The Nebraska Democratic Party could use a facelift. Its leadership is filled with bad, nasty people, and its chairwoman is similarly disappointing.

One now-former party official, for example, was caught on tape recently celebrating the June 14 politically motivated assassination attempt on Republican members of Congress.

"His whole job is to get people, convince Republicans to fucking kick people off effing healthcare," former technology chairman Phil Montag said in reference to Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who was updated only recently to fair from critical condition.

"I hate this motherfucker. I'm glad he got shot," Montag said of the Louisianan congressman. "I wish he was fucking dead."

Audio of Montag's rant was authenticated this week by Nebraska's Fox42KPTM, which also reported he was let go as soon as his comments leaked to the public.

Though the party should have jettisoned Montag the moment he cheered the Scalise shooting, rather than acting only after the comments were made public, kicking him out now is a good first step toward addressing their problems in the Cornhusker State.

And Lord knows they have problems.

Another state party official, Chelsey Gentry-Tipton, who chairs the Nebraska Democratic Party Black Caucus, is fighting calls for her resignation after she was caught publishing a Facebook post mocking the shooting victims.

"Watching the congressman crying on live tv abt the trauma they experienced. Y is this so funny tho?" she wrote in a since-deleted post.

She said in another post: "Hard to be empathetic towards those that have no empathy for us. The very people that push pro NRA legislation in efforts to pad their pockets with complete disregard for human life. Yeah, having a hard time feeling bad for them."

Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, who confirmed Montag's termination this week, is taking a hands-off approach to the Gentry-Tipton situation.

The issue is being handled as "internal party business … Republicans and Democrats should be able to go to a baseball practice and not be shot at," Kleeb said, adding that, in the absence of a resignation from Gentry-Tipton, it's on the Black Caucus to decide whether to remove her.

It's "troubling that anyone would make that kind of comment," Kleeb said, adding it "shows the ugly political divide."

Not quite. It shows your organization has done an extraordinarily poor job of vetting quality officials.

Also, if you thought Kleeb's response to the Gentry-Tipton was lousy, check out her response to the Montag flap: "Our country is better than the political rhetoric that is out there from both the far right and the far left."

The nerve.

After a politically-motivated assassination attempt carried out by an alleged left-wing fanatic, and after her own people have been caught celebrating and snickering over the near-massacre, Kleeb has the gall to pull the "both sides" card?

We're not sure what's going on in Nebraska, but it sounds like the state's Democratic Party is in desperate need of a leadership overhaul.

And it needs it yesterday.