The Jack Hopkins Show Podcast
The Jack Hopkins Show Podcast; where stories about the power of focus and resilience are revealed by the people who lived those stories
Jack Hopkins has been studying human behavior for over three-decades. He's long had a passion for having conversations with fascinating people, and getting them to share the wisdom they've acquired through years of being immersed in their area of expertise, and overcoming the challenges and obstacles that are almost always part of the equation.
The Jack Hopkins Show Podcast
Stand Up for Democracy: The Call to Action on 3-14 from Jessica Denson
In a critical conversation about the current challenges facing democracy, this episode focuses on the proactive measures needed to reclaim power from authoritarian influences.
With the march on March 14th on the horizon, the discussion emphasizes the essential role of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and how it serves as a bulwark against political threats.
Our host and guest delve into personal narratives that not only recount past struggles but also highlight the momentum building behind this upcoming event.
Listeners are encouraged to join the movement as they explore the core reasons why collective action is vital for preserving democratic values. The energy is palpable as our hosts compel citizens from all walks of life—not just political activists—to lend their voices in this fight. This episode functions as both a rallying cry and a guide, outlining how individuals can engage in meaningful ways.
In these tumultuous times, the message is clear: Everyone has a stake in the fight for democracy. Tune in to understand the urgency of action and how you can contribute positively.
The hosts invite you to embrace this vital conversation and prepare to make your voice count—starting with joining the march on March 14th. Make your plans to participate, because your presence matters in the fight for our shared future. Let’s ensure that we stand united, not just for ourselves, but for generations to come.
Jessica Denson is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist, actress, and communications professional. She has appeared in television series such as "Show Me a Hero" (2015) and "Person of Interest" (2011).
In 2016, Denson worked on Donald Trump's presidential campaign and later sued the campaign for workplace harassment.
She also challenged the campaign's nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), leading to a federal judge invalidating these NDAs in 2023. Denson continues to engage in public discourse, advocating for transparency and accountability in political processes.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter https://wwwJackHopkinsNow.com
All right, jessica, welcome. This is your second time on the Jack Hopkins Show podcast and what a thrill it is to have you back. You've always got such energy about what you are doing and I can tell you are bursting at the seams with energy today to tell me what's going on.
Speaker 2:Jack, thank you so much for having me back. Such a pleasure to be on with you. We are doing 14th, now 2.0. Last time I was here, we talked about how we were peacefully protesting and organizing in Washington DC to pressure Congress to reject Trump's electors based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which they were obligated to do and should have on January 6th. It was an amazing movement and we realized that was really just our warm up act. We are living through the horrors. My God, what are we a month into this administration? I'm about to talk to Timothy Ryback on my show, who wrote a book about Hitler and how he dismantled democracy in 53 days. I mean, this is, we have no time to Zero. So we are organizing the first major demonstration in the nation's capital on 3-14. We're taking our numbers. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Speaker 1:Beautiful.
Speaker 2:Extending this movement to all. It is a call to veterans, it is a call to people who are aligned with Ukraine in the free world, to people afraid of losing their Social Security with Ukraine in the free world, to people afraid of losing their social security, to friends and allies of the immigrant community, to anyone and everyone who does not want to let democracy die on our watch and stand up for freedom in this vital hour where we have no time to waste. So we're doing this again on 3-14. I will tell you, jack, this time it is going to be massive. We have an incredible momentum behind us and you can find out everything about it at nowmarchorg, which is the same website. The 14th Now, grassroots Organization has kept alive and we're doing this again nowmarchorg nowmarchorg yeah.
Speaker 1:And take as many times as you want throughout this episode and remind people where to go nowmarchorg.
Speaker 2:Okay, and take as many times as you want throughout this episode and remind people where to go. Yes, nowmarchorg, and the event is called Now DC, now DC. We're in affiliation with 5051 and they've done such amazing work across the country in these 50 state, 50 event protests, but we realize we really need to pick one day to concentrate all of the effort in their faces Jack, in their effing faces, okay to let them know that we, the people, have the power. We're claiming that power and we're not going to stand another second for this authoritarian coup that they're trying to pull off.
Speaker 1:And that's exactly what it is. It is. Take just a moment, if you will and I mean I know and you know, but just for anybody listening that might not be clear talk to me about what has changed in terms of our reality since just the last time that we spoke. I don't know exactly how long that was ago, but it wasn't that long ago.
Speaker 2:It's really unthinkable, I think. To be honest with you, Jack, the only thing that makes me feel not as scared and outraged as the average citizen is the fact that I'm so actively working against it.
