Indecent Exposure
During the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, Joseph Welch, the special counsel for the US Army asked a now famous question of Senator McCarthy: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” Seven decades later, in the era of MAGA politics led by a social media flame-throwing vulgarian, the answer to that question that once helped shock a nation into its senses is so obvious as to render its asking almost comical. But there’s nothing funny about the descent of decency in American politics, and there’s no better example of the bottomless pit of depravity than Mike Lee’s demented reaction to the political violence that took lives in Minnesota. In social media posts, the Senator from Utah blamed the tragic murder of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman on the radical left: “This is what happens. When Marxists don’t get their way.” He also shared a photo of the murderer with the line, “Nightmare on Waltz Street.” (Spelling error his.) With these posts, Lee achieved the holy trinity of Trumpism: Cruelty, Lies, Stupidity. After the posts, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith confronted Mike Lee in person about the terrible posts. “I think he listened to what I said. He indicated that he of course meant no harm. But of course these things do cause harm.” Unfortunately, in one political party, causing harm is a currency more valuable than crypto.
+ Smith’s Deputy Chief of Staff Ed Shelleby sent an email to Lee’s office about the killing of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband in which he echoed Joseph Welch: “Why would you use the awesome power of a United States Senate Office to compound people’s grief? Is this how your team measures success? Using the office of US Senator to post not just one but a series of jokes about an assassination — is that a successful day of work on Team Lee? Did you come into the office Monday and feel proud of the work you did over the weekend? … the decision of the office of Senator Mike Lee was not to publicly condemn the violence or to express condolences to her shattered children — it was to intimate that Melissa and Mark somehow deserved this? By making jokes? Did you have any consideration for the survivors in her family? For the Hoffmans in the hospital? For their families? You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats. Did you see this as an excellent opportunity to get likes and retweet[s]? Have you absolutely no conscience? No decency?”
+ Sadly, that question has been answered a thousand times by the Sadist in Chief, the world’s richest man, and their band of pathetic online mimics. Trump and other Republicans mock Democrats after Minnesota lawmaker killings. After having a couple days to think about it, Trump maintained his public indecency when asked if he planned to call Minnesota Gov Tim Walz: “I don’t really call him…I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out, I’m not calling him. Why would I call him? … I could call him, say, ‘Hi, how are you doing? The guy doesn’t have a clue, he’s a mess. So I could be nice and call him, but why waste time.” In 2025, I doubt Joseph Welch would waste time asking his famous question.
