Pity the scriptwriters on the House of Cards payroll, wracking their brains to what must be a frazzle as they try to come up with a set of developments even stranger than real life.

So the president and his chief of staff both commit murder? Big deal. Shocking, yes, but somehow lacking the grotesque, over-the-top, this-just-can’t-be happening gasp-worthy frisson of total astonishment that we’ve come to expect from the news.