In Praise of Elijah Cummings _______________________________________________________________

It was a symphony of human emotion—pain, outrage, mourning, hope; a symphony of human discourse with fugues of compassion, admonition and encouragement.
 
It was quintessential adult leadership, too rarely seen these days. “It” was the closing statement of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), chair of the House Oversight Committee, as the group wound down the recent hearing at which Michael Cohen testified about the transgressions of the alleged leader of the free world.  
 
Opening slowly, painfully, pianissimo, the chair's closing statement rose to a crescendo with the now familiar “we’re better than that” before settling, andante, to recognize Michael Cohen’s personal pain. Cummings concluded with hope: Addressing Cohen directly as Trump’s former lawyer faces a prison term, he said, “Hopefully this portion of your destiny will lead to a better … a better … a better Michael Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America and a better world.”
 
It was a pitch-perfect closing statement, during which Cummings showed empathy for the admittedly flawed witness, recognized the dire condition of our democracy, and defended the vital work  of the committee he leads.
 
“The greatest gift we can give our children is an intact democracy, he remarked. “I hope the things you said today can help us get back there.”
 
(In case you missed the closing statement, see it here.)

Throughout the day, Cummings had guided the committee with a steady hand and consideration for those on both sides of the aisle.
 

• He tolerated GOP members’ use of their time to speechify as they attempted to turn the hearing away from what Cohen could reveal about Trump and focus instead on Cohen’s role in the tangled Trump tale.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) Chair of the House Oversight Committee

• He calmed a dust-up between Mark Meadows (R-Ohio) and Rashida Talib (D-Michigan) when Meadows claimed the freshman lawmaker had called him a racist. (She hadn’t.)
• He tolerated one GOP member’s childish display of a banner sporting the juvenile taunt, “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
• He allowed Meadows to have Lynne Patton, a Trump-appointed African-American now heading Region 2 of Housing and Urban Development, stand mute, display-like, holding her out as proof that Trump is not a racist.
• He remained impassive as Republicans—laughably, as far as I’m concerned—repeatedly  called Cohen out for lying during an earlier session while we all know the most flagrant liar on the planet is Trump himself.

 
In short, Cummings was consistently the adult, no matter how juvenile and contentious others might be.    
 
Closing, he told listeners we need “to get back to normal.” If leaders strive towards the standards the honorable chairman sets, we can, in the long run, do that. And we must. Interviewed after the hearing, Cummings stated simply, "This fight is a fight for the soul of our democracy.” That says it all.