On June 9th, 1954 Joseph Welch asked Joseph McCarthy “have you no sense of decency?” Today many of us are asking that same question.
But like kindness and compassion – words often used here in our studio – talking about decency can sound like a polite way of pointing out poor manners. So it was what Welch said just before that truly resonates:
“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness."
Those are not words anyone would want ascribed to their actions, yet every day we are witnessing a new level from leadership that seems to relish both. It is cruel to withhold treatments from sick people. It is reckless to bully friends and allies. And it is both reckless and cruel to put small businesses employing 61 million Americans across the country at risk with an ill-conceived trade war.
“No one deserves this. No one. Regardless of who they voted for.” (Beth Benike, Founder of Busy Baby, U.S. Army Veteran)
And yet here we are, watching decisions being made that hurt the people our government is meant to serve. Executive orders are signed that strip away protections, funding is slashed from programs that feed and heal, and tariffs are imposed that punish not global giants like Apple, but local retailers, farmers and small manufacturers just trying to make ends meet.
Decency isn’t just about being polite. It's about the policies we support, the causes we lift up, and the leaders we hold accountable. It’s rejecting cruelty and standing with those whose voices are drowned out, whose livelihoods are threatened, and whose basic dignity is at stake.
Seventy years ago Joseph Welch showed how talking about decency can be a powerful stance against cruelty and recklessness.
Time to again follow his lead.
