It is hard for me to be out in public or on social media without being peppered with questions by people with strained faces about whether there is any chance that the Senate will vote to convict Donald Trump if the House of Representatives impeaches him.

I have to constantly remind people that impeachment in the House is the victory. The Senate is a lost cause, and has been on this issue since Trump rose to office.

The Senate has considered articles of impeachment against two other presidents and refused to convict and remove both times. This time is not likely to be any different. In that sense, impeachment by the House is the strongest rebuke America has ever been willing to give a president.

Trump deserves at least that.

The Republicans will not defect from Trump in any significant numbers, if at all. It’s nearly impossible to call them to virtue when they are in the midst of their depravity. They stayed silent so long, refusing to challenge him when they could, when he was weaker, that he has grown so strong among their voters that now their silence in their only safety.