WHERE'S A SAM ERVIN?

 Seeing that the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee had concluded its so-called "investigation" of the Russian meddling in the 2016 election, my brother commented, "Wasn't exactly like Watergate, was it?"  I sighed and said, "Yes, 'what did the President know and when did he know it?' are among some unforgettable moments."  He asked, "Where's a Sam Ervin, now that we need him?"

 I said, "That is very interesting as Sam Ervin was important in Watergate and he was also the Chairman of the committee which censured McCarthy."

He's too young to remember the Army-McCarthy hearings, but I  can recall my parents being engrossed by them. Those hearings, shown on our 12-inch black and white television, were the genesis of many arguments in my family.  Once I said that McCarthy was "awful" and my mother said to my father, "See, even a kid can tell it!" To this day, the speech by Joseph Welch, ending with the quote, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" (see below) is still indelibly etched on my brain. [I will admit that I have resorted to that quote a number of times during arguments] There is a great documentary Point Of Order! about the Army-McCarthy hearings which I recommend. I fondly recall the young Senator Stuart Symington, challenging McCarthy.

Mother adored FDR; my father called him "Ole Peg Leg"; he loved General MacArthur, Mother detested him. Mother loved JFK; my father actually liked Nixon. In 1952, I remember my Grandmother Shirkey telling my mother that she would "watch the children" so that Mother could vote for "OUR Mr. Bricker" and General Eisenhower.  Mother told her that she would be going to vote for "OUR Mr. DiSalle" and Stevenson.  Granny said, "But he's one of those Italians (she pronounced it "Eye-talian")!" Unfortunately, Mr. Bricker won that race, but in 1958, Stephen Young, who became my all-time political hero, defeated Mr. Bricker.  I said that Granny would roll over in her grave to know that OUR Mr. Bricker was finally defeated. [Actually, John W. Bricker, was a very interesting political figure--from Mt. Sterling-- who was Governor, Senator, and Vice-Presidential candidate]

My father would claim that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor before the event. One day at school, a teacher also said that "some people" believed that. I immediately challenged the teacher, in the same way my mother did at home: "You have no proof of that;  that's a lie!" I was taken to Mr. Biddle's office and they called my mother at home and she told Mr. Biddle that he needed to correct the teacher because it was a lie.  When I went home, I said, that was my "finest hour", proudly quoting Churchill.  At that time, I didn't know the term "Pyrrhic Victory", but as I had that teacher's lasting animus, I later realized that my short-lived victory was indeed a Pyrrhic victory.

ARMY-MCCARTHY HEARINGS:  Exchange between legal counsel for the Army, Mr. Welch and Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) during the Army-McCarthy hearings.  This is credited as the moment where McCarthy began to lose his power and influence, as the hearings were telecast and people could view how McCarthy behaved.