Words of wisdom

"I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear....

I speak as briefly as possible because too much harm has already been done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism. I speak as simply as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence. I speak simply and briefly in the hope that my words will be taken to heart.

To displace [the current Democratic administration] with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation... I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny -- Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear.

I doubt if the Republican Party could -- simply because I don't believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren't that desperate for victory....

As members of the Minority Party, we do not have the primary authority to formulate the policy of our Government. But we do have the responsibility of rendering constructive criticism, of clarifying issues, of allaying fears by acting as responsible citizens.

I don't like the way the Senate has been made a rendezvous for vilification, for selfish political gain at the sacrifice of individual reputations and national unity....

... As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.

It is with these thoughts I have drafted what I call a 'Declaration of Conscience'..."

Statement of Senator Margaret Chase Smith
June 1, 1950

     Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith was the first one to stand up against the very powerful Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy.  Senator McCarthy destroyed people's lives by accusing them of being communists.  He also said he had proof that communists had infiltrated President Harry Truman's administration as well as the State Department.
     Senator Margaret Chase Smith's words are as relevant today as they were sixty-two years ago.  Unfortunately, no one in the Republican Party has the courage to speak them and the conservative Republicans who control their Party are intent on using the same tactics of fear and bigotry that Senator McCarthy used.


Read more about it:
A Declaration of Conscience