When reality becomes a nightmare, dreams begin to seem like a form of sanity. Amid the waking nightmare that has been the Trump presidency, liberals have had one hope that has kept them going: that one day, perhaps sooner rather than later, we will be rid of Donald Trump. He is so manifestly unfit for office, so reckless in violating the fundamental tenets of democracy, so personally unstable and vindictive, that it could only be a matter of a few short years before he is either driven from the White House by impeachment or voted out of office by the majority of Americans who consider him a dangerous fraud and a national embarrassment. Once he is gone, liberals believe—once he has finally exited our lives for good—we can begin the difficult work of restoring some semblance of order and reason in a world without Trump.

The dream of returning to the comforts of a post-Trump world began the day after his election. As soon as liberals awoke to the wrenching news of his victory, the hope arose that his presidency could somehow be averted. Would a recount reveal that the vote tallies in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—all of which were razor-thin—were wrong? Could the Electoral College be called on to exercise its constitutional duty by refusing to ratify the election results? Would the manifest corruption of Trump’s transition—his nepotism, his covert meetings with international business partners, his refusal to divest himself of properties that posed a conflict of interest—lead to his impeachment under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution? Would Vice President Mike Pence come to his senses, or give way to his ambition, and declare Trump “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” under the 25th Amendment? Or, barring a peaceful succession, would the military find it necessary to stage a coup to save America from Trump? “The prospect of American military leaders responding to a presidential order with open defiance is frightening,” Rosa Brooks, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former senior adviser at the State Department, observed only a week into Trump’s presidency. “But so, too, is the prospect of military obedience to an insane order.”

As the months went on and none of these liberal dreams was realized, hope turned to a variety of other scenarios. Maybe Robert Mueller would uncover evidence that Trump was directly involved in Russia’s meddling in last year’s election—or directly involved in covering it up—leading to a constitutional crisis of Watergate proportions. Perhaps Trump would become fed up with all the tedium and hassle and ridicule that comes with the office and simply decide to quit, retiring to Mar-a-Lago to golf away his remaining days. Or, even if we are doomed to suffer through four full years of President Trump, surely voters will flock to the polls in 2020 to ensure that he joins the ranks of the eight previous commanders-in-chief who were deemed undeserving of a second term.