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karen hobert flynn
Progressives Mourn Karen Hobert Flynn—Among Democracy's 'Fiercest Defenders'
"Her tireless work on behalf of women, workers, and marginalized communities will have a lasting impact," said End Citizens United.
Mar 03, 2023
Progressive groups and activists showed an outpouring of love and admiration for Karen Hobert Flynn, the president of Common Cause, after her death from an undisclosed cause was reported by the pro-democracy group on Friday.
Hobert Flynn, who joined Common Cause in 1985 as an organizer and program director, was named president of the watchdog in 2016 after serving as executive director and chair of the group's Connecticut branch.
"Today, democracy lost one of its fiercest defenders: Karen Hobert Flynn," Common Cause board chair Martha Tierney said in a statement.
"A trailblazer and powerful advocate, Karen dedicated her career to reforming our government so it served everyone," Tierney noted. "Under her leadership of Common Cause in Connecticut, she secured landmark reforms—including winning Connecticut's groundbreaking full public finance system, numerous ethics laws, and disclosure laws."
\u201cToday, democracy lost one of its fiercest defenders: Karen Hobert Flynn. \n\nMay her memory give us strength as we carry forward her legacy.\u201d— Common Cause (@Common Cause) 1677870914
Tierney continued:
During turbulent times for our country and our organization, she led Common Cause with tenacity and grace, never backing down from holding the White House accountable and never losing sight of the non-partisan vision for a more inclusive and representative democracy...
In her last year of life, she led a national coalition in the fight to protect and strengthen the right to vote for all and oversaw the largest national non-partisan election protection program for the 2022 midterms. Within Common Cause, she started the 50-year-old organization's process to become a more equitable workplace and doubled down on the commitment to secure an inclusive democracy for all.
"May her memory give us strength as together we carry forward her legacy of fighting for a government that lives up to the ideals of its people," Tierney added.
Other progressives also remembered Hobert Flynn's life and work.
"Such devastating news today with the loss of Common Cause's Karen Hobert Flynn," wrote Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington president Noah Bookbinder. "A great person and a fierce leader in the fight for democracy. Heartbreaking."
\u201cDeeply saddened to hear the news of Karen Hobert Flynn\u2019s passing. Karen was a democracy champion and leaves a legacy that we aspire to match. She will be so very missed.\u201d— American Constitution Society (@American Constitution Society) 1677877920
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights tweeted that "we're so deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Karen Hobert Flynn—a brilliant leader, dedicated advocate, and fierce defender of our democracy."
The National Disability Rights Network hailed Hobert Flynn as "a fierce civic advocate" who "will be missed by friends, family, and all who fight to make our democracy stronger."
End Citizens United remembered a "remarkable individual who touched the lives of so many in the fight to protect democracy."
"Her tireless work on behalf of women, workers, and marginalized communities will have a lasting impact," the group added.
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'About Damn Time': Jan. 6 Panel Unanimously Votes to Subpoena Ex-President Donald Trump
"Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to our democracy," said Common Cause's leader, adding that the committee "has shown clearly that the then-president violated his oath of office and committed crimes for which he must be held accountable."
Oct 13, 2022
The U.S. House panel probing the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol unanimously voted Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump "to provide evidence as part of the committee's investigation."
The panel's hearing--expected to be the last before next month's midterm elections--largely focused on Trump's role in the attack. In what critics now call his "Big Lie," the former president repeatedly claimed, including in a speech the day of the insurrection, that Democrats stole the 2020 election.
Plans for the subpoena vote--which were initially reported by NBC News and Politico--and the result were welcomed by defenders of U.S. democracy.
"A subpoena of a former president shouldn't be taken lightly. Neither should staging an attempted coup to change the outcome of an election," said University of California, Berkeley professor and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
\u201c'The ayes have it' \u2014 Here\u2019s the moment the Jan 6 committee voted to subpoena Donald John Trump for his role in the Capitol attack\u201d— NowThis (@NowThis) 1665690285
Along with the subpoena vote, the committee showed that "Trump Secret Service was warned that a mob was coming to the Capitol on January 6th to 'kill people' and did nothing to stop it," noted Stand Up America executive director Christina Harvey. "Instead, Trump sicced the violent, armed mob on Congress and his own vice president."
