Have You No Sense of Decency, Mr. President?

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" -  Joseph Welch, Army-McCarthy hearings

"A generation has been taught that decency is a weakness and power excuses anything." - Dr. Glen Barry

It is deeply disheartening to be an American patriot and bear the vile, filthy indecency of the current American president.

This little, sick man brags about grabbing women, mocks a disabled reporter, demeans women’s bodies, and is a convicted felon. He belittles prisoners of war, jokes about sexual assault, separates families, and cages migrants. He tear-gasses peaceful demonstrators, praises authoritarian leaders, disparages allies, and attacks journalists. He labels facts fake, insults judges, uses racist language, and calls neo-Nazis "fine people."

He encourages violence, neglects a deadly pandemic, rejects scientific guidance, and politicizes public health. He calls fallen soldiers "losers," retaliates against whistleblowers, and fires inspectors general. He deploys troops against American cities, prosecutes political opponents, pressures courts and juries, and undermines confidence in our ballots. At every turn, our democratic institutions are weakened and bloodied.

There has long been a nativist streak in America, even as the nation itself was forged on stolen and conquered land. But there is no precedent for the bloated, cartoonish buffoonery of the current President.

This crisis is not simply about policy differences. Disorderly flows of people are disruptive. The LGBTQ agenda has, at times, overreached. Taxes are too high. Government is too large. But none of this legitimizes the level of jackassery to which Trump has dragged the country.

Yet other key policies threaten environmental collapse, a fascist future, and the very fall of the nation. We see bad policy making in the reckless dismissal of climate change as the world burns, the crushing inflation brought on by erratic tariffs, and the needless brutality of ICE.

These are not just 'differences of opinion'; they are deep, structural wounds to our economy, ecology, and humanity. Trump’s unprecedented assault on the environment that sustains us is eroding our ability to maintain basic needs, democratic liberties, and healthy ecosystems.

What is being lost is not just good manners, but the basic moral ground a democracy stands on. A republic cannot survive when cruelty is a directive from the top. When truth becomes optional, the foundation cracks. 

A generation has been taught that decency is a weakness and power excuses anything. Several episodes so clearly and blatantly overstep these bounds that they reveal his character in its plainest, ugliest form.

We see it in the chilling sight of American troops patrolling our own cities—a move of political theater that crosses a bright line and signals the Fall of American Democracy. This betrayal is compounded by the fascistic, seditious treachery at the Capitol, where he goaded white nationalist forces to overturn a fair election.

Even the "People’s House" has been bulldozed to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom—a staggering act of vanity, as American families struggle to afford groceries and keep the lights on.

And at the most vicious personal level, what kind of vulgar person mocks a brutal double murder and belittles the slain Rob and Michele Reiner? To suggest their deaths were a result of their political convictions is an ogreish indecency from a sick mind, marking exactly how far President Trump has diminished the nation's character.

Have you no sense of decency, Mr. President? Clearly not.

These words echo a turning point in American history. On June 9, 1954, during the Army-McCarthy hearings, attorney Joseph Welch famously asked Senator Joseph McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" It was the moment the nation collectively realized that cruelty and demagoguery had gone too far. Today, we face a similar reckoning.

Decency is not a luxury or partisan. It is the minimum requirement for a free society to hold together. When indecency becomes the point, the damage spreads far beyond one man. It corrodes trust, poisons civic life, and leaves the nation weaker and more divided.

America must not double down on extremes with more rage, more purity tests, or more performative outrage. The path forward is a return to restraint, proportionality, shared reality, and the broad political middle.

The task before us is not victory over one another, but the repair of American Democracy, which until recently was truly exceptional.