The good and bad news for President Trump

IF politics were to be graded for their dramatic value, "zero" being like a really, really boring event and "10" akin to a catharsis in a Shakespearean tragedy, then the landmark tax overhaul bill that swept through the Senate a few minutes before 2 am last Saturday would probably be rated an "eight".

That the Republicans in the Senate were able to pass this controversial legislation, two weeks after the House of Representatives passed its own version, elicited a big "Wow!" in Washington, not to mention the sighs of relief heard at the White House and the Republican leadership offices on Capitol Hill.

Much of that had to do with Washington's game of expectations. To recall, in the aftermath of inauguration day, the expectation in Washington was that - with the Republicans now controlling both the executive and legislative branches of government - they would be headed towards a "yuge" victory when it came to repealing Obamacare, the health-care insurance programme enacted by Donald Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.