This is the moment the spell of the Red Scare broke. It had been cast over the American public, and after this encounter on the Senate floor, it all seemed stupid, McCarthy, petty and small.

Jolted to reality by Joseph Welch, we rightfully asked ourselves, “What were we thinking?”

Have you no decency, sir?

It bears repeating; the demagoguery of Joseph McCarthy was little more than an attempt to gain political power by bullying, denigrating, and attacking those less powerful than himself.

Have you no decency, sir?

Those caught up in the thrall of Donald Trump and his cronies gleefully attack gay and trans people, immigrants, black people, and even women. They are convenient surrogates, powerless to stop the bullying, and in the case of gays and trans people, unknown enough to most people to be defended.

Have you no decency, sir?

And here we are, less than a week from probably the most consequential election of my life. Where is our Joseph Welch? Where is the person who will finally break this spell we’ve been under? Who will deliver us from this pettiness and smallness?