"Despite very fine doctors and a loving family and friendship network of hundreds who adored him beyond words and whom he adored too, the pain became overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable," they wrote. In a moving online tribute last week, Raskin, and his wife, former Obama administration treasury official Sarah Bloom Raskin, wrote of their son's affinity for playing jazz piano, writing and performing one-act plays and "teaching our dogs foreign languages." But they also noted that he "began to be tortured later in his 20s by a blindingly painful and merciless" depression. Please look after each other, the animals, and the global poor for me." He left behind a suicide note that read "My illness won today. He was studying at Harvard Law School, his father's alma mater. The area around the Capitol has been ringed by climb-proof fencing, National Guard troops have been deployed and the nearby Washington Monument closed.Īs concerns about security in Washington grow, the memory of Tommy Raskin is still fresh. The FBI has now warned of more, potentially armed, protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of Biden's inauguration on 20 January. "I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country" the president said. "The president has become a clear and present danger to the Republic."įor his part, Trump insisted Tuesday that what he said shortly before the mob forced its way into the Capitol "was totally appropriate" and called his looming impeachment "a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics." "The president didn't want to let go, and the fruit of his obsession with his big lie that he had actually won the election was this nightmarish assault on Congress," Raskin said. Raskin noted a wooden gallows that was erected on the nearby grounds and suggested that the rioters, some of whom had chanted "Hang Mike Pence," intended to kidnap the vice president and other leaders and execute them. They were unsettled by Barack Obama becoming the nation's first African-American president, he added, and now "have a full blown, independent reality, totally cut apart from the world of facts." Many of the rioters storming the Capitol, Raskin said, were used to a world in which white people were "a comfortable, commanding majority in this country. Speaker Nancy Pelosi named him lead manager of the House team that will present testimony during Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, similar to the role Raskin played when the president was impeached in 2019 and ultimately acquitted last year. In the midst of grief, Raskin is bringing a certain clarity in outlining societal ills that led to the Capitol being overrun. Tom Cole said Tuesday, during a House Rules Committee hearing. "I wanted to tell Mr Raskin how much we grieve with him for his loss and how much we admire him for continuing to perform his duties under unimaginably difficult circumstances," Oklahoma GOP Rep. And even as many Republicans fought the Democratic effort to remove Trump, Raskin was praised by the GOP for continuing his work during such a challenging moment. He drew extended applause from his colleagues on the House floor last week just before the insurrection began. With the collision of his personal tragedy and a national trauma, Raskin is emerging as a unique figure in a polarized Congress. "So we have to be very tough, and very strong right now in defending the Constitution and democracy." That is an absolute powder keg in terms of an assault on democracy," Raskin said of the riot in an interview. "That is the groundwork for fascism, when you add racism, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theory and magical thinking. Donald Trump vows to 'never drop out' of 2024 presidential bid believes Biden unfit to run again ‘Nation never been so embarrassed’: Trump’s vicious attack on Biden over massive military intel leak
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