Happy Birthday, Congressman Raskin!

Back in July 2015, I posted a blog article titled "Happy Birthday, Senator Graham!” That was on the occasion of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s 60^th birthday—but I thought more of him then than in the years since.

This post is about Representative Jamie Raskin, who celebrates his 60^th birthday next Tuesday. I do not expect to be disappointed in him as I have been in Sen. Graham. 

Jamin Ben Raskin was born on December 13, 1962, the son of Jewish parents and the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants to the U.S.  Raskin, who goes by the name Jamie, has B.A. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University.

For more than 25 years Raskin was a constitutional law professor at American University Washington College of Law. In 2006, he was elected to the Maryland Senate, where he served until 2016 when he was elected as Maryland’s 8^th district Representative to the U.S. Congress.

On July 1, 2021, Raskin was one of the seven Democrats appointed to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Last month with nearly 80% of the vote, he was re-elected as a Representative for the third time.

Raskin has long lived in Takoma Park, Md., a D.C. suburban city that is adjacent to Silver Spring (where my two sons live).

Rep. Raskin suffered an “unthinkable” week from the last day of 2020 to January 6, 2021. The tragic story of that week, and much more, is told in his book Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy (2022).

On December 31, 2020, Raskin's office announced that his son Tommy, a graduate of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring and a second-year student at Harvard Law School, died at the age of 25.

(My younger son, Ken, has taught at Blair for more than 20 years now, but he didn’t know Tommy; currently there are around 3,600 students at Blair, the largest public high school in Maryland.)

On January 4, 2021, Raskin and his wife posted an online tribute to their son, stating that following a prolonged battle with depression, Tommy had died by suicide. That was an unthinkable tragedy for the Raskin family.

In a farewell note, Tommy wrote, "Please forgive me. My illness won today. Look after each other, the animals and the global poor. All my love, Tommy."

Tommy was buried on January 5. On the very next day, Rep. Raskin was in the Capitol with his daughter and son-in-law during the January 6 Capitol attack.

On that fateful day, Raskin had to experience the unthinkable attack on the U.S. Capitol—with the realistic fear that he could be killed along with many others gathered there on what should have been routine congressional business.

Hours later he began drafting an article of impeachment against President Trump, and six days later House Speaker Pelosi named Raskin the lead manager of Trump's second impeachment.

His book, Unthinkable, focuses on his son's life as well as his preparation for the impeachment trial. Whether you read all the book or not, I highly recommend reading the powerful 35-page Prologue.

(Raskin’s book should be available in most public libraries; I read the Kindle version checked out from my local library.)

Rep. Raskin is a man of intelligence, empathy, and moral integrity—at least that is my appraisal of him at this time.

We often hear negative things said about the top politicians in the country. I had a friend who regularly referred to the Congresscritters. And, sadly, there are some of Raskin’s colleagues in the 435-member House of Representatives who doubtlessly merit widespread criticism.

While I regret that there are many current House members who are of rather small caliber—and many of those have been re-elected for another two years—I am grateful that there are also many Representatives of high quality, and certainly Rep. Raskin is one of the best.

The House will likely be rather chaotic in the coming two years, but after the 2024 election I strongly hope for a better House with more exemplary members like Raskin.

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Note: I asked the Chat GTP online AI program (https://chat.openai.com/chat) to improve my concluding paragraph. I agree with their lengthier, and unaltered, statement, which was produced in less than ten seconds:

In the coming two years, the House of Representatives may experience a great deal of turmoil and unrest. However, after the 2024 election, I am hopeful that we will see a more cohesive and effective House, with members who are dedicated to serving the best interests of the American people. One such member who exemplifies these qualities is Representative Jamie Raskin, who has shown himself to be a thoughtful and principled leader. I believe that with more members like Raskin, the House will be better able to tackle the challenges facing our nation and work towards a brighter future for all Americans.