There's a political cartoon out there just waiting to be drawn. Picture a coat-check window, with a line of people in front of it. But instead of coats, the sign says "Spinal Check." The person behind the counter is handing the person they're waiting on a full spine, while saying: "Here you go, Senator! Once you get it reinstalled, you'll find it's really liberating to get your spine back!" ...or something along those lines. The people in line would (if the cartoonist was good enough) resemble prominent Republicans who are now increasingly breaking with Donald Trump's agenda, of course.

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It's an old joke, but it's still funny: "The Republicans are revolting!"

Amusing wordplay aside, it is rather shocking (and heartening) to see how at least some Republicans in Congress are increasingly in open revolt against Donald Trump's agenda. At first a few cracks appeared in the dam, but it's now looking like that dam could be on the brink of just bursting wide open. One can only hope, at any rate.

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There's been a rather extraordinary shift coming from the White House over the past week or so, as Donald Trump has been repeatedly forced to back down. This isn't normal for him, of course, which is why it is so notable a development. It has happened on big issues and small, and may signal a shift within his own party away from mindlessly following everything Trump does in lockstep. Or it may just be Trump having a bad week -- it's really too soon to tell.

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Welcome back, to this weeklong edition of "Deal, Or No Deal?" We're all anxiously awaiting word whether a short-term deal will be agreed to by both Donald Trump and the leaders of Iran, while the world's economy hangs in the balance. Will Trump agree? Will his own hawkish Republicans go ballistic when they find out what's in it? What is in it? Are any of the leaked clues as to what it contains accurate? Or will there be some doozies in there that nobody is expecting?

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Does the emerging Senate "YOLO caucus" now have a new member? For those of you too out-of-touch to know, "YOLO" stands for "You Only Live Once." It is a slogan designed to urge people to do things they maybe normally wouldn't (for whatever reason). But now the term has been applied to a certain group of senators, and that group just might have picked up a new member.

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Today America memorializes 250 years of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Since America is currently at war once again, the question on my mind is how many of these brave Americans died in stupid wars? And which one was the stupidest?

Perhaps that's too harsh. Maybe the question should be what was America's most pointless war? That question (phrased politely or not) certainly is relevant now, with the current conflict right up there in the running for that ignominious award.

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The most startling development in the political world this week was that Republicans in Congress (some of them, at least) seem to be waking up to the fact that Donald Trump's poll numbers are sinking like a stone and that the only thing he cares about is building his palatial ballroom and wreaking vengeance on anyone who annoys him (including plenty of Republicans).

Is this the beginning of a wider break from Trump for Republicans deeply worried about their prospects in the midterm elections? Only time will tell, but it's rather astonishing how fast things seem to be shifting. And this pushback is happening not just on one issue, but on a whole range of them.

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This Wednesday, we will hit a political milestone which is rather grim for me to contemplate (please read this as a trigger warning: this is going to be a very dismal column, so please stop reading now if you aren't in the mood for that sort of thing). On May 20th, Donald Trump will have been in office for exactly one-third of his second term. It will mark 16 months from when he was sworn in -- but the grim part is that this means we've still got twice as long as what we've all just been through before his term will finally be over. When you consider what has already happened so far, contemplating another 32 months of it is downright frightening.

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We began writing this column series lo these many years ago to help tongue-tied Democrats formulate snappy lines to use when being interviewed on television and/or to use in their campaign ads. These days, however, we have to wonder whether we should just pack it in and not even bother. We say this because Donald Trump keeps providing the best talking points Democrats could ever hope for, serving them up on a weekly basis. And this week's was an absolute doozy.

When a reporter asked Trump if Americans' financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran as soon as possible, Trump responded: "Not even a little bit... I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

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Donald Trump is stuck in a trap of his own making, it seems. He has finally met his match in stubbornness. And we're all paying the price for it. But Trump doesn't care -- which he will even flat-out admit, as he did today.

Trump was asked by a reporter to what extent "Americans' financial situations are motivating him" to quickly strike a deal to end the war with Iran. His answer: "Not even a little bit." He later expanded upon his answer: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

[Aside: Look for these quotes to appear in a Democratic campaign ad near you, real soon now!]

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