Resigned

I had a number of different conversations this past weekend with friends and family about what might happen next. The thought that prevailed was that whatever process now takes hold would probably take a couple years to work itself out, and so the hopes we may have harbored for some sort of deliverance through common sense or magic are all but dashed.
I refer to the John Oliver bit in which he reads an item that seems to implicate our "President" of crimes or conduct that should bring the house of cards tumbling down: "We got him!" Streamers, marching bands, sirens.
Well, not yet.
Instead we find ourselves in a world that is systematically lowering the standards by which we tolerate our elected officials. I point to the case of Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam. Governor Ralph, a Democrat, is currently embroiled in a scandal involving a photo in his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. It features someone dressed in a Klan robe, and another in blackface. Mister Northam admitted that he was one of the individuals pictured. He did not specify which one. He has apologized to his fellow Virginians for "behavior in my past that falls far short of the standard you set for me when you elected me to be your governor."
Some felt that behavior in his past falls far short of the standard for humans, and felt that he should resign. This group included a whole passel of his fellow Democrats. As witnessed prior to this incident, calls for resignation are different from an actual resignation. Should a thirty-five year old picture in a yearbook be the end of someone's career? Should behavior from a generation ago be the standard by which our public figures are measured?
I do not know the answer to those questions. I can say that I respect Al Franken for ringing down the curtain of his tenure in the Senate. He wasn't pushed. He jumped. His personal standards were the ones that were crossed, and he chose to leave before he did any further damage through sticking around or wading through the waves of hypocrisy.
I do not expect the "President" to have anything amounting to an awakening and have him go before the people of this great nation to apologize for all the stupid and insensitive things he has done and said while in office, let alone the litany of horrible behavior before he ever got there. He's in it to win it.
Whatever "it" is.
(He sighed with resignation).