Rep. John Dingell, the longtime dean of the House of Representatives and the longest-serving member of the legislative chamber, ever passed away on Thursday at age 92. To the very end, Dingell was passionately loyal to the institution he served for so long and to the Constitution which enshrined it.
The Washington Post recalls Dingell's final instructions to his former colleagues and to the new Democratic majority, written in his memoir published in December titled The Dean: The Best Seat in the House.
Dingell despised Trump, as everyone who followed his Twitter account knows, and feared the damage he was causing the nation. He wrote that Trump is "a clear and present danger to the United States of America," and blasted former Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership for "ignoring its constitutional responsibility to check the executive's authority." If that wasn't clear enough: "I'm told by my young friends that when you write something in all capital letters, you're yelling. So, let me shout this out: WE HAVE ABDICATED OUR CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES IN THE UNITED STATES! Understand this: I'm not saying this as a partisan. I'm talking about anybody in any administration, Republican or Democrat, who thinks they're above the law."
In that vein, he had advice for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the new majority: "If we really want to make America great again, we need to start by hauling their asses up to Capitol Hill in front of truly bipartisan oversight committees and make them swear to tell the truth under penalty of perjury. […] Believe me, it works. I've seen the wet spots on the chairs after they've finished testifying." As a young staffer on the Hill in the early 1990s, when Dingell was the exceedingly powerful chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee on which my then-boss Ron Wyden served, I can confirm that.
He also wrote this for The Atlantic in December, calling for the abolition of the Senate as necessary for the "end of minority rule in our legislative and executive branches," and the "elimination of money in campaigns. Period."
"The conduct and outcome of the 2016 presidential election have put the future of our country in mortal peril," he wrote.
After a lifetime spent in public service, I never believed that day would come. Yet it has. And we now find ourselves on the precipice of a great cliff. Our next step is either into the abyss or toward a higher moral ground. Since before the Civil War, we've been told that "Providence watches over fools, drunkards, and the United States." Yet the good Lord also granted us free will. The direction we choose to follow is ours alone to make. We ask only that he guide our choice with his wisdom and his grace.