All the traits of President Trump were well known. Any analysis of what could become of his administration ended up in either wishful thinking or despair. Could he maybe become a different person? No. Could he maybe surround himself with enough sane people to guide his path? No. Could he surprise us and try to govern from the center? No. Could he self-immolate quickly enough to spare the nation a four-year road trip to a third-world dictatorship? Well, maybe.

Of all the Trump scenarios that might have played out, we may actually be in the best one. Trump’s defects, inclinations and character flaws are in fact so severe that they took virtually no time at all to create a ball of chaos and corruption so tangled that even his supporters can no longer pretend otherwise. And it is possible now to imagine that it will be Trump himself who is the victim of all his flaws, rather than the rest of us and our democracy.

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Everyone gave up some time ago on waiting for the Republican Party to do the right thing. And let history record the party’s cravenness in the face of this challenge. But now Republican politicians are facing a different combination of calculations. Now they are facing unambiguous legal problems that Trump has created for himself and a growing public disgust at all his tawdriness. And what is the upside in defending him now? The ever-dimming prospect that he will be able to help them get their unpopular legislation passed? The hope that standing by this presidential wreckage will help their own reelection prospects?

No, Trump has provided the opening to end his presidency that every patriot has been hoping against hope for. The unstable Trump Casino has dealt his opponents a winning hand. It would be advisable not to misplay it.