Civil Rights and Social Justice

A new conventional wisdom is emerging among Very Serious People in Washington, D.C. It essentially holds that while Russia intervened on Donald Trump's behalf in America's election, questioning Trump's legitimacy only plays into Russian hands. Marco Rubio articulated the new line in his questioning of Mike Pompeo, Trump's choice for CIA chief, on Thursday. Rubio began with a series of false equivalences: "A president-elect who has questioned at times the judgment of our intelligence agencies. Opponents to our president-election who continuously question the legitimacy of his election.

Back in early December, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois' 5th Congressional District was the first Democrat to announce he would not be attending the inauguration of Donald Trump January 20 because the pr*sident-elect is a fountain of "hatred, bigotry and prejudice." He told CNN on December 2:

A Democratic congressman representing the Westside and South Bay will boycott the inauguration of Donald Trump this coming Friday.

Rep. Ted Lieu will be one of at least 16 Democrats avoiding the ceremony. His decision was announced Saturday, after the president-elect scolded civil rights leader and Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, in an early-morning Twitter blast.

"Trump — who lost the popular vote — has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements," Lieu said in an email Saturday.

Two Southern California congressmen have announced they will not attend president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration ceremonies next week, joining at least 14 other Democrats in Congress who have indicated they will also not be attending the event.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) both cited Donald Trump's Twitter rebuke of Alabama Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis.

"All talk, no action."

I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration.

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are boycotting President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, particularly after revelations of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election and his rebuke of civil rights icon John Lewis on Saturday.

Some members of Congress have said they will be protesting in DC and in their districts instead. Here's a list of Democrats who have publicly said they won't be at the ceremony Friday.

A growing number of House Democrats say they won't attend Donald Trump's inauguration after he criticized Georgia Rep. John Lewis as "all talk" and insulted his Atlanta-based district.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform has called for more scrutiny of the Office of Government Ethics for its critical stance on President-elect Donald Trump's potential conflicts of interest prior to taking office.

On Tuesday, while much of Washington, DC's political class was consumed by President-elect Donald Trump's first press conference, the only Democrat with a computer science degree was named to the House Judiciary Committee. The House of Representatives has three other members who hold computer science degrees (all Republicans), but none of them sit on the Judiciary Committee.