When I learned about Watergate in school for the first time, it sounded like a movie. The corrupt president abusing the power of his office to try to take down his political opponents through espionage. And, at the end of it, good triumphed over the now-obvious evil: Republicans on the Judiciary Committee sided with their Democratic counterparts, forming a bipartisan consensus that Nixon should be impeached.

Of course, the real story of Watergate is much complicated than the abridged version I was taught in sixth grade. There was political squabbling, legal battles, months and months of public opinion solidly against impeachment. But it still had its easy-to-grapple-with happy ending: Nixon resigns in disgrace. The good guys win the day.

Watergate was held up as an example of the system working, that when it really came down to it, American leaders would do what was best for the country, regardless of their politics.

To be clear, nothing that's happened in the Trump trial has surprised me.

Has it disappointed me? Absolutely.

Have most Republicans involved behaved shamefully? Yes.

But I've yet to be surprised.

I'm not a kid anymore, and I'm naturally less idealistic. But I'm still a little freaked out by the realization that no one really expects our elected officials to do the right thing anymore.

Of course, congresspeople aren't known for being selfless, and disapproving of Congress as a whole is practically a national pastime at this point. But, regardless, if there was a moment where national unity was going to win out over partisanship, it should have been this. There's overwhelming evidence that the president of the United States asked a foreign government to investigate his political opponent in a bid to strengthen his own chances of reelection. This was a textbook example of a head of state putting his personal interests ahead of those of the American people. And he did so by jeopardizing U.S.-Ukrainian relations; Ukraine, an ally that relies on U.S. military aid to guard against Russian-backed separatists in the process.

But not only did that not make a difference, no one even expected it to.

Virtually no one thought there was a substantial chance that Donald Trump would be removed from office. Republican senators got on television and said they weren't going to pretend to be impartial jurors. They made it clear that every move they made was coordinated by the White House. There was no respect for Constitutional norms. There was no fulfillment of their oaths.

We didn't even expect there to be.

But, still, I can't help but feel disappointed. Like that last small part of me was waiting for that good old-fashioned American spirit to win out. For everyone to decide to do the right thing. Of course, that didn't happen. Only two Republicans voted to allow witnesses in a trial. Mitch McConnell made a mockery of a Constitutional process.

When the Senate acquits an obviously guilty president, I won't be surprised.

Yes, I'll be a little disappointed. But, mainly, I'll just be ready to vote them out in November. If we can't trust our elected officials to do the right thing, let's get new elected officials.