RUSH: Hey, get a load of this: All seven of the Democrat presidential candidates who qualified for the next debate on Thursday have written to the DNC asking for special treatment. Not for themselves, but for two candidates who didn’t qualify.

The letter demands that the DNC change its rules on who’s eligible for the debates in order to allow Cory Booker and Julian Castro to participate, even though they failed to meet the standards.

Now, here’s the dilemma: Democrats spent months bragging about how “diverse” their field was, but even before the first primary, Democrat voters already eliminated all of the minorities — with the exception of Andrew Yang.

So now, it’s time to beg. Even though they are unqualified by the very rules the DNC put in place, Cory Booker and Julian Castro want in. They want their quota. They want affirmative action. They want a special preference.

But the DNC leadership is pushing back. They’re insisting that the standards are the standards. It’s about merit. It’s not feel-good diversity objectives. The DNC doesn’t care if the debate stage has just a bunch of white guys and gals with a lot of money, plus Andrew Yang. They say, “Screw affirmative action, screw special preferences and screw quotas — and by the way, Cory and Julian? Screw you, too!”

That’s what they’re saying now, and the irony is delicious. Love it!