"Have you no sense of deceny"
Who, I asked, was Joseph N. Welch? No doubt, my mother knew, as now do I.
As chief counsel for the Army during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, Welch went toe to toe with Joe McCarthy in a manner that censured the Senator for his reckless cruelty, yet sacrificed none of Welch's own dignity.
The hearings were televised over about 188 hours, and it was seeing McCarthy in his slouching infamy that in part caused him a fall from popularity.
It is the word "infamous" that comes to mind while watching McCarthy spitefully impugn the professional character of a young lawyer not even present at the hearings out of obvious dislike and disrespect for Welch, an older partner in the young man's firm. McCarthy is avenging the perceieved baiting of his assistant counsel Cohn by Welch. And it is clear he expects to embarrass Welch by revealing that the young man belonged to an association linked with Communism.
Ah, but Welch, calm in his fury, recognizes McCarthy for what he is - a spiteful, cruel man. He already knows of the association of the young man. Rather than back pedal and defend himself or his firm in the face of the powerful senator, Welch sticks vocieferously to the young man, saying he will continue to be at the firm.
Although McCarthy has more airtime, it is Welch that we remember for so clearly showing up McCarthy's lack of decency in attacking someone who cannot defend themselves. With no histrionics, with no table pounding, with no shouting, but in contained tone and well chosen words, in speaking simple truth Welch shows himself a cooler head, and wiser and better man than the junior senator bullying and badgering those around him.
Of note is that, one assumes, this remarks are from the cuff - and yet from the cuff, we have words that are long remembered - that is an impressive accomplishment.
Of other note is perhaps the larger lesson that when you are in the right, when you speak from a place of integrity and truth, the weight of those things alone are enough to win the day. So the table pounding, arm waving and shouting those who feel themselves right often engage in is nothing but a red herring meant to distract from what is lacking in their arguments.
Truth, as they say, will out
7.29.2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Fred Fisher was a commie.
McCarthy was simply misunderstood.
In the interest of full disclosure, I had to look him up – not a name I would have gotten right in a trivia game.
So far, I do like this project. Of course once you come upon a topic or a speech, you have dozens of rabbit trails to track down. One thing leading to another the way it does, I can relate the following minutia:
RFK did serve as an assistant counsel for a short time on McCarthy’s committee. He served maybe 6 or 7 months but was said to have remained fond of McCarthy. According to Wickipedia, Joseph Kennedy (D) prevailed on McCarthy (R) to put RFK on the payroll and thus gave him a platform for later job as counselor in Mafia hearings
Fred Fisher stayed with the same law firm throughout his career and in the 1970’s served as chairman of the Massachusetts Bar Association
The familiar looking man in the video was Stuart Symington, democratic senator from Missouri.
Eisenhower campaigned with McCarthy in Wisconsin prior to 1952 election. After winning the election, he let it be known quietly that he disapproved of the committee and McCarthy’s methods.
Moving on to the exchange itself, I am struck by the notion that Washington or maybe it’s not Washington, but government itself is a mean undertaking. Although the objective sounds benign and even beneficial, the devil is always in the details of execution. Yes, communism was bad and a threat; however the methods of slur, innuendo and public denunciation employed by McCarthy were also a threat. We still do not have thought police (they do keep trying). The constitution gives us freedom of speech and of assembly. We are not told whom to befriend or which organizations to join.
Apparently, some people have always been okay with sliming the other guy to take the spotlight off of them. Mr. Welch appeared frustrated and genuinely surprised at the senator’s willingness to drag up this totally irrelevant issue and use it as your red herring. I think people of integrity are always surprised to see people act in ways that would be totally unacceptable in their code of ethics. I have the audacity to think there are still individuals of decency peopling our world. I applaud their turn at the microphone.
Post a Comment