What did they think would happen?

For two years, we warned America that winter was coming.

Some people didn't have the imagination or incentive to see that a day like yesterday could happen in this country. They mocked and derided and tried to silence those who said that this president would bring about such a day. 

Not us. 

In fact it is because of those collaborators and coddlers and commiserators that The Bulwark exists at all. We launched on January 7, 2018 out of the ashes of a center-right media ecosystem where speaking truth about this president and his dangerously authoritarian intentions was verboten. 

We sit here today, two years later, with images of Trump regalia having been raised above the Capitol, four dead, and half of the GOP voting to literally overturn the election and install a madman as autocrat. The good news is that this horrific scene has, at long last, made some of them start to come around. 

I have my doubts whether they will stick with it. 

That’s why it is up to all of us to continue to hold the anti-democratic forces in our politics to account. To make Trump the last gasp of authoritarianism and not just the prologue. 

We want to do that with you.

I wrote my first article for The Bulwark two days after launch. I didn't know that I was becoming part of something that would be deeply meaningful. That would resonate with so many people. And that, as a bonus, would help me in my own soul work. 

We want to keep growing this community. So if you haven't yet signed up for Bulwark+, we'd really appreciate it if you'd consider doing so today. 

As part of Bulwark+ you’ll hang out with me, Sarah, and JVL every Wednesday on The Next Level. You also get our late night zooms. The Secret Podcast. And more fun stuff to come. 

I can't tell you how much I've appreciated everyone's support. From your notes of encouragement to the sharing of your perspectives to your on-the-spot fact checks. So regardless, please keep all that coming. 

And stay with us in the fight. Yesterday doesn't have to be what America is about, but we're going to have to work to ensure we don't become it.