Speaker 2:I don't even have time to absorb it, but when you do step back for a second, it's unthinkable. Unthinkable the fact that Elon Musk and this group of 20-year-old hackers has seized our Treasury Department and multitude of other agencies. Thousands of federal workers have been fired. Migrants who came into this process legally seeking asylum are sitting in Guantanamo Bay. We are aligned with Russia and North Korea against the free world. I mean, this is just, you know, the tip of the iceberg. We've got about 60 days left on an executive order that Trump put out on day one, saying military. Tell me how I can invoke the Insurrection Act.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I mean it's it's unthinkable. It's unthinkable. And to think that we can just piecemeal address this. And I'm all for listen. I'm all for the legal advocacy. You know I'm all for listen. I'm all for the legal advocacy. You know I'm a legal advocate. So I'm all for using the courts and every mechanism and God bless every organization, entity, ag, whoever that's doing that. But we have to take broad strokes. We have to be talking about impeaching and removing this man immediately. We have to be talking about the continued disqualification that he has. He's an illegitimate president. I had this conversation with a constitutional scholar last night on Lights On Like. We have the people in power that purport to be on our side. As much as we love them the Jasmine Crockett's, the Bernie Sanders they need to be not just given great speeches and great TikTok videos, okay, they need to be using the legislative tools that they have come together as a caucus and start normalizing the conversation about getting Donald Trump, elon Musk and JD Vance the hell out of power because they do not have authority to be there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And you know, last night and I'll preface this by saying I'm not suggesting that this would have been any more effective in terms of changing something other than the impact that it would have on the people watching. And first of all, I applaud Al Green last night Al Green, all the way right.
Speaker 1:Yes, and the only thing I can see and I'm just basing this on my personality had it have been me, it would have probably taken more hands-on action by the sergeant at arms to remove me. I might not have gone as willingly, and what just wrapped my head sideways was to watch that Al Green was the only Democrat that had to be removed. I would have liked to have seen that entire speech interrupted by every single Democrat having to be removed.
Speaker 2:Thank you, yes, 100 percent, jack. I mean that's what I said leading up to it that entire caucus needed to have a unified walkout. That's what needed to happen last night. They could have. What an opportunity, and we can't afford any more missed opportunities for.
Speaker 2:God's sakes, what an opportunity they would have had to completely steal the show, walk out of that collectively as a caucus, stage their own press conference outside, declare the illegitimacy of this unconstitutional president. I mean a lot of them it's. You know, after January 6th. Those of us in the 14th Now movement have a particular kind of disdain for anyone who tries to invoke the Constitution now without acknowledging how they abandoned it on January 6th. But we do have a Constitution. We have violated the threshold issue.
Speaker 2:Getting this man into that White House where he's basically a squatter, has no legal authority to be there. And they could have I mean, that's what I would have liked them to do in a press conference but God, they could have done anything Make a freaking statement. I mean you have to use I have these conversations on Lights On all the time, and I'm sure you do too, jack about how the Republicans don't give a shit what anybody thinks about them. They don't give a shit what anybody thinks about them. They don't give a shit about optics. They're taking our Constitution, burning it down. They are doing all kinds of things that are not even remotely tethered to law, that are literally federal crimes. It's just that we don't have a Department of Justice to enforce federal crimes at the moment, and we can't even use the law and the Constitution creatively and radically and, you know, with an inspired, visionary motive behind us. I mean, for God's sakes, start doing it.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know, I don't know whether you've noticed or not but in the last three weeks to a month, to say that I've elevated the intensity of my posts on Blue Sky and Twitter would be an understatement, and I think many people may be missing the reason I'm doing that reason I'm doing that, the reason I have done that and taken it so over the top and so intense, is because we always compare where our behavior is to someone else's, and I'm trying to get people to raise their threshold as compared to mine, Because if you get used to following me and seeing every day that I post, that just curls your hair and throws your eyelashes back without realizing it, you might find yourself being more intense in your posting and it will still be considerably below mine, mine but it will be above where your former threshold is and from my take, that's. You know, you, you talk about the republicans not giving a shit. That is their strength. Yes, I can't emphasize this enough. That is their power.
Speaker 2:I to you know to to to watch they do it. Jack, with corruption, with lies, with, with, with crimes. Can't we do it with truth, with law?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Can't we? I mean, for God's sakes, it is such, you know, this almost comes if you bring this really down to a human level and you think about like I've had, just as a woman, uh, as I've grown and my own sense of self-worth realized, like if you know somebody who doesn't respect themselves, who has a gift or a talent but they don't use it. It's such a shame. Oh that's a tragedy.
