Sixty five years ago an American demagogue, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, reached the peak of his power.
McCarthy climbed from obscurity with bullying and innuendo that attacked people and institutions with a charge of Communist complicity, among them the State Department and the Army.
It was the Army which stood up to the bullying and, in televised hearings, allowed the American people to see that McCarthy had no decency. Within a year, he had been censured.
Now we have a similar controversy in which a demagogue stands accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. His accusers include members of the U.S. State Department, and Ambassador William Taylor and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, both decorated combat veterans. They have risen to view by chance with a desire to fulfill their duty to the United States (the same that led them to risk their lives). They provided clear and factual information on the president’s misdeeds. They are among many who labor in obscurity, competence and honesty despite the winds of personal and political advantage sought by politicians in higher positions.
Some politicians, apparently unable to conceive of motives other than personal or partisan gain, like to use the term “deep state” to describe these anonymous heroes. Republican congressmen, including Sen. Cory Gardner, are forming a protective stone wall around the president. They seize on every potential distraction and loophole.
Would that the politicians had as much decency left as those they attack!
Tom ThomasLouisville
