A Stiff Message For You: When the Floor Drops Out-Here’s How You Stand Back Up
A wake-up call for anyone who felt crushed this week...and needs their fire back
A Stiff Message For You: When the Floor Drops Out-Here’s How You Stand Back Up
A wake-up call for anyone who felt crushed this week…and needs their fire back
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #643: Monday, November 10th, 2025.
Before you read a single word of this…you need to know something:
This was originally going out as a paid subscriber issue of The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter. I changed my mind. This one needed to go out to anyone willing to read it.
I wrote this exactly the way I used to speak to the men and women I led in uniform …those who trusted me… often experienced really bad days…and kept going anyway.
Every damn word…was always delivered from a place a deep love, caring…and mutual respect. Just unapologetically blunt…when the moment called for it. Just as I wrote every word of what follows…to you.
Sometimes when you experience something that…it feels like betrayal…
When you feel the floor drop out from under your feet…
When the people who were supposed to hold the damn line…instead…open the gate and walk away…
There are only two choices:
You collapse with the weight…
Or you rise because of it.
This issue…isn’t a newsletter…per se.
It’s a talk…the kind you only give after the air’s been knocked out of everyone at once.
I wrote this because many of you told me you were feeling:
Betrayed
Heartsick
Punched in the chest
Furious
Numb
Hollow
Tired
Disillusioned
And dangerously close to giving up
You’re not wrong to feel it.
But you’re not allowed to stay there.
Not now.
Not in this era.
Not with what we’re facing.
So read this…the way it was meant to be read.
Standing tall.
Jaw clenched.
Heart steady.
Eyes forward.
If profanity bothers you…I’d go ahead and sit this one out. I use it frequently…and unapologetically.
I mean it. You’ve been warned…so don’t read it…and then send me a message…later…telling me how “disappointed” you are in my language. I won’t even reply to a bullshit message like that. I won’t. If you read on from here…it’s on you.
I’ve been very clear about the posture and tone that I’ll be taking for the rest of this issue of JHN, and exactly why.
If you dare…proceed.
The Talk
Listen up.
There are weeks in this country when the ground rumbling under your boots…doesn’t mean an earthquake…it means the truth is shifting. And this week…you felt it. I know you did. I heard it in every message you sent me.
Eight senators cracked the line. The sorry ass losers…that they are.
A stack of pardons hit the table like a dare.
And Maxwell’s name…started floating toward clemency…like a Goddamn balloon…released on purpose…to see who flinches.
I’m not here to tell you not to be angry.
I would never insult you with that.
Your anger is justified.
Your anger is earned.
Your anger means….your moral compass is still working.
But I’m also not here…to let you drown in it.
Because I’ve seen what happens to people who stay face-down in the mud after they get hit.
They don’t get back up.
And we?
We don’t get that luxury.
Not now.
Not with what’s coming.
So yeah… consider this the talk…I would’ve given standing there…looking into the eyes of a couple of 19-year-olds…who’d just walked into my office after losing a patient they’d cared for for weeks…someone they’d come to see as family…and a brother or sister in arms…who still had a job to do…and other patients need them NOW. (We could have the softer talk…later…and did.)
This is the talk you give after the bad news.
After the loss.
After the betrayal.
After the punch that leaves the whole damn unit breathless.
You don’t tell them to calm down.
You don’t tell them it’s all fine.
You don’t pretend the blow didn’t land.
You tell them the one thing they need to hear:
“Get up. We’re not done.”
The Hit You Took Was Real-And That’s Why It Hurts
Let’s start by not sugarcoating a damn thing:
You got blindsided.
We all did.
Eight senators broke formation…at the exact moment…the line needed to hold strongest.
That wasn’t strategy…that was cheap, cowardly…weak-spiked BULLSHIT.
The pardons?
They weren’t symbolic.
They were declarations.
They said, out loud and in daylight:
“Loyalty is rewarded.
Accountability is optional.”
And Maxwell?
Let me tell you something:
That balloon doesn’t get floated…unless somebody wants to see where the political wind is blowing…before they take the next step.
None of that is imaginary.
None of that is alarmism.
None of that is exaggerated.
That’s the landscape.
But here’s the part you MUST remember:
Feeling punched isn’t the problem.
