A syndrome is defined as a characteristic combination of opinions, emotions, or behaviour. If more severe, then it describes a mental illness: a group of symptoms which consistently occur together, or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms. Washington appears to have all the hallmarks of a China Syndrome, especially on the Republican side. There is another side to syndromes in popular culture, too, which is when a nuclear reactor core goes out of control and melts down ‘all the way to China’. Washington at present also appears to be going through a meltdown, but it is a sort of ‘reverse China Syndrome’, in that the actions of China and Russia are causing a meltdown in Washington. And the recent trip of Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan has just stopped the cooling pump to the reactor…