Speaker 1:You don't want to.
Speaker 2:You don't want to align with that person, right, you know, and that's I mean. Like, in my growth as an individual, I've really realized how much I have to honor and use my own gifts If you don't use them you are you know, and these people supposedly have these gifts and they sure as hell have a toolkit to use, and what a dishonor, what a disgrace that they're not using these gifts that they have.
Speaker 1:It's like playing on a baseball team with somebody who you know has the ability to hit a home run every time at bat, but they are content to step up and hit a single every time at bat because they don't want to show off or whatever other reason they come up with At some point. Potential power is wasted power. Yes, right, yes, we are on that point. Let me come back to this, because you talk about illegitimate president. Per the answer, I think it's far simpler than we want to admit. But why do you think we do not hear top Democrats talking about an illegitimate president? They know the same thing that you and I know they do.
Speaker 2:It is. It's unexcusable. Jack, first of all listen. Granted, I know that if they start acknowledging it now, they would have to address their abdication of duty on January 6th.
Speaker 1:So there's a little bit of that.
Speaker 2:But listen, I'm in the forgiveness business as soon as you come to the right side, I'm here for you.
Speaker 1:You bet, you bet.
Speaker 2:So listen, I don't know, but they need to be confronted. They genuinely need to be confronted. The media could be picking up this mantle, like you said, and I love what you said about normalizing the tone of your posts, because you understand that you and I with a platform, but frankly, each and every one of us is a narrative setter, like we are all creating the conversation Right and that's why on my show on Lights On, I'm going to put my hat on so my hair stays out of my face. Everybody's always saying Jessica, get a hair clip. It's not that easy. Normalize these conversations and get people to understand from a constitutional perspective why Donald Trump is not qualified.
Speaker 2:By the way, at nowmergeorg we have a legal authority page. It quotes and cites the preeminent constitutional scholars in our country. I had one of them on again last night on my show reiterating this point, because the Section 3 conversation is not dead. Any single one of them to this day could be simply starting a conversation, like you said. I don't know why they're doing it, but we're going to pressure the hell out of them to do it and saying this man is constitutionally disqualified. The only way that gets removed is by a two thirds vote of both houses of Congress. That's it. So failure on any level if they just start the conversation is a success. The whole national discourse about this presidency and the tools that we have to extract him from this power seat that he illegally inhabits would change if they simply acknowledged it. Damn well, time to acknowledge it.
Speaker 1:Who do you see as and there aren't many who do you see as the leaders in the Democratic Party right now spearheading things for us?
Speaker 2:Al Green. I mean, al Green is the closest that we've got. I'm going to be really honest. And people are always saying you know Jasmine Crockett, aoc, and listen, I love them. I used to have Jasmine on my show regularly. Ok, I used to have her on my show regularly, regularly, okay, I used to have her on my show regularly. The problem I have with a Jasmine Crockett an AOC, a Chris Murphy, a Bernie Sanders, any of them is that yes, they're calling out the insanity, yes, they're saying it's wrong, it's unconstitutional, they've now discovered, but they're not using the levers they have like, especially those people with the massive following that they have. Imagine if one of them joined Al Green with his articles of impeachment. Right, he's the only one that's done. It is Al Green. That entire caucus, this Donald Trump pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy on day one. That is an act of treason.
Speaker 2:This man is in one act of the multitude of illegal acts he committed on day one of his presidency, he committed treason. There should be no other conversation other than how do we get this man out of office now?
Speaker 1:There should not.
Speaker 2:And it doesn't matter, like I've had John Bonifaz on my show, he's the president of Free Speech for People. They've started a campaign to impeach Donald Trump. By the way, impeachtrumpagainorg is their website. Go sign the petition.
Speaker 1:Very good.
Speaker 2:But you know, john came on my show. He's like it doesn't matter that they don't have the numbers. That's not the point. They need to hijack the conversation, hijack the narrative, like the Republicans do All they should be talking about every day. And I'm so tired of like I I'm frankly tired jack of people who say, oh, we're gonna, like that's not the way you get through to maga, or like we don't, we don't want to offend them. We have to be inclusive. We have to talk about, like the price of eggs. I'm like it just drives me insane, right, like you just have to freaking, take the reins and talk about what is going on. And yes, people want a hero, people want a leader. They will come to you.
Speaker 1:And what they are really saying. What that conversation really always comes back and anchors to is we only want to do things from within this box because it's the box that is acceptable to us. Anything outside of it is too risky and that is a losing strategy. Yes, 100%, it is a losing strategy. Yes, you know to your point.
