Trussian roulette

The catchphrase of the famously melancholic movie The Sixth Sense was "I see dead people", but the punchline was, "They don't know they're dead."

- JANE CLIFTON

So it is that many ex-politicians roam the Earth believing themselves immortally potent on the basis that a few people - often out of mere politeness still seem to recognise them.

This has always been a feature of politics, as Nasagrade egos and impregnable hides are fabrics of the craft. But the continuing viability of former United States president Donald Trump, who has survived more brushes with extinction than Road Runner, risks putting new lead into the most broken of pencils. Far from being downhearted that a court has found him guilty of sexual assault, he now reckons he could personally stop the Ukraine invasion inside a day. Optimism, vanity or delusion, it seems to be catching.