Maryland State Senator, Jamie Raskin

On Thursday, April 26th State Senator Jamie Raskin hosted a forum at Montgomery College called “Impeachment: Constitutional and Political Questions.” His talk was packed with historical and political information about the impeachment process. The discussion that followed was enthusiastic and spirited, even heated at times, but all who came to learn more left with a good start in the basics and much to think about in the coming months.

Raskin laid out the historical and constitutional foundations of impeachment, with some key quotes from Jefferson, Madison and Lincoln about the dangers to a people of going to war. He explained that one of the reasons that the framers gave so much power, particularly the power to declare war, to the people through their representatives in Congress, was that they wanted to keep the country out of war if at all possible. Historically, heads of state such as kings, emperors and presidents have led the charge to war without personally having to bear its costs, and therefore Congress was granted this power to place a check on that tendency. (scooped from takomaparkibc.wordpress.com)