Speaker 1:I have people from time to time, especially in this last month, who will message me and say Jack, with some of my posts, Jack, you're hurting your brand. Well, first of all, look, my brand is an accident. I did never set out to be. You're like me, Right, I'm just who I am and a brand developed. But I don't get on thinking about a brand. We look. The idea that somebody would think that anyone is working towards their brand, if they're really dedicated to preserving democracy, is nuts to me. It's nuts to me. We are in. It's now or never. As you indicated within the first 60 seconds. It's now or never. As you indicated within the first 60 seconds. It's now or never. There's no time for wait. There's no time for let's see what it's now.
Speaker 2:It is, it is 100% and what you're saying? Like your brand, I'm the same way. I fell into this by accident because, um, you know, I I have no ambitions, even right now, of being a podcaster. Like, that is not my thing, I'm just I have a voice.
Speaker 1:It's just an extension.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I mean, I just simply have a voice and a and a perspective and an understanding that I have to share with you, so I have a podcast.
Speaker 1:And to, to. To that point, look, and I'm sure you know I I've never used this platform to, to you know, call people out on air. I won't do that now. But one thing that is very irritating to me I do know, and so do you, um, so do you, social media influencers who are primarily concerned about their brand and who do only post certain things and a certain way because their brand is the primary concern and not the fight. And look, I don't give a shit if my entire Can we name names?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we could. I think they'd both be the same right. Once we get over the hump, I don't care if everything I have here dissolves and goes away.
Speaker 2:Tell me about it.
Speaker 1:It's not about that. No, it's about I want my daughters, my son, to be able to live in the kind of country that you grew up in and that I grew up in. That's what it's about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100 percent. Listen, I'll name names and I don't know if you were talking about Midas Touch, but we probably talked last time I was here about the fact that I had to leave their network to talk about election anomalies and then the Section three conversation.
Speaker 2:They just ran a complete counterative, trying to tell Democrats that they didn't have to do anything. I guess you know Trump is good for business. Like you said, it's self-preservation. But I put out a call on my network, on my show on Lights On last week. I said you know what? Midas Touch is out there saying they're fearless and independent now and they went on MSNBC saying they're now the pro-constitution, pro-democracy channel.
Speaker 2:I'm like wow you discovered the Constitution Great Right, by the way, since you're fearless and independent and you're now the pro-constitution platform. Here's what you need to do you need to promote the hell out of 314. You need to send all of the Midas Mighty to nowmarchorg to get the peaceful masses, millions of people in Washington DC on 314 to take a stand for our democracy and say no, this is not okay anymore. So any of your viewers today, I'll invite them to flood Midas Touch with comments on Blue Sky, twitter, instagram, youtube, wherever your chosen platform is. Flood them with comments about 314, nowmarchorg and ask the Midas brothers, the Mycelis brothers, especially Ben and Popak on Legal AF. Ask them why they're not promoting nowmarchorg and hopefully we get them on board.
Speaker 1:And viewers and listeners of the Jack Hopkins Show podcast. You now have your homework assignment. There you go, so tell me a little bit about the response that you had and the internal feedback from your last event and how much of that played a role in the one that's coming up.
Speaker 2:You know what? It was incredible and and it was not. It was not a massive showing of bodies in DC on that day. Granted, it was about sub. It was sub zero, I mean it was. I have never been so freezing and been both in pain and yet not able to feel my feet at the same time Right, right, Numbness and pain kind of a weird combination, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we were troopers out there, but I will tell you we raised a lot of money. We had an incredible amount of support from all over the world and I will tell you and Congress knew we were there after we gave our speeches. We had seven speakers over three days. I mean it was the understanding from those of us, from those that were aware of us, without massive publicity. You were wonderful in platforming us a few others, but there was not massive publicity other than my own show. So, with the limited reach that we had, the amount of support was extraordinary and we were in those halls of Congress.
Speaker 2:I met Adam Schiff the day that they were sworn in on this Congress. We were in the offices of so many lawmakers. They knew we were there. We put them on notice and I will tell you was we were kind of branding this event now DC, um and I was talking to some of the people at 50 51 and kind of just talk, talking about what we were going to call this event and, um, he's like you know what you have with 14th now is is really special and it's established and people understand what it is and I think, um, you know, you know we say on the website.
