So what will the FBI do when they catch them? Drag them back to Texas in irons? Chain them to their desks in the legislature?

Just lock them up and throw away they key? Or order up a firing squad?

The world is laughing at the United States again. Americans don’t get the joke.

The FBI is being sent to hunt down Texas legislators who have fled the state in order to stymie Donald Trump’s attempt to redraw electoral district borders to favor his Republican party. California’s governor is promising the same type of electoral change to favor the Democrats.

This is democracy? Not in anyone’s dictionary. This is the mark of a country where the only political motivator is power. Just like in any other dictatorship, the rule of law is whatever those in power say it is

In a democracy, independent authorities determine what the boundaries of electoral districts should be, based on census data and natural borders such as rivers and major streets. It isn’t left to some corrupt politician trying to gain the advantage for his or her party.

But Donald Trump told the Governor of Texas he needed to find five more seats for the Republicans. Greg Abbot got out the poll results from past elections, his eraser and pen and started redrawing the map. It would be shameful if it wasn’t so funny.

More than 50 Democratic legislators fled Texas before the new electoral map could be voted on. That prevented a quorum in the legislature, effectively ending the attempt. For now anyway.

Whether it would be legal for the FBI to arrest them for that and compel them to return is an interesting constitutional problem. But not for Donald Trump – he only cares about the courts when they agree with him.

Trump was very clear what he would do if elected. There have been no surprises since January. That Americans didn’t believe he would keep his word shows how desperately they wanted to live in their dream world.

In six months Donald Trump has undone 80 years of American leadership in the world. You wouldn’t have thought it could happen so quickly, but no-one seems willing to restrain him. They are just following orders and hoping there are never any trials.

What the world wonders now is how low America can sink.