When I was young Edward R. Murrow was at the crest of his fame as a CBS broadcast journalist which started with his “This is London calling” reports during the Nazi Blitz in early World War II.  

During the late 1940s and early 1950s our democracy was plagued by a “Red Scare”, based on the alleged growing influence of Communism. Senator Joseph McCarthy was a chief Red Baiting proponent and tormentor wielding such scare tactics and ruining many lives in his wake.  

I remember as an innocent youth watching Murrow’s See It Now television show.  A series of these shows led to Senator McCarthy’s eventual downfall.  

The series culminated on March 9th, 1954 when Murrow broadcast “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy” which contributed to a nationwide backlash against McCarthy.  

Soon after the March 9th airing McCarthy continued his Red Scare tactics in hearings against the U.S. Army with Roy Cohn as his chief counsel.  

In a key exchange with Army counsel Joseph Welch, McCarthy, true to form, raised the fact that one of Welch’s young law firm associates had once been a member of an alleged communist lawyers group.  

Welch responded “Until this moment, senator I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.”  He later added “Have you no sense of decency, sir?  At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Later that year the Senate voted 67-22 to censure McCarthy who was subsequently defeated in the court of public opinion. 

The more things change the more they stay the same!