And I've never been good at joining. Being with a bunch of people is exhausting for me.
But I get the point people are trying to make:
As the authoritarian tries to drive us apart, we have to find more and more like-minded people, if for nothing else, to throw down a few Bourbons, and buck each up. So guys like me are going to have suck it up and find a way to be alright with the dreaded group activities.
When things are dark, the only way through is together.
by Jonathan V. Last - Jan 15, 2025
Hey guys, it’s JVL.
The second Trump term is here. A whole bunch of bad stuff is coming—like, now.
Trump won. He controls all three branches of government. And the forces that mobilized against him last time aren’t even putting up token opposition this time. Heck, a lot of them have actually switched sides and thrown in with the new regime.
Look at Jeff Bezos. Look at Mark Zuckerberg. For that matter, look at the Democratic former presidents yukking it up with Trump and acting like everything’s normal and five by five.
Here’s the thing—it isn’t. Our job is to spend the next fours reminding people of these facts.
Truth. Freedom. Democracy. That’s the mission.
These aren’t separate things, obviously. You can’t have democracy without freedom. And you can’t have freedom without truth. That’s why the first thing authoritarians do to try to undermine society is wage war on the idea of truth.
Trump doesn’t lie every second of every day because he thinks you believe him. He lies because he wants to tire you out, make you give up, make people believe that there is no “truth”—because everyone is just as corrupt as Trump.
That’s why we lead with truth. Why we won’t shut up about it. Why we’re not willing to move on and get with the program like the oligarch class has.
We called this thing The Bulwark because it turns out that our American system of norms, laws, and institutions—this democracy stuff we all used to take for granted—requires defending.
It turns out that the systems are just people. And that the systems need people to defend them.
So yeah, this is a dark time. For the first time in our nation’s history, we had a president attempt a coup and after his coup failed, the American people decided to send him back to the White House anyway. That sucks.
But we don’t give up. We keep fighting. And maybe something good happens.
Hey guys, it’s JVL.
The second Trump term is here. A whole bunch of bad stuff is coming—like, now.
Trump won. He controls all three branches of government. And the forces that mobilized against him last time aren’t even putting up token opposition this time. Heck, a lot of them have actually switched sides and thrown in with the new regime.
Look at Jeff Bezos. Look at Mark Zuckerberg. For that matter, look at the Democratic former presidents yukking it up with Trump and acting like everything’s normal and five by five.
Here’s the thing—it isn’t. Our job is to spend the next fours reminding people of these facts.
Truth. Freedom. Democracy. That’s the mission.
These aren’t separate things, obviously. You can’t have democracy without freedom. And you can’t have freedom without truth. That’s why the first thing authoritarians do to try to undermine society is wage war on the idea of truth.
Trump doesn’t lie every second of every day because he thinks you believe him. He lies because he wants to tire you out, make you give up, make people believe that there is no “truth”—because everyone is just as corrupt as Trump.
That’s why we lead with truth. Why we won’t shut up about it. Why we’re not willing to move on and get with the program like the oligarch class has.
We called this thing The Bulwark because it turns out that our American system of norms, laws, and institutions—this democracy stuff we all used to take for granted—requires defending.
It turns out that the systems are just people. And that the systems need people to defend them.
So yeah, this is a dark time. For the first time in our nation’s history, we had a president attempt a coup and after his coup failed, the American people decided to send him back to the White House anyway. That sucks.
But we don’t give up. We keep fighting. And maybe something good happens.
We want you to ride with us. The Bulwark is a community—we spend time together every day, working through the big issues, trying to make sense of it all.
So here’s my simple ask: Ride with us.
When things are dark, the only way through is together.
That last sentence - the bit about "the only way through is together"? That's not something JVL puts out - ever.
So if he can do that, and I can bite my lip and hang out with a few real-life, honest-to-Pete, Commie pinko libruls here in the Denver suburbs - then we all can.
And TBH, the libs are usually more fun anyway.
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