Reports of the appalling events in Charlottesville evoked memories of a similar dark period in American history. In the early 1950s Donald Trump’s lineal political ancestor, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, had created a climate of fear and hysteria spawned by his fantasies, lies, bullying unsubstantiated allegations, reckless disregard for any civility, and his unstable mental state.

McCarthy capitalized on the anxieties of the early years of the Cold War, preying on the insecurities generated by the atomic age and a nation scarred by World War II. His downfall began on June 9, 1954, during the so-called Army-McCarthy Hearings, which were intended to be a vehicle for his demagoguery. He was cut down by a simple response from Joseph Welch, who was being subjected to McCarthy’s irrational hectoring. Welch asked simply: “Have you no sense of decency sir?”

Today we have a White House where moral and ethical leprosy is epidemic, an executive branch whose views and policies are cheered by the KKK, American neo-Nazis and other odious groups. Trump’s failure to condemn and disown such groups is evidence of the old religious precept that “silence is assent.” The course of American history has had many ugly events, but I believe that most Americans cherish the ideals for which generations have struggled and fought, ideals which have brought us closer to those espoused by our founding documents. Is it not time to call the president to account for his scornful flouting of those ideals?

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Is there no one, particularly in the president’s own party, who will stand up and say “Have you no sense of decency?”

Richard W. MacFarland

Pine Beach

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