U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin
Last night, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland’s 8th Congressional District appeared on a monthly national call by the advocacy group American Promise. Raskin, former law professor at American University, wrote the book Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy about the extraordinary events after his 2020 re-election to Congress. On December 31, 2020 Raskin lost his son to suicide. One week later, Raskin witnessed the January 6, 2021 Republican terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol while Congress was trying to complete the Electoral College vote count to certify the election victory of President Joe Biden. Rep. Raskin is now a member of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol. Raskin was also Lead counsel for Donald Trump‘s second impeachment trial for inciting what Raskin calls the January 6 “coup.”
Here are some highlights from the call with Rep. Raskin:
–Parties and partisanship are essential for a healthy democracy. However, people who attain elected office need to remember they are part of a nation, and must stand up for the U.S. Constitution.
–Regarding Republicans, “Lincoln’s party has become Trump’s cult of personality.”
–Some Republicans believe in “Rule or Ruin,” meaning that if they don’t win, they try to deny the election results and trash the workings of the country.
–The struggle for democracy “is really just the struggle for the truth …. That’s why the pro-insurrection forces and the pro-coup forces have to lie.”
–The internet, in addition to all of its great benefits, “has also become this startling breeding ground for lies and conspiracy theories and hatred.”
–“It’s easier to have a fascistic message than a message that reflects democracy.” He said that the goal of some Republicans is to have a country similar to “Putin’s Russia,” where democracy doesn’t exist. Now, we are in “a struggle between the democrats and the autocrats.”
–Republican messaging involves picking a simple scapegoat each week, such as Critical Race Theory (CRT). For Democrats, the messaging job is tougher, because they tackle big issues like climate change and education, and come up with actual concrete programs to achieve progress on these matters.
–Regarding the fragility of American Democracy that was tested on January 6, “we came very close to losing it all on that night.” Raskin says the U.S. came as close to fascism as he hopes we ever get.
–Congressional hearings on the January 6 terrorist attack are planned for the end of May and the beginning of June, and will be followed by a comprehensive report.
–The January 6 insurrection was “a coup organized by the President against the Vice-President and the Congress.” Raskin called it “the greatest political crime in American history.”
–Donald Trump tried to commit election fraud by asking the Georgia Secretary of State to find him 11,780 extra votes after Trump lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.
–Under the Republicans’ January 6 coup plans, Trump might have declared martial law.
–Going forward, at minimum, we will need fortifications of the U.S. Capitol, including shatter-proof glass; some reforms to the Electoral Count Act which the January 6 insurrectionists tried to misuse; and most importantly, to strengthen voting rights across the country.
–“The Electoral College itself is irrational, it’s undemocratic, and now it is a danger to us.”
Photo by AFGE, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/zWPZUs
