jean meacham. he's the robertson's chair at the vanderbilt university. speeches. his newest biography, and then there was light, abraham lincoln and the american struggle, will be available this october. john, it's always good to see you. i wish i was starting with a better question. what is your reaction to what congressman jim clyburn said? >> i think he's right. i have been in the zip code with him, in believing that there are perennial forces in american life that are destructive. they ebb, and they flow, and they have been flowing. and they will begin to ebb. but they only ebb, if enough citizens stand up and say, we are not going to head down the road of authoritarianism. and of henry's and. it is a very close run thing at this point. you asked a minute, ago is this a sign of a functioning democracy? the answer is no. right now, it is a dysfunctional on. at least it's still functional, but there's no guarantee about any of this. and there's no guarantee about any of, it because it's a human institution. it's you, and me, and everybody else, and the