"As shocking as these revelations were, they were also just a reminder of what we've known from the beginning: President Trump was the ringleader of the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. He and his allies did everything they could to hold onto power... strong-arming state officials, the Justice Department, and Trump's own vice president," she said.
"Everyone involved in this national embarrassment must be held accountable, and the committee took the first step toward that goal with its subpoena of the former president," Harvey added. "Though it is still unknown if this is the final time we hear from the committee, their work over the past year has proved the threat that Trump and his MAGA followers pose to our democracy and the importance of defeating them in November and beyond."
\u201cToday, I watched the @January6thCmte shed even more light on Donald Trump\u2019s role in inciting a premeditated, violent insurrection on our Capitol to overturn the results of the 2020 election.\n\nThe committee\u2019s decision to subpoena Trump is vital in our efforts for accountability.\u201d— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@Congresswoman Cori Bush) 1665691922
Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn declared following the vote that "Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to our democracy. The January 6th select committee is right to subpoena the former president. But the committee has shown clearly that the then-president violated his oath of office and committed crimes for which he must be held accountable."
"Trump and his associates waged a weekslong campaign, that appears to have amounted to a criminal conspiracy, to overturn the will of the people and ignore the results of the 2020 election so that he could remain in power," she continued. "Trump and those who participated in this plot must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
She stressed that "Trump must comply with the subpoena from the January 6th select committee because no one, including a former president, is above the law."
Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-chair of the Not Above the Law Coalition, said that Thursday's hearing "shows more clearly than ever that Trump was the mastermind of the insurrection and the multitudinous efforts to sabotage our democracy."
"The committee's subpoena is an important step to hold Trump accountable for the thwarted coup that he personally led," she added. "He must comply."
The Nation's Elie Mystal was among those who suggested that Trump's compliance is unlikely:
\u201cLiterally a better chance Biden nominates me to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (do it! I won't get the job, but I'll move the ever living hell out of Overton window), than Trump testifies before Congress.\u201d— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1665686036
While not directly addressing the subpoena, just after the vote Trump took aim at the select committee and Cassidy Hutchinson--an ex-aide to his former chief of staff who testified to the panel in June--on his Truth Social platform.
Earlier Thursday, Gilbert had highlighted that "thousands of pieces of evidence and testimony from Trump's own staffers and foot soldiers have clearly laid out, fact by fact, what only those closest to him knew to be true: Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy, knowingly made false claims--including claiming victory in the election--and incited a violent attack on the Capitol in order to overturn the 2020 election."
"Perhaps the most important fact to focus on now is that without accountability for these crimes, these attacks on our country will continue," she warned, noting that "MAGA politicians in state houses across the country are attempting to pass laws that will make future elections easier to steal, election officials are entering the November elections under the specter of harassment, and more and more proponents of the 'Big Lie' are on the ballot nationwide."
After praising the panel for its "admirable job laying out the facts of the unconstitutional threat posed by Trump and his allies," Gilbert argued that "it's time for action. That's why people are joining more than 75 events across the country to amplify the hearing revelations, and fight ongoing threats to our freedoms and our vote. America can't afford more election interference, lies, and sabotage. It's time to take a stand."
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted in response to the hearing Thursday that "the evidence of criminal conduct by Trump is so strong that the only option left is for the Department of Justice to indict him."
This post was updated after the committee voted to subpoena the former president.
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Warnings Mount Over Right-Wing Plot to Rewrite US Constitution
Ahead of the midterm elections, said one political strategist, "Democrats must emphasize to voters that Republicans still control most state legislatures, and if they remain in power, they can drastically change the Constitution."
