Damn. Just damn! What an opening night at the Democratic National Convention, huh?

We started with the unity issue. This morning Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) resigned as Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Complicated story, and if I wrote fiction, here’s how I’d tell it:

The Russians own Donald J. Trump, lock, stock, and barrel. They finance him. (His bankruptcies have left his bridges burned with traditional banks.) They installed one of their own, Paul Manafort, as his minder. (Mr. Manafort worked for Viktor Yanukovych, a former Ukraine president and Vladimir Putin ally.) They hacked the DNC servers to get information helpful to an effort to mess with the convention and the unification of the Democratic Party. And Mr. Trump’s Euro-policy statements make Russia feel very, very comfortable.

The hacking part of my tale sounds highly likely. Hackers leave clues, and styles. The styling here is, apparently, Russian. (Per Mr. Trump: Trump Credits One of ‘Our Friends’ In Russia, China with DNC Hack.)

The DNC was in the tank for Hillary. No surprise there, but the rocket scientists sent emails to one another. [Note: There is zero /nil / no evidence that Secretary Clinton had anything to do with any of this. Not national security stuff, either. Just some yutzy political hacks, doing wrong and documenting their wrongdoing.]

Time will test the extent of any Russian involvement in the 2016 American Presidential election cycle. For now, though, it looks like attempts to sow discord in the Democratic Party ranks failed.

Last evening included some great stuff. No one topped First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. She knocked it out of the park, plain and simple. Here’s the text, along with Yoni Appelbaum’s commentary, Michelle Obama’s Speech for the Ages, for The Atlantic.

Other highlights? Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) has not lost his comedy chops, and used them to take down Trump U. Full-time comedian Sarah “Berner” Silverman tossed off “You’re being ridiculous” to her fellow Berners who still pine away. Paul Simon did a lovely rendition of Bridge over Troubled Waters. And Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) did a very serviceable job in her keynote address.

Closing up for the night, Senator Bernie Sanders gave the speech of his life. He reveled in his accomplishments and transitioned, beautifully, to all-out support for Hillary Clinton.

This election requires voters, so no one can sit by quietly until the polls close on November 8, 2016. That said, the crew stepped up big time on July 25, laying the table for a successful convention and a winning campaign.