Staying on the floor is….yeah…that’s the stuff we can’t be picking around with. We. Don’t. Have. The. Time.
The Truth About Betrayal: It’s A Fork In The Road, Goddamnit…Not A Fucking Grave
Betrayal is one of the oldest tests in the book.
It whispers in your ear:
“They don’t care.
It doesn’t matter.
It’s too big.
You’re outnumbered.
You’re outmatched.
Why keep trying?”
That voice is the real enemy.
Because the second you believe it…
The second you let yourself think you’re small…
The second you let the despair dilute your will…
You’ve already surrendered.
And you did it without being asked.
See, it doesn’t matter whether they care…or don’t. (I actually prefer just going with, “They don’t give a FUCK.” That way…I have no reason to wonder.)
Every second we are playing that sorry-ass, sappy-shit around our head…is wasted.
I also watched men who were warriors…fall for that voice.
I saw them quit. I saw some them give up.
I promised myself I’d never let anyone else drown in the endless inner voice loop…if I could help it.
So hear me clearly:
You are not small.
You are not powerless.
And you sure as fuck…are NOT done.
You’re pissed…because you care.
You’re heartsick…because you still have a conscience.
You’re furious…because you pay attention.
Good.
Those are the fuel sources that keep people like you…who I love like someone I served in the military with…from going numb.
People like you are the only Goddamn reason the dark…doesn’t win by default.Fuck the dark. And…fuck losing.
You Are Not Experiencing Weakness... That’s a Chickenshit Lie Someone Told You: You Are Experiencing Clarity
Let’s flip the lens.
This week didn’t break you.
It stripped away the illusions.
You finally see:
How fragile momentum is.
How small groups can tilt national outcomes.
How loyalty often outweighs law.
How some people….will always choose comfort over courage.
How systems rot…from the inside…long before they collapse from the outside.
Do you know what clarity really is?
The end of denial.
The death of wishful thinking.
The birth of resolve.
Clarity doesn’t weaken you.
It hardens you. Hard as fucking nails.
It turns your spine into rebar.
It sharpens your attention.
It reminds you…that the stakes are real.
And when the stakes are real…the mind…better get its shit-together…and in a fucking hurry.
Those Who Stand After A Blow Are The Ones Who Win The Next Round
Here’s the part no one tells you:
Victory goes to the people who know how to take a hit.
You think history is written by the strongest?
No…Goddamnit.
It’s written by:
The last ones standing
The stubborn sons of bitches who refuse to fold
The people who patch up their own wounds…in the dark…and pelting rain.
The ones who crawl forward…when everyone else is crying about the inconvenience of mud…while on their wobbly-ass knees
That’s who shapes the future.
Every great turning point…every…Goddamn…one…was preceded by a moment…where the people who cared…felt completely outnumbered…outgunned…and outmaneuvered.
What separated the eras that fell from the eras that rose?
Who got back up.
Who kept moving.
Who refused to go quietly.
You don’t win by feeling strong.
You win by doing shit…STRONGLY…even when you feel like someone yanked your asshole out of you as you slept.
This is one of those moments.
The Worst Thing You Can Do Right Now Is Shrink
Let me give you a truth you may not want to hear:
The people who orchestrate weeks like this…
The people who benefit from impunity…
The people who operate in the shadows and expect you to nod along…
The people who assume the public will give up…
They are counting on your exhaustion.
Not your outrage…that’s normal.
Not your anger…that burns out quick.
Not your sadness…that fades.
No.
They’re counting on the quiet collapse…that comes after.
The “What’s the point?”
The “We can’t win.”
The “They’re too powerful.”
The “Nothing matters.”
That’s the real win for them.
Because apathy is the cheapest victory in the world.
Because that’s what most people do.
You’re not “most” fucking people. If you think you are…that’s horse shit. It’s a lie.
I’m telling you right now:
Do. Not. Shrink.
This is the exact moment when ordinary people start thinking they’re background characters in their own Goddamn country.
Don’t you dare fall for it. Don’t. You. Dare.
The Only Way Forward Is Through…And You’ve Been Through Worse. You Just Forgot About it…Conveniently. It Feels Easier That Way…Because Human Beings Are Strange-Ass Forms of Life. We Just Are.
