Former President Barack Obama was on to something last week when he warned of a “circular firing squad” within the Democratic Party. But, like most people, he doesn’t really understand what’s going on, or his own role in creating it.

The defining characteristic of the modern Democratic Party is its fealty not to any specific progressive policy, but to the social justice movement and its demand that privilege kneel before the altar of grievance. That is the feature that will undo the party’s national appeal, and it’s why two of the Democrats’ leading 2020 candidates felt it was necessary to apologize for being white.