Flake's Denunciation of Trump Recalls Smith's Censure of McCarthy

Credit Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) for speaking truth to power. His denunciation of President Trump’s “unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally-protected free press,” punctuated by his vicious characterization of the Fourth Estate as “the enemy of the people,” and his “sustained attack on the truth,” could not be more timely—or necessary.

Sen. Flake, a conservative Mormon republican, delivered this week a memorable speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He justly emphasized Trump’s long-term damage to our democratic institutions, and rightly pulled no punches in reminding his Senate colleagues that Trump’s use of the phrase, “enemy of the people,” is drawn straight out of Joseph Stalin’s playbook in describing his political enemies. “This alone,” Flake justly stated, “should be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the president’s party.”

Flake is right about the “shame” that ought to be felt, but more is at stake. Trump should not be allowed to demean and dismiss as “enemies” of the nation, those that dare to challenge the president view’s, values and decisions, for that is an assault on freedom of speech, democracy itself and the American creed.

Flake’s conclusion that Trump’s attacks on the truth and the free press are compounded by “our silent acquiescence,” may remind Americans of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith’s (R-Maine) courageous and historic speech on the Senate floor on June 1, 1950, when she took on Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), another bully who rattled and, for many, terrorized, the citizenry with lies, false accusations and intimidation.

Initially, Smith had acquiesced in McCarthy’s claims about communist infiltration of governmental departments and agencies—until she asked the Wisconsin Senator for evidence to support his assertions. Upon examination of McCarthy’s papers, Smith determined that there was no such evidence.

At that point, Sen. Smith determined that she could no longer ignore McCarthy’s groundless assertions and delivered on June 1, her “Declaration of Conscience” speech. Smith, like Flake, spoke truth to power. She condemned efforts to convert the Senate into “a forum of hate and character assassination.” She appealed to her colleagues for a renewal of “independent thought,” rather than the Senate’s obeisance to the McCarthyism that had gripped Congress.

Some members of the Senate offered praise for Smith’s remarks, but most remained silent, no doubt fearing recrimination from McCarthy, as Flake’s colleagues fear recrimination from Trump. But Smith drew praise for her courage from the nation’s newspapers and civic organizations.

In the months and years that passed after the speech, Sen. Smith was smeared by McCarthy and his supporters. But in 1954, she found satisfaction in voting for McCarthy’s censure, a rare Senate action, that effectively ended his career of lies and intimidation and stemmed the damage that he had inflicted on democratic norms and constitutional principles. Smith had effectively rebuked McCarthy’s campaign of falsehoods as a cynical effort to ride “the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear.”

Silent acquiescence, whether in the face of governmental distortions, the abuse of power, intimidation, or the denial of rights and liberties, represents a grave threat to the values and cause of Democracy. That lesson, burnished in the annals of history that track the rise of autocrats and authoritarians, and reflected in the speeches of Sens. Smith and Flake, has driven historic and sustained protests, including the Civil Rights Movement and, most recently, the nationwide Women’s Marches—millions strong—from California to Idaho to Washington.

Those across the decades that have resisted the temptations of passivity and silence, from Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson to Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Margaret Chase Smith and Martin Luther King, have recognized the essential truth of what Dr. King, himself, observed: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

- • •

David Adler, Ph.D., is President of the Alturas Institute, created to advance the Constitution, civic education and gender equality. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Presidency and the Bill of Rights.