The Crowded Attic: How the 47th President is Drowning in Junk Advice While the Experts Are Locked Outside
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #376
The Crowded Attic: How the 47th President is Drowning in Junk Advice While the Experts Are Locked Outside
Sherlock Holmes wasn’t talking to politicians, but he could’ve been. Holmes said this:
"I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands."
Translation: If you fill your mind with junk, don’t expect to find the good stuff when it matters.
That’s exactly what’s happening right now in the highest office in the land. The 47th President isn’t running the country with precision.
He’s running it like a hoarder…an attic jammed to the rafters with junk advice…misinformation…social media garbage… and the screaming voices of people who make a living by being wrong loudly and often.
His most trusted sources? Laura Loomer…Steve Bannon…Fox News hosts—the professional outrage crowd. Not the people with decades of intelligence experience.Not the career security experts.
Not the veterans of quiet rooms where the real work of protecting this country happens.
The president’s attic is packed to the ceiling with cheap…broken-down furniture…and he can’t even find the door to the file cabinet where the useful stuff is stored.
And if you think you’re not going to pay for that—you’re dead wrong.
The President's Filter is Blown Out
Every president faces a firehose of information. The smart ones figure out how to filter it. The lazy ones surround themselves with yes-men…carnival barkers…and media clowns.
Guess which path the 47th president chose?
He’s not being trapped. He’s not being misled. He’s choosing this.
He prefers the Laura Loomers and Steve Bannons of the world because they tell him what he wants to hear. Because they deliver it with a cherry on top. Because they don’t ask him to think.
Real intelligence? Too slow. Too nuanced. Requires too much effort.
So the attic fills up with what Bannon himself called "flooding the zone with bullshit."
And here’s the brutal part: the president loves it.
When Junk Becomes Policy
Let me give it to you straight: when the president starts reaching for advice…he isn’t finding the polished wood of vetted expertise.
He’s finding the warped plywood of Fox News hot takes and Twitter/X memes.
Laura Loomer has zero credentials to advise anyone on anything beyond self-promotion. Steve Bannon is a chaos salesman. And Fox News primetime hosts? They’re not advisors. They’re carnival acts paid to whip up viewers.
But these are the voices crowding the attic. These are the voices the president trusts.
The CIA? The NSA? Seasoned generals? They're stuck banging on the door to the attic…waiting to be heard…while the president's too busy rearranging junk furniture.
He’s not just ignoring them. He’s replacing them.
And Who Pays the Price? You Do.
When the president can’t find the right file…when he can’t make the right decision fast enough…you’re the one who’s going to feel it.
You’ll see it at the gas pump. You’ll feel it in your paycheck. You’ll read it in the headlines when allies start pulling away and enemies start moving in.
When a president’s attic is stuffed with conspiracy theories and junk advice…the entire country pays.
You don’t win a chess match by listening to the loudest guy in the room. You win by knowing the board. But you can’t know the board if you can’t find it under a mountain of garbage.
The Solution: Curate or Collapse
Sherlock Holmes had it right. You choose what you let into your attic. You choose what you make room for.
The president is making his choice. And so are you.
You and I…we need to do what the president won’t.
We need to curate our inputs…cut the noise…listen to people who know what they’re talking about…and stay three steps ahead of the furniture salesmen.
Because here’s the thing: when the president’s attic collapses under the weight of junk…your roof is the one that’s going to cave in.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to pay attention.
The attic is filling up.
And the clock is ticking.
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Look, I don’t claim to have all the answers. I’ve just made it a habit to ask the right questions…chase the facts most folks overlook…and stubbornly refuse to parrot what everyone else is already screaming.
Some people tell me that’s why they keep reading my work…and hey…maybe they’re onto something. I just know I do my homework…I don’t waste people’s time…and I try to give my readers something they can’t get from the usual noise machine
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I’m glad you’re here. I’ll keep bringing the heat. I’ll keep bringing you the good stuff. That’s my end of the deal.
I’ll be back soon…with even more!
Warmly,
Jack
This attic description reminds me of my mother, who was a hoarder. She could have starred in an episode of the TV show of the same name. My mother's hoarding was a symptom of her untreated mental illness, and later it was exacerbated by her decent into Alzheimer's. I can't count the number of times my mother had utilities cut off, tax liens filed, and a myriad of other crises because there was so much junk she couldn't find her bills or checkbook.
Qualified people who truly know how to do things well are a gift. Uniquely talented people in their areas are so special. A diamond in the rough. When you find one-hold on. In every occupation, there are so very few. We are experiencing the lowest of the low.