Speaker 2:We stood in the breach. We really laid down a marker for history and it was extremely important. And, like I said, jack, I really feel like that first movement was just. I wish it didn't have to be, I wish it was the end, I wish they listened to us, but it was the warm-up act for what we're doing now and I thank God for all of both the scholars that have been brave enough and clear enough to state what the constitutional requirement is for what we're dealing with, and the people around the country who have had the intellectual curiosity to be engaged in this enough. So it's a beautiful movement and, like you'll see on nowmarchorg yes, 14th Now is the organization. We're doing the legwork. But listen, this movement is for anyone and everyone. You want to take your place in history. You don't want to wait anymore. You know we can't wait anymore. This movement is for you.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. You know one thing. I asked your name, you said Al Green. Al Green, yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2:That's it.
Speaker 1:Look, I have been for several weeks now. I have been aggressively calling out leaders within our own party, in the Democratic Party, and I've caught a lot of hell for that, and my response to that is will you better keep bringing a lot of hell then, because I'm not going to stop. Whether you are the CEO of a company, a Boy Scout leader, a third grade elementary school teacher, yeah.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter whether it is the doctor's son or the janitor's son. When somebody's not living up to what you expect out of them, you call them out, you put them on the spot. Call them out, you put them on the spot. And your refusal to do so tells me it doesn't bother you as much as you might say in your post. That's kind of encryptically coded because you don't want anybody to think you're actually calling out the elected leader. You know what I mean? We are not in mamby pamby time here. We are in direct black and white, clear, no ambiguity. Yes, and so I follow up with them. How do you think with public leverage, what tools do we have to get them? Let's speak about Jasmine Crockett, for example. I think what Jasmine Crockett has become very good at is creating viral moments Right, viral moments, and they're feel-good videos to watch and to like and to pass on and you get a little charge. But if that's all there is, you do that, I do that, right, lots of people do that Right.
Speaker 1:Use the power and the tools that you have, don't just talk about them Exactly, and in some cases, they won't even talk about them because they're afraid that if they do, then they might be expected to use them. Yeah, it's insane to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. I mean, you're asking me how do we get them to do it? I mean one thing I've seen so many comments from my viewers that say I'm not giving these Democrats another dime. They're out there begging for money. I'm not giving them another dime until they start doing something as you said doing something? And do we want to defund our party? No, but we damn well have to use the leverage. We have to get them to do what they need to do. It's all we have. We have to use it.
Speaker 2:By the way, I think they're incredibly naive to think that we're going to have any semblance of a normal election in two years or four years, with Elon Musk and Donald Trump right rolling elections, you know, taking over the FEC, destroying mail in, voting through the post office, god, all God knows what else you know they have cooked up to to stop people from being able to vote. You know Donald Trump made a comment a few weeks ago about how the midterms are going to be fixed. And the blue? You know the blue is just going to disappear off the map. I mean, are we, do we really, are we hearing any of this? We really think we're just going to another election cycle and things are going on. They're not. They're not.
Speaker 2:So, I mean with Jasmine in particular, and listen. I love what she's done, I love her voice, I love her fight.
Speaker 1:Oh, I do too. I love all of that.
Speaker 2:But especially with people like her. We have to be tough on them.
Speaker 1:Yes, we do.
Speaker 2:We cannot right now, like we were talking about a few minutes ago, the talent's wasted. We can't cheer them on when they're not using those talents, the real talents. We have to withhold that praise until they really put up.
Speaker 1:You know what? I'm going to catch hell for this. But I catch hell all the time anyway, so it doesn't matter. I tell people all the time human behavior, it's just like training a puppy. It is exactly like training a puppy. Puppy, it is exactly like training a puppy. Yeah, if you reinforce behavior you do not want, you are going to get more of the behavior you do not want. It's very simple, and yet I see people all the time rewarding the very incompetence they say they're angry about.
Speaker 2:Thank, Thank you yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a very great point and you boiled it down to a very simple metaphor, and it's very true.
Speaker 1:It'll turn into a jack calling women dogs. You know something like that.
Speaker 2:I didn't hear that. I didn't hear it you know.
Speaker 1:look. Here's the thing is. I think I found out, as you have to Look, if you're going to be online, if you are going to be on social media, if you're going to do podcasts, look, there's going to be a segment of the population that's going to take anything you say, turn it around and demonize it. So I just say what I want to say anyway, because you can't prevent it, so might as well communicate the message. Yes, what's been the strangest, most mind-boggling thing you've encountered when you are out Talking to people within our own party man, I'm talking higher up the food chain what resistance, if any? Maybe you haven't run into any at all, but what resistance, if any, have you run into? That just kind of rocked you back on your heels and, to give you an example, you just brought one up. Look, anytime I hear Democrats talking about the midterms as though they're going to be normal midterms, I'm like what world are you living?