Every single person reading this has survived something harder than a shitty week in politics.
You’ve buried parents.
You’ve lost children.
You’ve faced cancer.
You’ve held the hand of someone dying.
You’ve been betrayed by people closer than politicians.
You’ve started over at 40, 50, 60.
You’ve rebuilt after loss.
You’ve lost your job and clawed your way back.
You’ve been terrified and did what you had to do anyway.
So don’t you even dream of blowing smoke up my ass…and telling me you can’t handle this. Do not. I know you…better than you know yourself…if that’s what you were about to try and sell me.
Don’t tell me you’re defeated.
Don’t tell me you’re powerless.
Don’t tell me you can’t go the distance.
You’re still here.
You’re still reading.
You’re still fighting.
You’re still thinking.
You’re still pissed.
That’s not weakness.
That’s endurance.
And…endurance wins wars.
Anger Isn’t The End: It’s The Ignition
You know what anger is?
Unfocused energy.
The point isn’t to calm it down.
The point is to aim it.
Anyone can rage.
Anyone can curse the headlines.
Anyone can shake their fist at the sky.
But very few people know how to turn anger into:
Focus
Clarity
Steel
Direction
Commitment
Long-term durability
You do it by refusing shortcuts.
You do it…by documenting what you see so the story can’t be rewritten.
You do it…by paying attention when others look away.
You do it…by staying wide-eyed when others go numb.
You take that wild…raw anger…
You grab it by the scruff of the neck…
And you fucking slam it…into purpose.
That… is the transformation.
The Next Era Belongs To The Ones Who Refuse Amnesia
Let me be blunt…or blunter than usual:
You’re living through a time…when the difference between collapse and resilience…is memory.
Those who forget get manipulated.
Those who remember become dangerous.
We do three things in this community:
We document.
We expose.
We refuse amnesia.
That’s what keeps a society tethered to reality.
That’s what stops lies from calcifying into truth.
That’s what prevents darkness from being normalized.
You want to know who wins the long haul?
Not the ones with the most money. Fuck them.
Not the ones with the biggest microphones. Fuck them, too.
Not the ones who pull the strings in the shadows. REALLY fuck them.
The winners…are the ones who refuse to forget the pattern…and refuse to be broken by the weight of it.
That…my friend….is YOU.
You Didn’t Join This Community To Be Catered To: You Came Here To Be Armed
In this letter to you…I’m not trying to soothe you.
I’m not trying to pat your head.
I’m not trying to hand you optimism…in a gift-wrapped box.
That’s not what we do here.
You came here because you wanted clarity…not comfort.
You wanted truth…not anesthesia.
You wanted the tools to stay upright…when the world tilts.
What you got this weekend wasn’t “discouraging.”
It was a reminder of what we’re up against.
And here’s the ruthless, liberating truth:
Pressure clarifies.
Hits harden.
Setbacks sharpen.
You are sharper today…than you were last week.
You are harder today…than you were yesterday.
And because of what you’ve lived through…you…are damn near…unbreakable.
Read This Part…Twice
You were hit.
Fucking Hard.
You didn’t imagine it.
Eight senators broke formation.
A series of pardons shredded faith in accountability.
A name like Maxwell floated into the clemency conversation on purpose.
You felt betrayed.
You felt gutted.
You felt the air leave the room.
Good…and I mean that.
Because that means you’re awake.
And people who are awake…
People who do not go numb…
People who do not shrink…
People who refuse lies and anchor themselves to truth…
Those are the people who carry nations through the dark.
If you take nothing else from this entire article…take this:
You are not broken.
You are being tempered.
They misread you.
They misread all of us.
They thought this week would make you smaller.
Dumb fucks that they are.
It will make you politically lethal.
It will make you focused.
It will make you disciplined.
It will make you unshakeable.
Now…stand up.
Lift your chin.
Square your shoulders.
We. Are. Not. Fucking. Done.
We…are just getting started.
Back soon,
-Jack Fucking Hopkins
P.S. If you are easily offended…and read it anyway….I told you. You made the decision.
Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it. I've already been to hell and back many times over. I can do this. And I feel my anger turning into resolve as I type. Thank you for the unvarnished truth.
Thanks, Jack; I needed this.