And the nightmare scenario briefly is he finds himself in that position, he can't legislate, he tries to regulate but is blocked by the supreme court, which has a conservative majority, and then he is facing donald trump again in three and a half years' time. anything is possible. i am, for my sins, quite the optimist in the sense that the alternative is worse, and i like to think there is enough institutional fibre left in american democracy that we will get through this. it will be tested, i'm sure, over the next few years! i can't help thinking about that gershwin song, i'm biding my time. ...