Nov 3, 2026 · 1h 4m
Raskin pairs accountability plans with Stoic resistance
Jamie Raskin and Ryan Holiday: Expose All the Corruption All the Way Down
The episode connects a possible Democratic return to power with the harder question of sustaining democratic resistance without surrendering moral boundaries.
- 1Jamie Raskin outlines investigations, subpoenas, and possible impeachment as tools for congressional accountability after a Democratic victory.
- 2The Texas Senate race and competitive contests elsewhere become tests of whether Democrats can turn momentum into meaningful gains.
- 3Ryan Holiday argues that Stoic politics means accepting uncertainty while practicing courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom.
Don't miss
Ryan Holiday argues that maintaining moral boundaries and refusing to become like one’s opponents is itself a form of political success.
The brief
Jamie Raskin discusses Democratic prospects, controversial endorsements, and competitive races before laying out how investigations, subpoenas, and impeachment could pursue accountability.
The Texas Senate contest involving James Talarico and Ken Paxton serves as one measure of Democratic opportunity, alongside competitive rural and upstate New York races.
Raskin argues that a Democratic majority could investigate the Epstein files, Jared Kushner’s financial dealings, and alleged politicization of the Justice Department.
Ryan Holiday shifts the focus from institutional power to election-night psychology, urging preparation, acceptance, and attention to what remains within one’s control.
Holiday’s central test is moral persistence: political setbacks may endure, but courage and justice require resisting corruption without becoming consumed by anger or imitation.
What was said on this episode
34 statements · 12 positive · 16 negative · 1 mixed · 5 neutral
Democrats are seeing conditions for landslide victories nationwide.
“there are landslide conditions forming everywhere”
Listen at 2:52
Democrats will win multiple rural Maryland seats.
“we're going to win a bunch of these seats”
Listen at 3:33
The Trump administration uses government for family enrichment and political promotion.
“they've turned the government not just into a get-rich-quick scheme for the Trump family, but also a constant political prop”
Listen at 5:24
Democrats will restore Ohio’s political alignment with the broader United States.
“we are going to make it a member of the United States again”
Listen at 7:35
Mike Rogers opposes abortion rights, labor, unions, and environmental interests while supporting Trump.
“He's anti-choice. He's anti-labor. He's anti-union. He's anti-environment. He's pro-Trump.”
Listen at 10:20
Raskin says antisemitism is repeatedly erupting within the Republican Party.
“there's an eruption of anti-Semitism every week, if not every day”
Listen at 12:53
James Tallarico has conducted an exceptionally strong campaign.
“Tallarico has run a flawless campaign”
Listen at 17:53
Texas is highly competitive for Democrats in the election.
“It shows that Texas is just very much in play.”
Listen at 17:59
Grassroots campaigning can defeat Elon Musk-funded negative advertising.
“that is the kind of grassroots politics that will beat. just the spending of Elon Musk's money on negative TV ads”
Listen at 19:25
Raskin says Trump administration institutions have been corrupted.
“all of which have been corrupted and prostituted by the Trump administration and the crime family he presides over”
Listen at 22:41
The White House is directing the Department of Justice.
“it looks to us like the Department of Justice is being just run straight out of the White House”
Listen at 23:35
Todd Blanche allegedly sought to prevent damaging testimony about Donald Trump.
“he was obviously down there to make sure that she would have nothing untoward to say about Donald Trump”
Listen at 24:14
Subpoenaed people generally owe truthful testimony to courts or Congress.
“everybody owes the sovereign, whether it's a court or it's a Congress, his or her truthful testimony when they're subpoenaed to come and testify”
Listen at 25:05
Kushner may have operated as a billion-dollar financial intermediary for the Trump family.
“it looks like, if all of this is true, that Jared Kushner was operating like a billion-dollar bag man for the Trump family”
Listen at 26:39
The Department of Justice is currently operating as Trump’s personal legal apparatus.
“the whole Department of Justice is operating like that now”
Listen at 28:21
A Democratic Congress will pursue investigations and impeachment while confronting federal corruption.
“we're obviously going to do both, exposing, countering and stopping the corruption of the entire federal government”
Listen at 32:12
Donald Trump Jr.’s private-equity fund reportedly returned 1,000% in its first year.
“Donald Trump Jr. got a 1,000% return for his main fund in this new private equity company that he set up”
Listen at 32:27
Failing to hold officials accountable will enable future recurrence of corruption.
“If we don't act with muscular force. to hold everybody accountable for what they've done and to expose it, then we're going to see a return of this in the future.”
Listen at 33:56
Democrats will at least triple their House-seat margin over Republicans.
“I say that we will at least triple the margin that the Republicans have against us now”
Listen at 35:22
Democrats will win 15 more House seats than Republicans.
“I think we will get 15 more seats than them.”
Listen at 35:36
People who have completed their civic tasks need not monitor election returns.
“you don't need to watch the returns”
Listen at 38:49
Refreshing election coverage cannot change the election outcome.
“However many times I refresh the New York Times app to see the polls is not changing what's going to happen or not.”
Listen at 40:17
Permanent political normalcy and lasting relief from crises are unrealistic expectations.
“this idea that like things are ever going to be good and then you could just like chill and think about other things is just like a lie we've told”
Listen at 42:18
Holiday believes political culture is becoming harsher and less civil.
“we are looking at a coarsening of the culture”
Listen at 47:13
Refusing to imitate bad actors is the best form of revenge.
“the best revenge is to not be like that”
Listen at 48:41
Andrew Tate leased rather than owned a Bugatti for social-media presentation.
“Andrew Tate did not actually own a Bugatti. He was leasing one for Instagram purposes”
Listen at 49:44
Frequent thoughts shape what people become.
“we are what we frequently think about”
Listen at 50:43
Donald Trump is exceptionally preoccupied with dislikes and perceived problems.
“there's no one who thinks more about what he doesn't like and how things are going wrong”
Listen at 51:03
Ken Paxton is a criminal and should not become Texas’s senator.
“I just know he's a crook and shouldn't be the senator from Texas.”
Listen at 53:38
Stoicism means resisting moral degradation caused by a bad political period.
“Stoicism is not being made awful by the awful moment in time that we're in.”
Listen at 56:17
Voters should work for a favorable result without assuming victory.
“let's do everything we can and hope it goes our way. And not tell ourselves that it is going to go away.”
Listen at 57:06
The tech right will need time to process the consequences of supporting Trump.
“it's going to take them a while to process”
Listen at 58:33
Most people would not condone comparable corruption, cruelty, or incompetence outside politics.
“almost no one would in any other sphere of their life encourage or condone this level of corruption or cruelty or incompetence”
Listen at 59:05
The full extent of Trump-era wrongdoing will take time to uncover.
“we're still figuring stuff out about things that happened a million years ago. It's going to take a while to fully expose it”
Listen at 1:00:20
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
Books & mentions
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