The whims of war, revisited

Where have we heard this before, and from whom?

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"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight as we celebrate the ... birthday of one of the greatest men in American history, I would like to be able to talk about what a glorious day [it] is in the history of the world. As we celebrate the birth of this man who with his whole heart and soul hated war, I would like to be able to speak of peace in our time – of war being outlawed – and of worldwide disarmament. These would be truly appropriate things to be able to mention ...

"... Years after a ... war has been won, men's hearts should anticipate a long peace – and men's minds should be free from the heavy weight that comes with war. But this is not such a period – for this is not a period of peace ... This is a time when all the world is split into two vast, increasingly hostile armed camps ...

"Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war. You can see it, feel it, and hear it all the way ... into the very heart of Europe itself.

"The one encouraging thing is that the "mad moment" has not yet arrived for the firing of the gun or the exploding of the bomb which will set civilization about the final task of destroying itself. There is still a hope for peace if we finally decide that no longer can we safely blind our eyes and close our ears to those facts which are shaping up more and more clearly ... and that is that we are now engaged in a showdown fight ... not the usual war between nations for land areas or other material gains, but a war between two diametrically opposed ideologies.

"The great difference between our Western Christian world and [our enemies] ... is not political, gentlemen, it is moral ... The real, basic difference, however, lies in the religion of immoralism ... This religion of immoralism, if the [other] ... half of the world triumphs – and well it may, gentlemen – this religion of immoralism will more deeply wound and damage mankind than any conceivable economic or political system ...

"[Our enemies] ... have added in clear-cut, unmistakable language their resolve that no nation, no people who believe in a god, can exist side by side with their ... state. [They] ... expelled people ... for mentioning such things as love, justice, humanity or morality. [They] ... called this 'soulful ravings' and 'sloppy sentimentality.'

"Lest there be any doubt that the time has been chosen, let us go directly to [ask] ... Ladies and gentlemen, can there be anyone tonight who is so blind as to say that the war is not on? Can there by anyone who fails to realize that [their side] has said the time is now? ... that this is the time for the showdown between the democratic Christian world and [our evildoing enemies]?

"Unless we face this fact, we shall pay the price that must be paid by those who wait too long ... In other words, in less than six years, the odds have changed from 9 to 1 in our favor to 8 to 1 against us ... As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, 'When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be from enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within' ...

"The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our ... powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores ... but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation ... [We must light] the spark which is resulting in a moral uprising and will end only when the whole sorry mess of twisted, warped thinkers are swept from the [inter]national scene so that we may have a new birth of honesty and decency in [the world] ...

"Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle. The modern champions of [evil] have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down – they are truly down ..."

– Sen. Joseph McCarthy, from speech delivered Feb. 9, 1950, Wheeling, W.Va.