Those theatrics belie the deepening unease many Republicans now say they feel — particularly those in the Senate who are dreading having to weigh their conscience against their political calculations in deciding whether to convict or acquit Trump should the Democratic-controlled House impeach the president. In hushed conversations over the past week, GOP senators lamented that the fast-expanding probe is fraying their party, which remains completely in Trump’s grip. They voiced exasperation at the expectation that they defend the president against the troublesome picture that has been painted, with neither convincing arguments from the White House nor confidence that something worse won’t soon be discovered. “It feels like a horror movie,” said one veteran Republican senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe the consensus.

They’re exasperated, are they? Well, what did they expect?

If in 2016 you had told them that the Trump presidency would be characterized by shocking amounts of corruption and misbehavior, in which the president not only was exactly as vulgar, juvenile and divisive as he showed himself to be but also flagrantly betrayed his office and the interests of the United States to pursue his own political advantage, would any of them have said, “Oh no, I can’t imagine that would happen”?

Had you told them that Trump would be impeached and they’d have to sit in judgment of his indefensible misdeeds, would they have said such a turn of events would be impossible? Had you told them that the central piece of evidence driving that impeachment would be Trump’s own words on a transcript — after we all heard Trump on tape bragging about his ability to sexually assault women with impunity — would they have shaken their heads and said that there was no way it would ever come to that?

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Yet somehow they convinced themselves it wouldn’t. They made a bet that they could get through four years with their own reputations intact, not to mention whatever they call their morality. Trump might be colorful and unorthodox, but the majesty of the presidency and the solid institutions of our great system would tame him, they told themselves.

More importantly, they decided that Trump’s takeover of their party was so complete that they had no choice: They could stand on principle and risk their careers in Congress, or they could take whatever shred of conscience they had, light it on fire, then get down on their knees and present the ashes to Trump as a symbol of their obeisance.

With just a couple of exceptions, they chose the latter course. Even those who ran against Trump in the ugly 2016 primaries have bowed down to him. “You know how you make America great again?” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham in 2015. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” Now Graham is one of Trump’s most enthusiastic advocates.

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It was no less obvious then than it is now. There are two kinds of people around Trump: Those who were drawn to him precisely because he is so corrupt (some of whom are currently in prison), and those who deluded themselves into thinking they could join his cause without themselves being corrupted.

Most of the Republican senators are in the latter category. But they should not escape judgment because they shook their heads in sorrow a few times. Every tyrant in history has been surrounded by people like them, who convinced themselves that their moral compromises were worthwhile because of the good they thought they could do by holding on to their own power.

So yes, they’ll now have to suffer some discomfort while more evidence of impeachable acts emerges on an almost daily basis. They’ll have to duck reporters asking for comment on the latest shocking development. They’ll have to struggle to justify the unjustifiable, with little help from a White House full of knaves and fools.

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And we know how this will end. A few Republican senators — perhaps one or two, or even a couple more — may vote to convict Trump on charges of which he is obviously guilty. But the overwhelming majority will not. Too fearful of the wrath of Trump supporters and the condemnation of the sycophants and hate-mongers of right-wing media, they will meekly assent.

They will raise their hands and proclaim that it was fine for the president to strong-arm a foreign government into digging up dirt on a political opponent as the price of getting desperately needed military aid. They will say that they have no real objection to the fact that he allowed his buffoonish and possibly criminal “personal lawyer” to manipulate American foreign policy. They will say that nothing else he has done — the naked obstruction of justice, the shameless use of his office for personal profit — warrants removal, even if their friend Mike Pence would become president in his place.

They will say all that because they are cowards, and as for “having to weigh their conscience against their political calculations,” that’s not a problem. If you’re never able to muster the strength to act on your conscience, do you even have one?

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Trump’s reckoning is theirs, too. It was inevitable, and they deserve to pay every ounce of the price.