The outcome of Donald Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial is preordained, as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west the disgraced former president will be acquitted for inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol even though the evidence against him is staggering.

The Democrats prosecuting Trump face an impossible task in persuading at least 17 Republican senators to convict Trump and bar him from any future office. A few days ago, forty-five Republican senators supported an initiative to block the second impeachment trial of Trump; you don’t have to be a constitutional scholar to recognize that’s a pretty good indication of how the final vote will play out.

Republicans are loath to cut the umbilical cord that ties the Man Baby to their party, even though the contaminated blood flowing from Trump to the GOP is killing their party.

Republican senators will be presented with visual and visceral evidence pointing to Trump’s manifest guilt. They will hear Trump in his own words inciting the crowd to march to the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.

But the Republican jurors won’t consider facts and evidence in determining the innocence or guilt of Trump. Their main consideration will be not to render a verdict that will turn Trump’s fanatical base against them.

It’s reprehensible that Trump will be acquitted but the impeachment trial will not be in vain, the video footage of the trial will serve as a reminder to future generations of how close we came to losing our democracy. The two impeachments will be a permanent stain on Trump’s record, and a reminder that there were a few statesmen who did everything they could to hold Trump accountable for his many high crimes and misdemeanors.