Speaker 1:on right now. This is stupid. It is stupid to say it's not going to be normal. There may, in fact, not be midterms. If you want to get right down to it, yeah. So what do you encounter?
Speaker 2:With the higher ups. Oh man, where do we start here? I mean listen, let's.
Speaker 2:Let me give you a few things. So I've had some private conversations just on the election anomaly front that I've delved into deeply, on Lights, on fearlessly handled the gaslighting. I've had some conversations I won't name names with other people with massive platforms bigger than yours or mine, jack, and they have privately told me that their conversations with other high-ups in the Democratic Party were conversations where people acknowledged that they thought something was wrong with the election. What a tragedy, what a tragedy that these people acknowledged that privately but could not give a peep about it publicly. And I just heard I mean we've had little peeps, you know, after the night before Trump was illegally inaugurated, of course, that insane rally where he thanked Elon Musk for his good work with the vote counting machines, and right after that you had Jasmine Crockett and Dan Goldman make comments. I mean this was like where have you people been? They acknowledged it and it's like, oh my God, where have you been? We've been screaming from the rooftops and I heard just today, apparently Maxine Waters acknowledged it, which is great. It's great when they do. I'm glad that they do, but the fact that they missed that boat and we are likely living with a man who was not elected, who is tearing apart our democracy and engaged in authoritarian coup like we are already hungry and on our way to Russia Like we're already there. It's unthinkable.
Speaker 2:But one other thing I was going to say about private conversations, like when we were in the halls of Congress in those few days in early January, with 14th now, trying to get them to reject Trump's electors. There was a lot of receptivity, both from actual members of Congress not Adam Schiff, by the way, I mean he was very stoic when I talked to him but from other members of Congress and their staff. There seemed to be a real understanding and acknowledgement and, you know, empathy with the cause. And these people remember Jack. I mean in those halls of Congress, most of those people lived through what Donald Trump did four years before that disqualified him, that deadly insurrection where his supporters left feces on our statues honoring, you know, the founders of this country. I mean it was unthinkable for them. On a very personal level, Sure.
Speaker 2:So to go from that experience to then watching, on January 6th, the deafening silence.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Not one peep from one of them. Right, it was like watching a zombie apocalypse.
Speaker 1:I mean I it's hard to convey the way that I felt, and I think most of us involved in this movement felt- when you mentioned there were members of congress who have acknowledged and know deep down at the cellular level that something was wrong with the election and yet have never come out on MSNBC, CNN, anywhere on a big platform and said look, here's a problem. I've had things like that come onto my radar while I've been sitting in here before, and on the other side of my studio is my son's bedroom and I swear I can't tell you the number of times I've been so pissed off that I knew in that moment and that's what I felt like doing I was so pissed off I could probably get on one side of the room and run hard enough and break through the sheetrock and whatever else is in the way, into your son's bedroom.
Speaker 1:Into my son's bedroom, because that is and I guess I want to see more of that and hopefully we will that level of I'm pissed from the American citizens, right? Yes, look, you know this. This is not going to be solved purely by traditional means. It's not If the people want to stay home, if the people don't want to come to events like yours, not just so you have an okay event, but so you have an event that gets national, maybe international, news coverage. If people aren't willing to do that, then they are communicating pretty clearly that they are willing to lose their Social Security, that they are willing to lose Medicare, that they are willing to just lay down.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so many millions of people and you know them have said throughout their life, when speaking of the Holocaust, it would have never went down like that here, or if I was there, or whatever. Show us, yeah, show us.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because right now what we are watching is you are online or in line to board the cattle car.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to board the cattle car.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now, that may sound like over the top, but if it does, the person it sounds over the top to is not paying attention.
Speaker 2:It's not over the top. You know that saying. And then they came for me, right. And then they came for me and one of the books that I has become a motto for my show which is, I'm sure, book that you know well is Timothy Snyder's on tyranny um, or one of the chapters, and it's the chapter titled stand out, stand out, um, and it's something that maybe feels uncomfortable at first.
Speaker 2:Uh, you have to get past that original initial feeling of discomfort and, by the way, it's the best thing in the world, like honestly if you're just living a comfortable life and you're not looking and ignorance is bliss to you like that is freaking, boring life, sorry it's, it's, it's useless right it is, it is, it is, and I just want to take that to like a lot of this feels doom and gloom.
