Recent Joseph Welch Commentaries

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Have You No Sense of Decency?
Under a cloud of simmering fear, Senator Joseph McCarthy, absent any real evidence, announced to the American public that communists were working inside the federal government. During 1954’s Senate hearings investigating the Wisconsin Senator’s blatant character assassinations, one exchange was particularly noteworthy. Following McCarthy’s accusation that counsel for the committee, Joseph Welch, placed a member and communist from his own...
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March 2, 2020
Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
Integrity and Elliot Richardson
The measure of a public servant isn’t how tightly they hold onto power, but how faithfully they hold their integrity when the pressure to bend...
America’s Moral Crossroad
Writer David Brooks is rarely prone to hyperbole and often resists the easy pull of partisanship. A thoughtful conservative who has moved toward the center,...
What Real Leadership Looks Like
I happened across Frances Perkins while searching files at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. She was the first woman in U.S. history to serve...
Welcome to Caesar’s Palace East
In addition to dismantling federal agencies and undercutting states’ rights, Donald Trump has launched a systematic assault on the foundations of American democracy. He’s attacked...
Searching for Our Better Angels
I’ve read and re-read Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address many times. Today, its words and meaning echo more loudly than ever. “Both parties deprecated war; but...
Integrity and George W. Norris
In every generation, there are a few public servants who stand as reminders of what political courage truly means. George W. Norris, the five-term Republican...