Judge Michael Luttig’s testimony on Thursday rankled quite a few folks who watched his slow and deliberate speaking style in front of a national audience. Many folks, including some here, were speculating wildly that he had suffered a stroke at the hearing or was recovering from an earlier stroke or illness; some felt that his testimony was a “disaster”. OTOH, many understood that his slow delivery was no accident; it was intentional and purposeful, given the gravity of the situation which was well covered in his powerful meticulously written statement.
Judge Luttig today responded to a tweet from Joe Hagan of Vanity Fair, where Joe praised Luttig’s style and tried to explain the reason for his deliberate speech. Judge Luttig took notice of that twitter thread and wrote this detailed explanation, which is a delight to read and shows the intellectual depth, wit and humility of the honorable retired Judge. Please take a look --
(The emphasis below is mine.)
What you could not know, and did not know, but I will tell you now, is that I believed I had an obligation to the Select Committee and to the country, first to formulate . . . then to measure . . . and then . . . to meter out . . .
every . . . single . . . word . . . that I spoke . . . , carefully . . . exactingly . . . and . . . deliberately, so that the words I spoke were pristine clear and would be heard, and therefore understood, as such.
I believed Thursday that I had that high responsibility and obligation -- to myself, even if to no other. Also please bear in mind that Thursday was the first time in 68 years, to my knowledge, I had ever been on national television, let alone national television like that.
And though not scared, I was concerned that I do my very best and not embarrass myself, as I think anyone who found themselves in that frightening circumstance would be.
I decided to respond to your at once astute and understanding tweet finally this afternoon, because I have been watching the tweets all day suggesting that I am recovering from a severe stroke, and my friends, out of their concern for me and my family,
have been earnestly forwarding me these tweets, asking me if I am alright. Such is social media, I understand. But I profoundly believe in social media's foundational, in fact revolutionary, value and contribution to Free Speech in our country,
and for that reason I willingly accept the occasional bad that comes from social media, in return for the much more frequent good that comes from it -- at least from the vastly more responsible, respectful speech on those media.
That is why, 16 years after my retirement from the Bench, even then as a very skeptical, curmudgeonly old federal judge, I created a Facebook account and then a Twitter account -- slowly . . . very slowly . . . one account first . . . and then . . . followed . . . by the other.
All of this said, I am not recovering from a stroke or any other malady, I promise. Thankfully, I have never been as sick or as so debilitated as that ever in my life, and would not want that for anyone. Knock on wood, I have never even been really sick a day in my life.
I was more ready, prepared and intellectually focused (I had thought) during Thursday's hearing than I have ever been for anything in my life. I gather my face appeared "too red" for some on Twitter, betraying to them serious illness. The explanation was more innocent than that.
At the last minute, I had been able during the weekend preceding my testimony to help my daughter get settled into her new home, where the temperatures were in the upper 90s, and where I was appreciatively, though unwittingly, to get just a little bit of needed suntan!
What I will say, though, is this. And I think it explains it all. All my life, I have said (as to myself, and at times, by way of sarcastic prescription for others) that I never . . . talk . . . any . . . faster . . . than . . . my . . . mind . . . can . . . think.
I will proudly assure everyone on Twitter that I was riveted, laser-like as never before, on that promise to myself beginning promptly at the hour of 1:00 pm Thursday afternoon.
What is more, as consciously as one can be aware of something subconsciously, I was, in your poetic words of which I was, and am myself, incapable even of conjuring, Mr. Hagan, supremely conscious that,
if I were chiseling words in stone that day, it was imperative that I chisel the exact words that I would want to be chiseled in stone, were I chiseling words in stone for history.
So, in all sincerity, thank you, all of you on Twitter, who are genuinely concerned about me. I can assure you that on last Thursday, June 16, I had never felt, or been, better in my life. And now, two days later, I feel better, still!
For better or worse, I was as compos mentis as I have ever been last Thursday, June 16, 2022. But please keep checking on me from time to time! You just never know these days! Thank you, everyone! You're the best!
This is the gracious twitter thread that prompted this response —
And frankly, he really *is* engraving it for history. And he seems to know it.
I also respect, despite how halting he may sound, that Luttig is not setting himself up to be a mere soundbite maker. He's speaking to history, not TV.
His sobriety, his graveness, his hallowedness, is so foreign to our modern sensibilities - but that's the point. That is the precise point.
Here is a clip from the hearing, where he very clearly laid out his opinion on the dangers our Democracy faces from trump and the republican party.
Judge Luttig also issued a call to all of us to defeat these enemies of Democracy. The danger is real and we need all hands on deck to save our Democracy.
It’s also a lesson to us to be more deliberate in our thinking and responses, avoid focusing on superficialities and avoid following the herd. At the same time, we can acknowledge that we make mistakes and we can support our fellow Democrats rather than mock or bloody each other up, when they make them.
So, let’s do our part in educating the electorate about Jan 6 and the coterie of criminals the GOP has become. We must also make it clear to the American public that the entire republican party is rotten to the core; voting for them will mean an end to American Democracy and will be the beginning of a dystopian future.
The November elections are coming and we have to win the House and Senate. Let’s keep our eye on the ball and not get distracted by little things or the need to be entertained. Let’s resolve to keep encouraging, inspiring and impressing on people to Get Out and Vote.
Let’s keep writing and talking about the Jan 6 insurrection and the hearings day after day. Let’s not let it slide out of our collective conscience. If we feel disappointed or dismayed at Biden or Schumer or Garland or other Democrats, for whatever reason, then let’s turn that frustration into action. Let’s lend them a hand, let’s do our part. Let’s write about the issues on social media, discuss them with friends and family, and spread the message; let’s neutralize the negative reporting of the right-wing disinformation machine. Let’s support each other and amplify the voices of reason and wisdom. Let’s volunteer and join a local progressive group. Let’s donate what we can. Let’s rise and make a difference. We will feel better and history will thank us.
P.S.
For Judge Luttig’s powerful written statement, check out diary — “Judge Luttig issues powerful statement ahead of January 6 committee testimony.”
The full video of day 3 of the Jan 6 hearings can be see on YouTube.
Transcript of day 3 at Here's every word of the third Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation
Also see Damning exchanges between Eastman and Jacob on Jan 6