One of his most impressive works was a long spoken-word piece called “Where War Begins,” in which Tommy compares the violence humans wage against animals to the violence humans wage against each other.
And he was an avid vegan, eager to press the ethical case for veganism without resorting to self-righteous indignation. In one essay, he sharply observed, “We may object to Trump’s condescending rhetoric and galling outbursts about so-called shithole countries, but at the end of the day, we share in his general indifference to the preventable horrors that befall many inhabitants of these countries.” He sought to challenge people, especially liberals and progressives comfortable with their assumptions. (He also did stand-up comedy.) He was a natural-born philosopher. He wrote poems and essays to explore moral questions and advance his own moral vision. From an early age, as Raskin writes, Tommy was an amateur ethicist, obsessed-in a good way-with determining how a human ought to live in this imperfect world. His candid answer surprised and moved me.Īnd while I have your attention, let me ask you to also watch the below video of Tommy. And I asked Raskin what critique of the book the always-astute Tommy would have. We discussed Trump’s plot to overturn the election results and how close it came to succeeding. I asked how one writes about not one but two unfathomable traumas while still rocked by each. Instead, we did it online and recorded the chat. We could have done this while walking our dogs (our regular paths overlap). This is an elegantly crafted and painfully honest book.Ī few days ago, Raskin and I discussed Unthinkable, Tommy, and the impeachment. And with erudition, grace, and disquiet, he examines the present danger to democracy. He examines the connections between his family’s tragedy and that which befell the nation days later. He writes with gut-wrenching frankness about the depression that Tommy could not escape and his own grief and guilt. (His father and I are friends and neighbors.) Raskin’s depiction of his remarkable son is both inspiring and almost unbearably heartbreaking, given the far-too-soon ending to his story. I knew him and can attest that he was an unusually excellent human being. Tommy, a Harvard law student at the time of his death, was brilliant, creative, empathetic, perceptive, and passionate. It is a stunning work: a biography of Tommy, an account of one of the worst days in the life of America, and a behind-the-scenes recounting of the effort to hold Trump accountable for his assault on the republic. Raskin has written a poignant, sad, insightful, and compelling memoir of those weeks: Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy. Quite an accomplishment for a former constitutional law professor, especially under the horrific personal circumstances. That was 10 votes shy of the 67 votes required for a conviction but the largest bipartisan vote for an impeachment conviction in US history.
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How to do that with the burden of immense suffering? The trial ended in a majority vote for conviction, 57 to 43, with seven Republicans finding Trump guilty, and the other members of the minority party essentially accepting Trump’s betrayal. That entailed devising the legal arguments and strategies for the trial in the Senate-and assuming the high-profile role as chief prosecutor. Yet Raskin, amid the deepest grief, took on a weighty assignment: leading the House managers for the second impeachment of Donald Trump. Yet for Raskin, his wife, Sarah, and their daughters, these different nightmares were intertwined, each striking at and undermining core assumptions about life and their world. These two traumas were distinct, one personal and intimate, the other with ramifications for an entire nation. The three lived through the harrowing hours, as Trump-inspired insurrectionists attacked Congress and tried to stop the transfer of power. Days later, Raskin was at the Capitol on January 6, with his daughter Hannah and the husband of his other daughter, Tabitha, for the certification of the electoral vote. On the last day of 2020, Tommy Raskin, the 25-year-old son of Rep.
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Our Land is written by David twice a week and provides behind-the-scenes stories about politics and media his unvarnished take on the events of the day film, books, television, and music recommendations interactive audience features and more. Editor’s note: This interview first appeared in Our Land, David Corn’s new newsletter.
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