It was a courageous and principled Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican Senator from Maine, who first took to the Senate floor to condemn fellow Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy for his fear-creating rhetoric and actions. Her speech in June 1950, titled "A Declaration of Conscience", is widely regarded as beginning of the demise of McCarthy, finally ending with his censure by the Senate in 1954.
I have been thinking a great deal lately about the amazing similarities of the politics of fear currently being employed by the Bush Administration in the so-called "War on Terror", and those employed by Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950's during his Cold War search for Communists in America.
Follow me below the fold to learn more about her famous words and why they are so applicable to the situation we face with the current Administration today.
According to our own U.S. Department of State's website (Believe it or not!
http://usinfo.state.gov/...), it was "McCarthy's apocalyptic rhetoric--he portrayed the Cold War conflict as "a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity"--that made critics hesitate before challenging him". You'll note this is the same tactic that Bush and Cheney use to validate their invasion of Iraq, as well as the legality of warrantless wiretapping, secret CIA prisons, and the so-called unchecked power of the Executive during wartime. The effectiveness of this tactic is certainly exemplified by how they have gone largely unchallenged by members of Congress, Democratic or Republican, for several years.
My question: "Is there any Republican in the Senate today who will put principle above politics, who has the courage to deliver his/her own "Declaration of Conscience", and call Bush, Cheney, and his fellow Republican Senators on these lawless and destructive policies? I don't expect so. But if Margaret Chase Smith were alive today, I suspect she would dust off that speech, stand in the well of the Senate, and deliver these words to her Republican colleagues again.
On defending individual rights and the Constitution:
SMITH: I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its Members to do some soul searching--for us to weigh our consciences--on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America; on the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.
I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech, but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.
On being a Republican:
SMITH: As a Republican, I say to my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the Republican Party faces a challenge today that is not unlike the challenge that it faced back in Lincoln's day. The Republican Party so successfully met that challenge that it emerged from the Civil War as the champion of a united nation--in addition to being a party that unrelentingly fought loose spending and loose programs.
On our divided nation:
SMITH: Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of "know nothing, suspect everything" attitudes. Today we have a [Democratic] administration that has developed a mania for loose spending and loose programs. History is repeating itself--and the Republican Party again has the opportunity to emerge as the champion of unity and prudence.
On political extremism:
SMITH: As an American, I condemn a Republican "Fascist" just as much as I condemn a Democrat "Communist." I condemn a Democrat "Fascist" just as much as I condemn a Republican "Communist." They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our Nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.
And on exploiting fear for political gain:
SMITH: I doubt if the Republican Party could--simply because I don't believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren't that desperate for victory.
I don't want to see the Republican Party win that way. While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican Party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican Party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.
In researching this piece, I was struck to see that what put the final nail in McCarthy's coffin was his decision to focus his attacks on members of his own Republican Party. Interestingly, the desperation of Bush/Cheney/Rove displayed this week in their attacks against fellow Republicans McCain, Graham, and Warner could indicate they realize their politics of fear are indeed no longer working. What lesson should we have learned from McCarthy's demise that applies today? Answer: If only one of the 55 Republican voices in the Senate has the courage to step up and deliver Smith's words again, America may finally be able to turn the corner and close what has been an ugly 5-year chapter in our history.
The full text of Margaret Chase Smith's speech is available at: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/...