Where’s the shame?
Donald Trump accuses people who disagree with him politically of being “communists.”
Esos no tienen vergüenza (Those people have no shame). My saintly Nana Petra (she of blessed memory)
My Nana would say that of people who were hypocrites, that is, whose actions contradicted their words. Or of people whose behavior was blatantly, knowingly wrong – e.g., starting or spreading hurtful rumors about someone, etc.
Donald Trump accusing people who disagree with him politically of being “communists” brings to mind my Nana’s discerning words. In my mind’s eye, I see her in her poltrona (comfortable, rocking chair), fingering her ever-present rosary and shaking her head in disgust.
About shame and moral decency…
Scholar Dr. Susan J Campling notes that the notion of shame is part of the concept of moral decency, which is manifested in the regular practice of compassion, respect, and dignity toward others. Moral decency is usually quiet and unnoticed rather than flashy or dramatic.
An important dimension of moral decency is integrity – the willingness to act in accordance with ethical principles even when it’s politically or socially inconvenient to do so. When practiced on a collective basis, common decency is a powerful force. (Source 1)
While frequently viewed negatively, shame can also be positive, in terms of change and growth. Shame is an interactive process between a person’s values and those of society. Shame, then, represents both a person’s connection to a community and an openness to negative feedback from others and an opportunity to change (or ameliorate) bad behavior or actions. (Source 2)
Our country’s history teaches us that moral decency and shame can be, and have been, powerful societal change agents. For example, the notions of decency and shame were front and center during the 1954 Army-McCarthy Hearing, when Army lawyer Joseph N. Welch posited his famous question to Republican U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy:
“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”
“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”
McCarthy’s 1950s “Red Scare” campaign – in which people were falsely accused of being “communist” – led to thousands of families being thrust into poverty due to “Red Scare” victims losing their jobs and then being blacklisted so that they could not find work. The pressures generated by McCarthyism brought about widespread mental health crises and, in some cases, suicides.
Army lawyer Welch’s question (1) brought to the fore the moral implications of McCarthy’s “Red Scare” movement and (2) precipitated the decline of McCarthyism and McCarthy’s censure by the U.S. Senate.
Welch’s question is relevant today…
A version of Welch’s question – focusing as much on shame as on decency– should be posed to Donald Trump and to every Republican U.S. Congress member and Senator who supports Trump.
That same question should also be put to law enforcement organizations and their leaders, to veteran organizations and their leaders, and to Trump supporters at large.
Law enforcement personnel – where’s the shame?
Law enforcement personnel – where’s the shame?
Law enforcement personnel who support Trump and applaud his empty words about supporting police:
Have you no shame?
I’ve seen news coverage of Trump addressing law enforcement personnel, saying that he supports police officers and law enforcement personnel in general and that he is a “law and order” president.
Amazingly, the law enforcement folks actually applaud Trump when he utters these lies!
Reality check: On January 20, 2025, his very first day in office, Trump granted full pardons and commutations to about 1,583 people who had been convicted of or had pleaded guilty to crimes committed during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The most serious crimes the insurrectionists had been convicted of or had pleaded guilty to involved assaulting – with the intent to kill – police officers who were protecting the capitol and the members of Congress.
One officer died as a result of the Jan. 6 attacks, and about 140 police officers were injured by the Jan.6 insurrectionists. Several other police officers who were attacked that day died by suicide.
It bears noting that many of the people Trump pardoned have been re-arrested for other crimes, including sex crimes and crimes relating to child sex abuse material.
Let’s pay the people who assaulted police…
Trump proposed a $1,776 Billion fund to compensate the insurrectionists for their alleged pain and suffering.
Calling the convicted insurrectionists who attacked police on Jan.6 “victims” of maltreatment by, and “hostages” of, the government, Trump proposed a $1,776 Billion fund to compensate the insurrectionists for their alleged pain and suffering.
Among law enforcement folks, an assault on or the murder of a law enforcement officer is the worst crime that can be committed. In an ethical world, Trump would be shunned by and banned from speaking to law enforcement organizations. Instead, we see law enforcement organizations inviting Trump – who glorifies people who assaulted police officers on Jan.6 – to speak, and the attendees nod approvingly and clap as he says how much he supports law enforcement.
Law enforcement groups that invite Trump to speak and clap for him – where is the vergüenza?
Veterans – have you no shame?
Veteran organizations and their leaders who support Trump and applaud his empty words about supporting veterans:
Have you no sense of shame?
I’ve also seen news coverage of Trump addressing veteran’s organizations, with the audience members smiling and clapping at Trump’s assertions about how much he loves the military and respects veterans, etc.
U.S. Senator John McCain, was imprisoned and tortured for six years. He refused an early release based on his rank and is considered a war hero.
Reality check: A sampling of anti-military/anti-veterans comments and actions by Trump:
- U.S. Senator John McCain, a U.S. Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was imprisoned and tortured for six years. He refused an early release based on his rank, insisting that the American POWs captured before him should be released before him. McCain was universally considered a war hero.
In 2015, while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump infamously called McCain a “loser” because he was captured. Trump said he only liked people who were not captured.
- In 2018, while visiting Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France, where Americans who fought and died in World War I are buried, President Trump called the fallen U.S. soldiers “losers” and “suckers,” a comment that was publicly confirmed by retired U.S. Marine Corps General John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, and by a senior official of the U.S. Department of Defense.
- Marine Corps General Kelly also reported that Trump did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because it doesn’t “look good” for him.
- Trump has fired approximately 80,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees, including doctors and surgeons, nurses, nurse practitioners, claims assistants, therapists, pharmacists, psychologists plus others. One-third of VA staff are veterans, and many more are from military families.
Veterans will now have to rely on “community care,” which medical experts say is, on average, both lower in quality and higher in cost than that delivered in the VA.
Medical professionals predict that veterans will die as result of Trump’s cuts.
[Overall, throughout the government, Trump is firing close to 10 million federal employees, 30% of whom are veterans.]
Veterans who support Trump and/or who applaud when he lies about how much he supports veterans – where’s the vergüenza?
Parents who support rewarding child sex traffickers – have you no shame?
Parents – and for that matter, others such as grandparents, godparents, aunts/uncles, family friends, etc. – who consider themselves to be moral people who support Trump:
Have you no sense of decency or shame?
Consider the following:
In 2021 Ghislaine Maxwell wassentenced to 20 years in prison. But she got sent to a “Club Fed” facility.
In 2021 Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five counts of recruiting, grooming, and facilitating the rape and sexual abuse of underage girls (some as young as 14) by Jeffrey Epstein. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Maxwell was rewarded by Trump: On July 24-25, 2025, Deputy Attorney General (and personal Trump defense attorney) Todd Blanche conducted what can be described as a “sweetheart interview” of Maxwell.
Shortly after that “sweetheart interview,” Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison to a “Club Fed” facility. Maxwell’s transfer broke all the rules governing such transfers – e.g., the rules do not allow sex offenders (who are classified as violent) in “Club Fed” facilities, which are unfenced.
At the “Club Fed” facility Maxwell now can (and does) have a puppy, participate in yoga classes, order latte coffees, have Uber-delivered meals, and other privileges not available to regular prisoners. And she lives in a comfortable dormitory rather than in a prison cell and can walk around the fence-less Club Med grounds whenever she wants.
Trump has said he “wishes her (Maxwell) well” and has indicated he may pardon Maxwell.
Maxwell’s treatment shakes decent people’s moral sense to its very core. In what moral universe are child sex traffickers people who should be rewarded and treated like royalty?
Parents and grandparents, godparents, aunts/uncles, etc. who support Trump who rewards child sex traffickers: have you no sense of vergüenza?
It is sad – as well as infuriating – that some 70 years after Army lawyer Joseph N. Welch posited it, the question “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” – expanded to include shame – is still relevant. c/s
___________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2026 by Solomon Baldenegro. To contact Sal write: Salomonrb@msn.com
Source 1: Dr. Susan J Campling, “Moral Decency: Compassion, Dignity, and Their Value to Individuals and Society,” Personal Blog, December 16, 2025.
Source 2: Jing Iris Hu, “Shame, Vulnerability, and Change,” Cambridge University Press: August 27, 2021.
All images in this blog are in the public domain.