Joseph Sabino Mistick: Decency on the ballot

“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” That was the question that attorney Joseph Welch asked of Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1954 U.S. Army hearings after McCarthy took his reckless cruelty a step too far. Decency counted for something then, and we will see if it still counts for something in the current presidential campaign.

McCarthy was an obscure Wisconsin senator when he stumbled upon an anti-communism stance that gave him a national platform. Often waving a sheet of paper in the air that he claimed was a list of known communists in various government positions, he gained a following in post-World War II America.

McCarthy had learned that there is no bigger downside for telling big lies than there is for telling small lies, so he lied big. There actually were some communists in some government agencies, but McCarthy named names and ruined lives and careers and families with no regard for evidence or facts or the damage he caused, as long as it bolstered his career. And for a long time, it did bolster his career — until he ran up against Joseph Welch.

Welch represented the U.S. Army during a series of nationally televised hearings McCarthy had called to show the army was “soft” on communism. McCarthy made little progress against Welch’s gentlemanly manner and became frustrated over the course of the hearings. Finally, out of the blue, McCarthy accused a young lawyer in Welch’s firm of being a member of a “legal arm of the Communist Party.”

“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness,” Welch responded, in a sad and measured manner. “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

That was the moment when much of America realized that there was little more to McCarthy than his craven desire for more power — no matter who it hurt. McCarthy was exposed as a guy who picked on people who could not fight back, and the public had enough and moved on. It had taken a while, but decency won out.

When it comes to bullying, Joe McCarthy was a piker compared to Donald Trump. Bullying is Trump’s brand, and his base supporters seem to thrive on it. He will bash anyone and everyone — often to the wild cheers of those who attend his rallies.

He coins derisive schoolyard nicknames for his opponents. He insults war heroes. He mocks the disabled. Immigrants are special targets for him: He labels them dangerous criminals and says they are taking our jobs. Women are his targets, too. He criticizes their appearance and says they are not smart.

But nothing has been as cruel as the tragedy that Trump has caused in Springfield, Ohio. With one big lie, Trump has terrorized the town, placed the residents in danger and frightened the children and their parents. His claim that legal Haitian immigrants are kidnapping and eating their neighbors’ pets was just another political stunt for him, but he has hurt many, many innocent people.

We will see if there is still a “decency bloc” of voters in America — average citizens who have had enough and are ready to walk away from cruelty and bullying. We will see if Springfield, Ohio, is Donald Trump’s “Joseph Welch Moment.”