The president’s foes don’t have to like this reality, but for their own mental health, they ought to recognize it. Conservatives will not abandon Trump because they condone bad behavior but because they understand Trump’s behavior as far less dangerous to their lives and consciences than the political and social agenda of the president’s critics. This is the mirror image of the way liberals tolerated Bill Clinton’s behavior because they understood the alternative to be Republican government they would be contrary to their own deepest beliefs.

No, Trump will not be removed by a Republican Senate for obstructing justice, and Democrats should be aware that impeaching Trump without the possibility of removing him will sow the whirlwind with a harvest to be reaped the next time a Democrat is in the White House. Even as liberals deplore “polarization,” in their ignorance they create more of it, and this has far more dire implications for the future of the country than anything Michael Cohen prates about.