No sooner had we absorbed the idea that the Democrats conspired to help Todd Akin win his primary so that he could lose or become an embarrassment, than suspicions arose that the story might be even stranger. The new theory is that Republicans tricked the Democrats into this so that he could win and goad the Democrats into losing their minds.

And lose them they did. Word is that they are turning their convention into an abortion-rights theme park, starring a parade of extremists in support of a stance — abortion up to birth and beyond it — that appeals to the smallest slice of a the populace, on an issue whose salience in this election is low.