To which the only possible response is "Well, bugger me".

@anglophone Yes, BUT most definitely NOT in the context we Aussies use the term "Bugger Me" though.
As you know it is an Aussie term of astonishment and NOT an invitation.

1- 12 months tops is all he is facing….he’s just a martyr

@Canndue I hope he gets convicted on all charges and gets to serve his sentences consecutively.

@anglophone there is always hope

How so?

@Organist1 From my own perspective, which is perhaps somewhat antique Australian, when people show contempt for the rule of law it is an early sign of a country falling into anarchy. The rule of law applies equally to kings and commoners.

@anglophone We've known about this depravity for decades; it far from new.

@Organist1 Looking at the USA from this distance, the level of depravity seems of have risen in the last 10 years.

@Organist1 but done nothing to stop it. The McCarthy era wasn't just a diversion to distract from the US depravity it was an additional instigator of it encouraging the growth of ever greater paranoia particularly induced by self guilt or projection of own behaviours.

@anglophone True, but the single cancerous cell appeared long ago, and has now metastasized.

@Organist1 I like the way you put it.