Wow, I remember being peripherally impressed by how strong people felt about him. And he seemed very genuine to me if unrealistic about what could ever really be. I was still thinking pretty conventionally. My wake up call didn't really happen though until the FISA abuse stuff. I couldn't understand how the April 2017 court order finding rampant spying and third party access to the database wasn't big news. I thought there had to be at least one reporter out there who would want to get the Pulitzer Prize! for doggedly going after the truth.

Then I saw people talking about "Q" in the comments section at Conservative Treehouse (the only outlet providing any real analysis of the FISA abuse situation with links to actual source material), stumbled onto a CTBS Reddit forum, and then proceeded to fall fast down a succession of rabbit holes. God willing, I suspect 5 years from now I will look back on 2022 the same way.