Speaker 2:But one thing that I and this is my spiritual upbringing and foundation that brings me here, jack is that I look at this as like an adventure and an honor. Absolutely. Yeah, it is, it is. I mean both of those things. Like to think that I mean we're living in our own like spy novel. I mean it's incredible, it's really incredible the opportunity that we have right now, like how could you sit this one out?
Speaker 1:It's so fantastic to hear someone else say that, because I post quite often. Actually, I say it to my wife or somebody every day. And my wife at first looked at me like she was ready to take me to the nut house. You know she really was. But I said, babe, I am so grateful that I was born at a time that I get to do what I'm doing right now, playing my own little role in this fight for democracy. If you could lift me out of this moment, insert me to any future or past timeline and say, okay, you wouldn't have to live through all that, I would say, hell, no, don't you even think about it, you leave me right here yeah not everybody is this lucky.
Speaker 1:now, when I post that, I do get a lot of feedback from people say oh well, I don't know, I it's not. Look, it's a mindset. Yes, flip it over, because from the mindset you and I are talking about you, you become inspired and empowered and you want to do things and you are willing to stand out. Yes, it changes everything.
Speaker 2:It does, it really does. And if we could, jack I mean what you just said is everything If everybody did that, change the mindset and really everything is mental Folks, it's all mental. It really is if we change the mindset. And that's the thing with 14th now and 314, understand the power that we hold oh, jessica, jessica, jessica, it.
Speaker 1:It is awe-inspiring, it is mind-boggling. We have the power. We do Right this instant yes, we do To change it all. To change it all and, like you said, there are no physical blockades. No, it is a mental blockade that only requires flipping it over to the other side, where you become inspired, invigorated and wake up excited each day because you are going to help preserve democracy. And if you've got 350, we're not going to get that half. But if you wake up with 100 million people, 100 million people doing that each day and saying what can I do today? And pushing the envelope and go bumping up against your previous day's limits and going, nah, I'm going past that today, then then we don't have an issue.
Speaker 1:Nope, just got to turn the lights on that's it, that's it, and we need our leadership to mirror that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's it and that's like. That's literally like we, the people, have to be the ones modeling the behavior.
Speaker 1:We do the leaders aren't doing it. Yeah, it's going to be an inverse flow. Yes, and what I mean by that is we have to be such leaders as citizens of this country that we shame our democratic leaders, who look at us and go, oh my God, they are doing our job. Yeah, how humiliating. And they either up their game and start becoming leaders or get the hell out and let someone in who will.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. To anybody watching this again, remind them of the site of your event. Oh, nowmarchorg, that one, nowmarchorg, that one, nowmarchorg that one and that it's uh march 14th march 14th, 3, 14 it's.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of symbolism there. Jack, it's. It's 3, 14, section 304. It's also pi day. It's the day before the ides of march. It's a national strike day. It's a lot, a lot of things going on on 314.
Speaker 1:Also, the budget deadline is on 314. We're going to be there in their faces as that's going down. Fantastic, fantastic. What would be your parting message to those who have been watching, listening, going? Yeah, I mean. Yeah, that would be cool to go to that. What would you say?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's going to be more than cool. It's going to be hot. Listen, you are going to change history. On that day, if we accomplish our mission, 314 will change the course of history, and whether we accomplish that mission or not is all in your hands. It's in your hands.
Speaker 1:And how right you are. This is not. This is not. How do I want to say this? You are putting this together, you are making this happen, but this does not come down to jessica dinson oh no anything that I'm doing.
Speaker 1:It doesn't you know? If there's a message that I post or an article that I write that inspires people, it it's not about Jack Hopkins, it's about how many people read it, are inspired and then take action. You are giving people the opportunity to be part of the collective that does something that changes history, and I can't help but think that one of the reasons you're doing this is because you realize, just as we said a moment ago, that it's the people, we, the people who have to be the leadership that we've watched for a month now, over a month. Our elected leaders to this point, almost all of them have failed us in that regard. Almost all of them have failed us in that regard. They've given glimpses of what might fall under the heading of leadership, but it stops there.
Speaker 1:The follow-through comes from the people, the very people who will show up at 314 and be part of the collective flood that sends a message we're not doing this. Yeah, we are not going to do this, and we will continue showing up in mass until you figure that out, until you figure that out. And, man, if you're watching this, if you're listening to this, if you've never done anything like this, do something just beyond the threshold. Make your travel arrangements right now, whether you fly, whether you drive, whether you take a bus, whether you take Amtrak, get there. Get there so that on the 15th, the 16th, the 17th, you can look back and say you know what, when I post something now it has meaning. Now it has meaning because I've done something. I was there, I was part of the people who showed up, and so now I can bitch about an elected leader who's not doing their part, because I have taken a step.
