By Regina Edmonds
Many of us in Grassroots Central Mass were really excited when we learned that Indivisible Mass Coalition (IMC) would be hosting Representative Jamie Raskin on their Statewide Call on August 27, 2024. And we were even more fired up when we learned that our own Grassroots Central Mass colleague and IMC Board member from CD-1, Karen Nothe-Valley, would be one of the three chat monitors on the call. In this role Karen and the other monitors fielded questions placed in the chat, organized the questions seen there into themes, and related the questions to elements of the speaker’s ongoing narrative. All of the monitors did a great job and we commend them all while sending out a special three cheers to “our” Karen for her incredibly positive, up-beat, informed, and fantastic interpretive, and interpersonal skills!!!
True to form, during the call Representative Raskin wowed us with his eloquent, intelligent, comprehensive, free-flowing, rapid fire, and amazing presentation of his insights. One especially high point for me was when he claimed to be a conservative, asked himself why this was true, and then launched an incredible response to his own question saying that he was conservative in the sense that he wants to conserve our land, air, water, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, civil rights, the separation of powers, and so much more. It always takes my breath away to encounter one who can speak with so much passion, wisdom, energy, and knowledge without skipping a single beat. His words inspire hope that our precious democracy can indeed endure and even thrive despite the enormous challenges facing it right now. His joyful energy empowers all listening to get up and add their voices, skills, and hard work to preserve the national values we hold dear – liberty and justice for all.
An issue I was especially glad to see addressed, primarily through the questions presented by Karen, was how to prevent chaos both before and after the November 5th election. Picking up on Raskin’s articulation of the vastly different images of America’s future embodied in the visions of the two presidential candidates – one deeply dystopian, the other filled with progress, optimism and joy – Karen asked what actions all of us should be taking now to overcome intense right-wing efforts to suppress the vote and how to assure the peaceful transfer of power. I was partially reassured by Representative Raskin’s acknowledgement of these distressing realities and his assurances that “magnificent” lawyers were standing ready in every state to challenge processes that disenfranchise registered voters and which undermine the electoral process. He told us that lawyers and activists will be “slugging it out” every day to prevent the election from being decided by either the incredibly corrupt Supreme Court or the 12th Amendment process that brings the decision on who will be president to the House of Representatives, giving each state one vote. In either of those two scary scenarios it is very likely that Harris will not become president and the popular vote of our nation’s people will be overturned. We cannot allow this to happen and so … to quote Representative Raskin yet again – “We are organizing for a landslide, a blow out!!!” He encouraged us to use these powerful words and to work as we never have before to make sure we do indeed have a landslide.
I feel profound gratitude for the dedication of people like Jamie Raskin and for IMC for bringing such inspiring, thought-provoking, and wise leaders to us each month. And I love that it was Grassroots Karen Nothe-Valley who constructed such great questions. For sure, we are NOT going back. We are moving forward with hope, joy, knowledge, passion, and reverence for the kind of democracy envisioned by those who uphold the principles of universal rights.
