The Joseph Welch sense of decency comment was published on the front pages of the main stream media of the time, a few newspapers and the few tv channels. Today there are thousands and thousands of online sources plus AI which makes lies seem true for an administration of unqualified loyalists led by a megalomaniac draft dodger who “feels like a warrior.” The Republican Party who told Richard Nixon he needed to resign seems dead and gone. Are there any Republicans with a sense of decency who will cross the aisle to tank the big ugly bill? Truth matters. Justice matters.
But though McCarthy died, McCarthyism never did. You and I remember when "far left" meant the likes of Stalin and Mao. To this day some "moderate" Democrats label Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, and anyone who advocates for economic justice as "far left." Unlike the far-leftists of yesteryear, these people are firmly committed to the democratic process; they're so committed to it, they'd like to see more of it.
So what's happened over the decades? The Republican Party has moved rightward, ever rightward, starting with Nixon's "southern strategy" of welcoming all those racist white Southern Democrats into the GOP. The process accelerated with Reagan, who welcomed the racist, sexist, and generally disgruntled white voters and fed them union-busting and tax cuts for corporations and the mega-rich. Did the Democratic Party take a stand against this? It did not. It moved rightward, ever rightward too, just not as far right (or as racist) as the GOP. (Glass-Steagall was mostly repealed under Clinton.)
So obsessed were the Democrats and all too many of us with commies under the bed, in the unions, and in the civil rights movement that we (especially white people) didn't recognize what was happening right out in plain sight: J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI weren't exactly subtle, and neither was the Reagan administration. And even those of us who considered ourselves woke were shocked by the first months of Trump II.
The Joseph Welch sense of decency comment was published on the front pages of the main stream media of the time, a few newspapers and the few tv channels. Today there are thousands and thousands of online sources plus AI which makes lies seem true for an administration of unqualified loyalists led by a megalomaniac draft dodger who “feels like a warrior.” The Republican Party who told Richard Nixon he needed to resign seems dead and gone. Are there any Republicans with a sense of decency who will cross the aisle to tank the big ugly bill? Truth matters. Justice matters.
Thanks for your good work - and coverage of ever challenging topics.
But though McCarthy died, McCarthyism never did. You and I remember when "far left" meant the likes of Stalin and Mao. To this day some "moderate" Democrats label Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, and anyone who advocates for economic justice as "far left." Unlike the far-leftists of yesteryear, these people are firmly committed to the democratic process; they're so committed to it, they'd like to see more of it.
So what's happened over the decades? The Republican Party has moved rightward, ever rightward, starting with Nixon's "southern strategy" of welcoming all those racist white Southern Democrats into the GOP. The process accelerated with Reagan, who welcomed the racist, sexist, and generally disgruntled white voters and fed them union-busting and tax cuts for corporations and the mega-rich. Did the Democratic Party take a stand against this? It did not. It moved rightward, ever rightward too, just not as far right (or as racist) as the GOP. (Glass-Steagall was mostly repealed under Clinton.)
So obsessed were the Democrats and all too many of us with commies under the bed, in the unions, and in the civil rights movement that we (especially white people) didn't recognize what was happening right out in plain sight: J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI weren't exactly subtle, and neither was the Reagan administration. And even those of us who considered ourselves woke were shocked by the first months of Trump II.
Boy, did this ever need to be published. Now it needs a larger audience. Let's see that happen.