated:

Later in the program, an audience member stood up to lament that there was only one at-large seat set aside for a transgender person, and called on the candidates to add another seat and for “making sure those appointments reflect the gender and ethnic diversity of the transgender community.” Only one candidate raised his hand to indicate he wouldn’t make such a commitment.

Yes, friends, still crazy after all these years…and the encroaching dementia is not benign. Can this party be saved? I have my doubts. The intellectual corrosion is comprehensive; it is only matched by the self-righteous arrogance. But what’s the alternative? I’ve been through Dems in Disarray syndrome multiple times in the past: in 1972, in 1980, in 1988, in 2016…but, gotta say, this is the worst I’ve ever seen it. There is a vast cluelessness abroad in the party. Its prevailing vision of an America based on identity now resides in the outhouse. Even my former employer, The New Yorker, repository of stately, elegant liberal myopia has noticed that something is amiss: