Have You No Sense of Decency?: Section 3: Welch Trolls Cohn Summary

  • Joseph Welch initiates a master class in getting under Cohn's skin, demanding to know who these Communists are, where they are, and how we can get rid of them before sundown.
  • Cohn denies swearing or threatening to wreck the Army, because of course he does.
  • Welch wants to know how many Communists are in sixteen defense plants. Cohn says there are roughly 130.
  • Welch baits Cohn, pointing out that if this is true, it's pretty alarming. They should get rid of these people immediately rather than using them to make political hay.
  • Cohn says the FBI already has all the information and has done nothing about it.
  • McCarthy interrupts to tell the committee chairman that of course Welch knows the FBI has the information and is supposed to act on it. All McCarthy does is to expose the communists and hope they'll be gotten rid of.
  • Welch continues to needle Cohn, begging him to get those communists out of town ASAP and put any other suspicious types under immediate surveillance.
  • Cohn assures him that they're on the trail of traitors everywhere.