Speaker 2:I've done my part.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah absolutely, and I can just tell you, like I've been, I was there with 5051 at the Capitol on President's Day. They had a Not my President's Day protest across the country. There is nothing that compares to being in that energy and in that environment and taking your stand. And, by the way, there are a lot of American flags. Bring your American flag to 314. Fantastic idea. We are the true patriots. We are reclaiming and establishing and making crystal clear what America stands for. So bring those symbols of patriotism, real patriotism, to DC. Dc on 314.
Speaker 1:Great point, and what we watched last night on television was not what America stands for.
Speaker 2:I don't watch it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what? It's one of those things. Only because I know I'm going to comment on it in the coming days and I did something that I've done before on State of the Union addresses and things like that, but I'll just real-time tweet or post and I did probably close to 100 last night throughout that two hours and I was brutal, brutal.
Speaker 2:Good for you.
Speaker 1:But you know what, until we accomplish our mission, I'm going to continue to be brutal. We can't be wallflowers, you know what? No, and I got a message the other day and I get these messages, but I'm just pointing out this one and it was a young man who said and I he didn't didn't know which particular post of mine he read, but since they've all been pretty over the top lately um, it was one of those. And he said I just wanted to thank you. He said you, you've inspired me to start using my voice. Yeah, that's what we should all be trying to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:When we post not just having somebody read our threshold level enough that we then post something that inspires somebody, it's going to take all of us, yeah, all of us. So, jessica, first I want to tell you this, first I want to tell you this For the work that you did on the past event and the work you're doing now on this one, thank you Sincerely. Thank you Because this isn't something you have to be doing. That's what I want to point out, and there's real power in that. You know, if somebody's doing something that's part of their job or their boss told them to do not, that it doesn't count. It does if it's meaningful. But oh my God, there is nothing like that self-inspired, self-driven. I'm doing this because I believe. I believe in this, and that's, jessica Denson, and that's something I really admire and respect about you.
Speaker 2:You're the real deal.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I mean listen when I when I this was born of the coverage I was doing on Lights On before January, and it brought out this incredible group of grassroots organizers, none of us having ever done anything like this before, and I could not do it without them. You know, if they're watching, I hope they are. Do it without them. You know, if they're watching, I hope they are. Please understand that they are.
Speaker 2:I'm not doing this alone. There is an incredible group behind me, small but mighty group, who is just like you and me, jack. We're just citizens who are watching what's happening in front of us and saying we can't stand down here. We have to do something. And we don't know how to do it. We'll figure it out. Never got a permit for the National Mall before. We'll find out how to get that permit. Never put on a massive production. We'll figure out how to do it. And that's. You know, like I was on a podcast last week where we were having all kinds of technical difficulties and I said what we did to make this work. Let this be a metaphor for like what we have to do as a country and citizens right now. Like it's going to be messy, it's not. We're going to have to learn from scratch. We're going to have to improvise.
Speaker 1:Let's just get in and get dirty and get it done Right, so um and you've demonstrated over and over you're willing to get in and get dirty, and you also know that we're not in the typical framework.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it is frightening.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But, like you said, and this is what I would impart to other people, you said but, like you said, and this is what I would impart to other people you said I stay so busy, I stay so focused that I really don't really feel fear to the level that I probably should because I'm so busy. And that is what I would say to anybody else Take Jessica's cue stay so focused, so busy that you can't. Stay so focused, so busy that you can't. Look, I know I've kept you like probably like three hours longer than what you probably had to a lot to me and I thank you. Uh, I took like the third time you glanced at the clock I was like, okay, she's got.
Speaker 2:I love being here with you, jack. You're such your, your, your, your company is so pleasant. I genuinely mean that your guests must all feel that way with you, because you make somebody feel so at home, and it's just a wonderful environment that you have here. On the Jack Hopkins podcast. So I'm only watching, because I have an interview that starts in 20 minutes.
Speaker 1:Listen, you come back anytime, and I mean when you, when, when, anytime you reach out to me, we will. We'll bring everything to a hold and we will make it work for what you have going on. That I promise you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, my friend. That means a lot and we're going to have to have you on lights on sometime.
Speaker 1:I'd love it.
Speaker 2:Cross pollination. Okay, you bet. Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Listen. Good luck on your next gig in 20 minutes and thank you, thank you, thank you, my friend, my pleasure.
