It's a joke really. I think America has been pretty relieved by the relative rigidity off its legislative process, meaning that much of the reactionary nonsense Trump has wanted to pass through hasn't been enacted.

But on the flip side, Congress and the Senate are so wedded to big business that they can find the numbers to pass a trillion dollar tax cut, even when the bill has been read by no one and has been edited heavily with anonymous handwriting!

It's the sort of superstitious, blindly faithful law-making you'd expect to see from the Vatican, or some puppet government in a military dictatorship. To see it in a federal republic which is constantly sucking its own d*ck about its democratic values is a tragedy.

This is Trump's first, and quite probably only, major legislative victory. If he does get impeached, then his record, despite all the hoo-ha over his racism, idiocy, threats, tweets, will simply show that he has bowed to the will of Republican party's ego, before said party stabbed him in the back to prevent him doing anything his way.

The man of action, the living embodiment of some libertarian wet dream do-it-your-way political outsider, will have bit the c*ck that fed him before it shot out its inevitable load and left him to drown, and the world will watch as the most shadenfreude denouement in political history closes on an image of some orange-tinted c*ntbag's lungs collapsing under the weight of 12 months' worth of elephant spunk and a 10 year battle in the Supreme Court.

On the basis that Flynn's plea deal seems to be about as soft as it could've gone, the expectation is that he's got the goods on someone up the chain - it's only in such circumstances that prosecutors give such favorable deals.

Who's up the chain from Flynn? Only Pence* and Trump.

*Don't overlook snowy Mike Pence here. He was the head of the Trump transition team when it was told that Flynn was compromised by Russians, and there is a disturbing timeline of him denying Russian contacts - in his very earnest and condescending manner - right after it can be shown that he was told about Russian contacts. [Link]

Pence is man of much more meagre means than Trump, who is paying his own substantial legal defense costs while those of Trumps Sr. and Jr. are being picked up by the Republican Party. Flynn was also paying his own defense costs, and the simple fact that their supposed-billionaire boss - and his son, for some reason - are getting a free ride while they're cashing in retirement savings and their kids' college funds may push more Trump underlings into Mueller's open arms.

Does anyone imagine that Pence will take the fall for Trump? Nope...didn't think so. This isn't the mafia; Trump turns on people in a nanosecond and everyone in this mess knows it. I suspect Mueller's phone has been blowing up today with people looking to get a deal before there are no more deals to be had.

Edited by Ray in Houston (01 Dec 2017 9.20pm)

A victory for big business, and the amendments added to this 'tax plan' ludicrously include:

- An abortion law reclassifying life at conception

- A clause to drill oil in Alaska’s arctic wildlife preserve

- Pulled the mandate for the ACA -13 million to lose insurance

Only in America.

Not to worry, I'm sure Trump will fire off a few tweets about mexican judges or american football players and the narrative will move on. He'll get those all important virtual high fives by the very same people who'll keel over as result of the policies he helps usher in. If you get people emotionally on side, that's all you need.

Nixon was recorded on the phone practically authourising Watergate.....so not really.

What Trump has or hasn't done would be no worse than Clinton herself on any foreign matter and has no real affect on anything.....Connections between possible incoming administrations and important governments goes on whatever the rules are...bag of old s***e....Of course Russia try to meddle in our politics just like we support democracy movements there...it's the reds under the beds but this time from Democrats who will use any old ruse that suits them.

All they care about is getting rid of Trump and they are prepared to misdirect his time on governance obsessing on this years old hyperbolic crap.

No better than the tea party before them.....but they so think they are.

I realise that even having the slightest interest in balance over Trump makes a person a 'Trump apologist' to you. It's less pro Trump (excepting a few areas) than anti progressive.

Flynn obviously had contacts with the Russians.....What Flynn did has been done through the ages....so your appeals to exceptionalism is as weak as your oft repeated irrationality on this getting rid of Trump.

I regard you and those like you just like I regarded the tea party before you....and how I regarded the pathetic attempts to get rid of Clinton over frigging blow jobs.

As for you speaking of ethics.....well, knowing what you support I'll take a pass on that.....You'd take anything to get rid of Trump and I doubt the ethics of it wouldn't bother you in the slightest.

Edited by Stirlingsays (02 Dec 2017 6.23pm)