FEEL THE BERN: Panicked Democrats Fear Bernie Could Cost Them the House.

DANIEL HENNINGER: The Incompetence Party. “The Democrats’ biggest problem isn’t Bernie Sanders. It’s that many voters doubt the party’s ability to govern anymore.”

The Iowa caucus debacle came on top of the Trump impeachment, another low-turnout event with the public. People began telling reporters that the three-year death struggle between Democrats and President Trump wasn’t their idea of Washington’s purpose.

So what, other than hunting Donald Trump, does the Democratic Party stand for?

A recurring argument of this column is that in the U.S. and Europe, the presumed efficiency of governments has been worn down by the programs and responsibilities they’ve created for themselves, some with good intentions. By now, it’s just too much.

During the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt struck a defining bargain with the public: Cede to the government expanded powers over the details of American life, and government will administer it efficiently. For the public, giving government the power to regulate and rule was supposed to be a net plus.

The bargain behind Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All, funded by new taxes on the middle class, is that it too will be a net plus. Come Election Day in November, will 50% of the electorate actually believe Democrats today could competently administer a national health-care system in the U.S.?

Mr. Sanders, who filed as a Democrat for this election, isn’t that much of an outlier. All his rivals, including the “moderates,” are proposing more additions to the already massive government labyrinth they’ve built for decades.

But in those places where the modern Democratic Party is in charge, they often govern badly or incompetently on a grand scale.

Detroit, from coast to coast.

IMPOSSIBLE, HE WAS A LIBERAL HERO OF THE BENCH. Former Law Clerk Alleges Repeated Sexual Harassment by Late Judge Stephen Reinhardt. Though he mostly seems to have told her that she was an annoying unattractive feminist.

A FRIEND IN HONG KONG SENDS THIS STORY AND ADDS, “YES, PEOPLE ARE PANICKING.” Some 1.49 million join a single queue for face masks.

SCHADENFREUDE: Never Trump Runs Headlong Into the Reality That Democrats Don’t Care What They Think and It’s Hilarious.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Markets Hover Near Records Despite Growing Coronavirus Outbreak; Money managers say they have faith that epidemic will be contained.

Vietnam turns away cruise ship over coronavirus fears.

IMF chief: Next two weeks will be critical for China in coronavirus outbreak.

Face Mask Shortages Amid Coronavirus Outbreak Mean Dentists in U.K. May Need to Stop Working.

Suspected coronavirus patients in Jersey all test negative.

China’s small businesses are struggling as coronavirus strains finances.

Darpa Cranks Up Antibody Research to Stall Coronavirus.

THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY OF CRIME PREVENTION; YOU’RE REALLY DOING IT WRONG: SF auto burglary epidemic: SF auto burglary epidemic: DA Chesa Boudin wants taxpayers to reimburse victims for shattered windows.

Earlier: San Francisco’s New Socialist, Soft On Crime D.A. Is The Last Thing The City Needs.

REALCLEARINVESTIGATIONS: Buried in IG Report: How an FBI Team in Rome Gave Steele Highly Guarded Secrets.

COOL: This App Automatically Cancels and Sues Robocallers. “Robo Revenge combines both features to automatically add you to the Do Not Call Registry, generate a virtual DoNotPay burner credit card to provide scammers when they illegally call you anyways, use the transaction information to get the scammer’s contact information, then walk you through how to sue them for as much as $3,000 per call under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a law already on the books meant to protect consumers from calls that violate the Do Not Call Registry. The app also streamlines the litigation paperwork by automatically generating demand letters and court filing documents.”

“WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.” James Carville to Bernie Sanders: “At least I’m not a communist.”

CHUTZPAH: Senator Manchin Voted to Convict Trump But Wants His Support for His Re-Election in 2024.

TO BE HONEST, I’M STARTING TO NOTICE THIS SORT OF JOURNALISM: Vote For Bloomberg! This Article Was Definitely Not Paid For By Mike Bloomberg (He’s The Best).

OKAY, THAT’S IT. WE NEED FTL:  ‘Baby giant planet’ discovered just 330 light-years from Earth.

NO, BUT I’M WILLING TO LEARN. The Jerks Of Academe: Are You One?

REMEMBER WEBB HUBBELL? Capital Research Center’s Ken Braun reminds us that when it comes to presidents taking care of their own, Donald Trump is a piker compared to Bill Clinton. This is a particularly timely read, given the grim prospects facing Roger Stone.

THIS MAY BE UNCLE SAM’S MOST WORRISOME PROBLEM: When government gets so big that it can’t manage its own records, everybody in America is harmed. Check out this from The Epoch Times’ Ivan Pentchoukov:

“The man who shot and killed 26 people at a church in Texas in 2017 used guns he wouldn’t have been able to purchase if the Air Force had properly managed its records.

“On six occasions, military officials failed to send Devin Kelley’s records to the FBI while the Air Force investigated, court-martialed, and imprisoned him for abusing his wife and stepson. Had the FBI received the records, the killer would have been barred from buying the weapons used in the massacre.

ONLY IN LA-LA LAND: Would a former senior management official of a key Chinese Communist Party (CCP) financial asset be hired to manage CalPERS, the biggest public employee pension program in the U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tells Gov. Gavin Newsom he ought to fire Yu Ben Meng.

NEW STUDIES FIND RISE OF THE ‘NONES’ HAS STOPPED: Their ranks increased to 30 percent of the U.S. population in recent years, thanks primarily to the Millennials, but two new data-driven analyses find the expansion has stopped and, at least among Gen Zers, may even be receding.

Could this be a sign that the woke secularization of American culture has reached its high-water mark?

PROMOTED FROM LAST NIGHT.

THERE’S A TON OF ASSUMPTIONS IN HERE. I’D PREFER IF WE WENT AND SAW:   “Toffee Planets” Hint at Earth’s Cosmic Rarity.

FICTION HAS TO BE PLAUSIBLE. REALITY DOESN’T BOTHER:  “The Devil’s Mercedes-Benz” found, and other details on Operation Anthropoid.

NOTE THAT THE SURVEY ASKS NOTHING ABOUT WHAT THEY’RE WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR PREVENTING CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE MOST POSSIBLE REGULATION — BAN OF SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS — DEMONSTRABLY DAMAGES THE CLIMATE MORE THAN CONTINUING TO ALLOW THEIR USE:  Voters claim they want a leader who’ll actually do something about climate change.

SOMETIMES THERE’S A LOT LESS GOING ON THAN WE’VE BEEN TOLD:  Global Warming In a Few Charts.