docs: def merge_rdf_list(rdf_list):
      """ takes an rdf list and merges it into a python list
  
      args:
          rdf_list: the RdfDataset object with the list values
  
      returns:
          list of values
      """
      # pdb.set_trace()
      if isinstance(rdf_list, list):
          rdf_list = rdf_list[0]
      rtn_list = []
      # for item in rdf_list:
      item = rdf_list
      if item.get('rdf_rest') and item.get('rdf_rest',[1])[0] != 'rdf_nil':
          rtn_list += merge_rdf_list(item['rdf_rest'][0])
      if item.get('rdf_first'):
          rtn_list += item['rdf_first']
      rtn_list.reverse()
      return rtn_list