It started with lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff fearfully speculating that, if the Senate didn't convict President Trump on the two articles of impeachment, he might up and give Alaska to the Russians.  Yes, Adam, that's precisely what a proud "America First" nationalist would do, isn't it?  I bet he might give back the Louisiana Purchase as well.  (Weren't you clowns just mocking him for musing about buying Greenland?)

And then came the Iowa caucus debacle.  Though the evening grew long, the results did not.  In fact, there were none.  Vote totals weren't released to the public due to unexplained "inconsistencies."  Precinct chairs were unable to connect with party leaders; the state party hung up on a phone call with at least one candidate's campaign.  Sean Bagniewski, Democratic Party chairman of Polk County, Iowa's most populous, said of the state party in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, "I don't even know if they know what they don't know."

Much of the blame was placed on a new mobile reporting app that was developed by Hillary Clinton operatives and apparently financed in part by Pete Buttigieg, who, oddly enough, now appears to have won.  Many placed the blame at the feet of Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, who they claim didn't provide much oversight of the Iowa caucuses.

Derek Eadon, a former Iowa Democratic chairman, characterized the events as "a systemwide disaster."  Adding fuel to the fire, reports indicate that Iowa Democrats refused an offer from the Department of Homeland Security to vet the new app prior to the election.  Acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said on Fox & Friends that no one hacked into the app; it was "more of a stress or a load issue, as well as a reporting issue."  He added, "Given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event, and it really goes to the public confidence of our elections."

Yet all of this couldn't explain why the state party still hadn't released any results, even from the precincts that had successfully filed their results, as of late Monday night, February 3, the day of the election.  The party cryptically noted that it was performing "quality control" efforts.

None of the chaos and uncertainty prevented candidates from claiming early victory, however.  Sen. Bernie Sanders's campaign released what it claimed were very positive partial results.  Sen. Amy Klobuchar was fairly giddy with what her campaign deemed early returns to be.  And Mayor Pete Buttigieg essentially did claim victory, almost as if he had inside knowledge of the proceedings. 

Moreover, despite their man's relatively strong showing, Bernie's Base is irate.  They believe that their hero is already being shafted again, after being the victim of devious machinations by the Hillary-besotted DNC in 2016.  They see Perez' efforts, or lack thereof, to ensure a fair contest — along with the Hillary Clinton–supporter–developed and Pete Buttigieg–financed app — as ample evidence of establishment Democrats' continuing malfeasance.

As if this were not enough, it was then announced that the two top officials of Milwaukee's Host Committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention this July have been placed on administrative leave due to allegations that they have created a toxic work culture.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained a letter from the committee's board to staff members, stating that it had retained an attorney to investigate concerns about the work environment.  The letter says Host Committee president Liz Gilbert and chief of staff Adam Alonso have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe.

Since the committee is responsible for raising the $70 million needed to stage the event and for recruiting the nearly 15,000 volunteers needed to staff it, this is an unwelcome development, indeed.  (The chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee, Joe Solmonese, subsequently issued a statement acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations.)  Somewhat humorously at this point, the board's letter averred: "We are committed to an inclusive, non-discriminatory, and supportive environment at the host committee and we will work to ensure that all employees live up to these ideals."  (Ask Bernie Sanders how committed the Democratic National Committee is to inclusive, non-discriminatory, supportive environments.) 

Then, on Tuesday, a new Gallup poll was released showing that President Trump's approval rating is now the highest to date.  Perhaps even worse than all of this, on Tuesday night, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tore up a copy of President Trump's State of the Union speech immediately upon its conclusion, in the process tearing up congressional tradition and etiquette and callously disrespecting the various heroes to whom the president had paid tribute just minutes earlier.  This did not play well with independents, and even some Democrats.

The next day, President Trump was acquitted by the Senate, effectively rendering moot the Democrats three-year assault on the nearly 63 million Americans who voted for him.

And then, on Thursday, with 100% of the precincts reporting, there was still no announced winner of the aforementioned Iowa caucuses, due to "irregularities" and "inconsistencies." This prompted Tom Perez, the downtrodden Democratic National Committee Chairman, to demand that the Iowa Democratic Party immediately begin a "recanvass" in order to "assure public confidence in the results."  An openly frustrated Perez tweeted, "Enough is enough."

Many of us have been saying that about the Democratic Party for some time now.