Sep 19, 2022
Government watchdogs are warning that the Republican takeover of state legislatures in recent years could imminently have major implications for the United States, as a right-wing effort to hold a new constitutional convention appears closer than ever to being realized.
"Republicans always tell us what they want to do. We should believe them and think broadly and in the long term of where we should be working to stop this from happening."
On Monday, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold wrote in an op-ed at The Guardian that Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution allows the document to be amended, either with amendments being proposed by two-thirds of Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the states, or through a method that has never been tested: the establishment of a new constitutional convention.
To hold a new convention, two-thirds of all state legislatures--34 total--must apply to hold the gathering, where lawmakers would have broad freedom to change the Constitution however they saw fit. Three-quarters of states would have to ratify their proposed amendments.
"The right has already packed the Supreme Court and is reaping the rewards, with decisions from Dobbs to Bruen that radically reinterpret the Constitution in defiance of precedent and sound legal reasoning," wrote Feingold, referencing recent rulings on abortion rights and gun control. "But factions of the right are not satisfied to wait for the court to reinterpret the constitution. Instead, they have set their sights on literally rewriting our foundational document."
Feingold--now president of the American Constitution Society--is among those warning that a new constitutional convention is "closer to reality than most people realize," as The New York Times reported earlier this month.
As the Democratic Party expended considerable effort on passing federal legislation during the Obama administration, ACLU communications strategist Rotimi Adeoye wrote at The Daily Beast last month, Republicans focused on taking control at the state and local level, with Democrats losing 13 governorships and 816 legislative seats between 2008 and 2016.
As a result, Republicans now just need control of four more states to reach the threshold needed to call a second constitutional convention.
Feingold noted that if right-wing advocates for a new convention like the Convention of States Project and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) get their way, there would be few limits on how Republicans could change the constitution:
There is nothing in the Constitution about how delegates would be selected, how they would be apportioned, or how amendments would be proposed or agreed to by delegates. And there is little useful historical precedent that lends insight to these important questions. This means that nearly any amendment could be proposed at such a convention, giving delegates enormous power to engage in political and constitutional redrafting.
"The framers left no rules," wrote Feingold in his new book, The Constitution in Jeopardy. "In this uncertainty lies great danger and, possibly, great power."
The former Wisconsin senator wrote at The Guardian that Republicans could use a new convention to craft an amendment banning abortion care, strip Americans of voting rights, gut federal anti-poverty programs, and further threaten people's right to be safe from gun violence by enshrining "their interpretation of the Second Amendment."
On Sunday, Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn told MSNBC that in the hands of Republicans, a second constitutional convention could "put all of our constitutional rights up for grabs."
\u201cAn Article V Convention \u201ccould put all of our constitutional rights up for grabs.\u201d\n\nOur president, @KHobertFlynn, outlined the risks of a #ConstitutionConvention with @CapehartJ on @TheSundayShow. Check it out \u2b07\ufe0f\u201d— Common Cause (@Common Cause) 1663607112
Feingold noted that a national policy discussion regarding the "founding failures of the Constitution" is warranted.
"That said, any conversation about how to go about amending the Constitution needs to be transparent, inclusive, and informed," he wrote at The Guardian. "What factions of the right are pursuing is anything but. They are pursuing exclusively partisan outcomes and have sought to keep their efforts opaque. They do not seem interested in a representative, democratic process."
The Convention of States Project has received millions of dollars from the right-wing Donors Capital Fund and has been endorsed by Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and influential conservative commentators Sean Hannity and Ben Shapiro.
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), a strong proponent of a new constitutional convention, recently proposed legislation to direct the National Archives to conduct an official count of all the states that have called for a convention at various times.
"Democrats should take the threat seriously," Amanda Litman, co-founder of progressive group Run for Something, told The Daily Beast. "Republicans always tell us what they want to do. We should believe them and think broadly and in the long term of where we should be working to stop this from happening."
With the midterm elections fast approaching, wrote Adeoye, "Democrats must emphasize to voters that Republicans still control most state legislatures, and if they remain in power, they can drastically change the Constitution."
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