The Most Dangerous Lie in Politics Isn’t Trump’s
Why many Democratic leaders need to read this-NOW.
The Most Dangerous Lie in Politics Isn’t Trump’s
Why many Democratic leaders need to read this-NOW
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #720: Tuesday, January 6th, 2026.
The Most Dangerous Lie in Politics Isn’t Trump’s
It’s the One About “Waiting for the Right Moment”
Let me tell you a truth most people won’t like.
Donald Trump didn’t become dangerous because Democrats impeached him too often.
He became dangerous because too many people kept telling themselves there would be a better time to draw the line.
A cleaner moment.
A safer moment.
A moment with fewer risks, fewer downsides, fewer headlines.
And…here we are.
Again.
When House Democrats voted to table…or dodge…a fresh impeachment effort, the reaction was instant and furious.
On the surface…it looked like cowardice. Like appeasement. Like history repeating itself in slow motion.
But beneath that anger sits a harder…more uncomfortable question:
Were they wrong to block it?
Or were they making a grim…tactical choice in a rigged arena?
To answer that honestly, you have to stop thinking like a pundit…
…and start thinking like someone who understands how democracies actually fail.
(And…I would argue, most politicians…in any party…have no f*cking idea)
First: Let’s Kill the Straw Man
No serious Democrat believes Trump is innocent.
Not one.
Not Hakeem Jeffries.
Not Jamie Raskin.
Not the so-called “present” voters.
Not the members from swing districts.
They know what January 6th was.
They know what Trump is.
They know the danger.
So if this wasn’t about belief…
…it was about calculation.
And calculations…especially under authoritarian pressure…are where democracies quietly bleed out.
The Strategic Case Against Impeachment (And Why It Sounds Persuasive)
Let’s lay it out cleanly.
The argument against voting for impeachment goes like this:
Republicans control the House.
There was zero chance of conviction. Zero.A failed impeachment helps Trump.
He feeds on victimhood. A symbolic loss becomes propaganda.It distracts from GOP dysfunction.
It lets Republicans stop explaining themselves and start screaming about Democrats again.Elections and courts are the real accountability mechanisms.
Not doomed floor votes.
This argument isn’t stupid.
It’s not unserious.
And it has precedent.
But here’s the problem.
Every authoritarian moment in history had a version of this argument.
Always.
The Lie That Sounds Like Wisdom
The most seductive lie in politics isn’t “nothing is wrong.”
It’s this:
“Yes, something is wrong-but acting now would make it worse.”
That lie wears a suit. (And, it is very much a lie.)
It speaks calmly.
It calls itself “prudence.”
And it has an absolutely brutal track record.
Because restraint feels responsible…
right up until it becomes permission.
Impeachment Is Not About Removal
It’s About Reality
This is where modern political thinking goes clear off the rails.
People treat impeachment like a trial…whose only value is conviction.
That’s wrong.
Impeachment is:
A line in the sand
A declaration of truth
A forced choice
It says: This happened. This crossed the boundary. History, take note.
When lawmakers decline to use it…not because the facts are unclear…but because the outcome is uncertain….they send a different message:
“This behavior is dangerous…but…not dangerous enough to act on yet.”
Authoritarians live in that “yet.”
What Actually Happens When You Don’t Act
Here’s what restraint buys you in moments like this:
Normalization.
Each delay makes the last outrage feel smaller.Memory erosion.
The public moves on faster than institutions do.Asymmetry.
The bad actor keeps escalating while the system stays frozen.
Trump doesn’t pause because Democrats hesitate.
He accelerates.
And he learns.
“But It Would Have Failed!”
Yes. It probably would have.
So did the first civil rights bills.
So did early labor protections.
So did every democratic stand that mattered before it won.
History doesn’t ask, “Did you win that vote?”
It asks, “Did you mark the moment correctly?”
A failed impeachment is still a record.
A vote is still a receipt.
A stance is still a signal.
And signals matter…more than outcomes….in unstable systems.
The Myth of the Perfect Moment
Here’s the fantasy Democrats keep chasing:
Someday there will be:
Better polling
Cleaner facts
Fewer risks
A calmer electorate
That day never comes.
Authoritarian pressure doesn’t decrease with time.
It conditions people.
Waiting doesn’t preserve stability.
It trades urgency for exhaustion.
“But We Didn’t Want to Help Him”
Here’s the brutal truth most strategists won’t say out loud:
Trump will frame himself as a victim no matter what.
Impeach him? He’s persecuted.
Don’t impeach him? He’s still persecuted.
Indict him? Weaponized justice.
Ignore him? Deep state conspiracy.
The idea that restraint deprives him of oxygen…irresponsibly and recklessly misunderstands the man.
He is oxygenized by chaos…
and restraint doesn’t remove chaos.
It just removes resistance.
The Real Cost of Playing Defense Forever
Democrats have spent a decade reacting instead of defining.
Always mitigating.
Always managing fallout.
Always worried about backlash.
Meanwhile, Trump defines reality for his base by sheer repetition.
When the system refuses to formally name his behavior as disqualifying, his followers hear:
“See? Even they don’t really believe it.”
Silence doesn’t persuade.
It confuses.
Democracy Is Not Self-Sustaining
This is the part Americans hate hearing.
Democracy doesn’t survive because it’s normal.
It survives…because people defend it at personal and political cost.
Not optimal cost.
Not risk-free cost.
Real cost.
When elected officials start treating accountability as optional…because the odds aren’t perfect…the system quietly reprograms itself.
From rule-based…
to permission-based.
So Should They Have Voted FOR It?
Here’s the straight answer-no spin:
Yes, it was reasonable to vote for impeachment.
Not because it would have succeeded…
but because restraint…has now become its own danger.
That doesn’t mean every Democrat who voted to table it is corrupt or craven.
But, it absolutely means they are operating under a framework that underestimates how fast norms erode…once fear of backlash…outweighs fear of precedent. Without question.
The Line That Actually Matters
The real question was never:
“Will this impeachment pass?”
The question was:
“What behavior do we refuse to normalize…even if stopping it is uncertain?”
Every democracy that fell…answered that question too late.
Final Thought (Read This Twice)
Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive by coup.
It arrives by hesitation.
By caution mistaken for wisdom.
By leaders who wait for a better moment…while the ground shifts under their feet.
Trump isn’t powerful because he breaks norms.
He’s powerful…because too many people keep treating norm-breaking…as something that can be dealt with later.
Later…is how you lose the plot.
Later…is how lies outlive truth.
Later…is how democracies don’t end dramatically…
they just stop being defended.
I would invite you to reStack and or share this article.
Better yet, forward it/email it to the Democratic lawmakers who you feel don’t understand what I’ve laid out above.
If you don’t know where to start, just google the names of the House Democrats who voted to table a new impeachment effort. You’ll have the very names you need.
#HoldFast
Back soon,
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S.
If this made you uncomfortable, good. That means you’re still paying attention.
Comfort is what authoritarian movements rely on from everyone else.
This is fabulous, Jack.
“He who hesitates is lost”.
The damage being done is being lost to time. Without action, strong action, gutsy action, by those given the options to take action, in this case, Congress, the erosion of our government and of our country is being aided by ALL involved in federal governance.
Thank you, Jack.
Outstanding article Tonight Jack, Thank you, and as always, I'll reStack ASAP 🙏