DESCRIPTION:
While Attorney Joseph Welch’s famous "Have you no decency" accusation to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 is very well known, far less known, but equally powerful, is this interaction near the end of the hearings between Senator Stuart Symington, the former (and first) Secretary of the Air Force, and McCarthy. Among other things, during the interchange, McCarthy calls Symington “Sanctimonious Stu.” Symington responds “You better go to a psychiatrist.” A little later, a frustrated McCarthy tells Symington “You’re not fooling anyone.” Symington responds prophetically, “Senator, let me tell you something. The American people have had a look at you for six weeks. You’re not fooling anyone either.”

What follows shows the beginning of the end for McCarthy, as one watches the meeting adjourn with McCarthy continuing to speak in emphatic terms as no one in the room listens. This is a powerful moment, as the country begins to awaken from its long nightmare.

The full documentary from which this clip is taken can be found here: https://youtu.be/wJHsur3HqcI