A Revolution of Decency

Are any of you old enough to remember Jimmy Snyder, better known as Jimmy the Greek? He was a sports commentator and bookie who used to predict the scores of football games for CBS. Way back in 1988, Jimmy lost his job with the network for making some pretty racist comments on air that I won’t repeat here.

Now this was back in the glory days that MAGA fantasizes about as a kind of First Amendment free-for-all, when you could say or do anything you wanted with no consequences. That actually wasn’t the case at all. Celebrities lost gigs, news anchors resigned, politicians were forced to drop out of races, editors bleeped and blurred things out fairly regularly.

It wasn’t called “cancel culture” back then. It was called decency. As a society, we kept each other in line. There were boundaries. There was shame. The First Amendment, of which I am a huge fan, guarantees that the government can’t restrict your speech, but it doesn’t necessarily protect you from the social consequences of that speech.

Today, everything is upside-down. The so-called defenders of the First Amendment in government are violating it almost daily, while the basic decency that the people used to protect has collapsed. A perfect example is Donald Trump’s tweet (and its retweet by the official White House account) of an AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the Pope.

There was a time not so long ago where that would have united people in universal disgust. Sure, anyone is free to post such a thing. But for a sitting President to make a mockery of the Church 10 days after the death of the Pope is just indecent. We used to know that. We didn’t determine the decency or indecency of words or actions according to the political side of the person who said or did them. Wrong was wrong.

Now we’re filled with excuses and lies. According to Trump and half of the MAGA folks, it was a joke, and we should all just lighten up. I’m Catholic, and I didn’t find this stunt funny at all. I found it childish, stupid, and offensive. As Trump tries to distance himself from it, claiming “Catholics loved it” and throwing his own wife under the bus, the other half of MAGA World is claiming it’s “fake news” and never happened in the first place. God help us.

I will believe to my dying day that we are better than this. Most Americans are decent. We are better than Trump thinks we are. So we are leading a revolution of decency here at The Social Contract. We are renewing our social contract with one another and saving our republic. It’s already happening. Americans are rejecting Trump’s indecency, driving approval for immigration, free trade, and support for Ukraine to go up since his inauguration.

Decency was one of the topics on the agenda when I met with a group of fine Americans in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, recently. Check out today’s Social Spotlight for more on our conversation.

In Today’s Issue

• The Social Briefing (skip this if you don’t want to read about Trump!)

• What Can You Do?

• The Social Spotlight: Restoring Decency: A Conversation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

This Week

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HERE’S A REAL FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATION. Linda McMahon, the former pro-wrestling promoter who has been accused of enabling the sexual abuse of children and is now a member of Donald Trump’s Cabinet, contacted Harvard University today with a poorly written laundry list of complaints and more threats to their funding. No one explains the problem with this better than FIRE did:

“The government can grant and reject grant requests for many reasons. But it can’t do so for unconstitutional ones. And that’s exactly what is happening here.

The government’s message to Harvard is clear: Don’t bother applying for federal grants because we’ll deny them because of who you hire, who you enroll, and what you say. This is a new escalation in the standoff between Harvard and the Trump administration—and it’s wrong.

The problems that exist at Harvard—and there are many—cannot distract from the very real threat of the government wielding its immense funding power to control America’s colleges and universities.”

Ditto!

LET’S BE HONEST—HE’S SICK. Trump isn’t just a Russian asset and a traitor, he’s also rapidly declining cognitively. Some of the most recent evidence is here, here, here, and here. There should be even more coverage of this. Massive coverage. Because it’s an issue. A huge issue that impacts the entire world.

AND HE’S A COMMIE TOO. There was a lot to unpack from Trump’s Meet the Press interview on Sunday. Dear Leader said the people only need three or four dolls. He said they only need five pencils. Guess what, MAGA? You elected a communist. Way to go. Trump also said the “good parts” of the economy are his, and the “bad parts” are Joe Biden’s. I suppose the buck stops nowhere now. How long will MAGA folks take this BS? Maybe I’m idealistic, but I think some are already waking up, and more will soon. He can destroy due process, but dammit, don’t mess with their pocketbook.

AUTHORITARIAN AMERICA. Also in the MTP interview, when asked if he must uphold the Constitution, the President of the United States responded, “I don’t know.” There is no other answer to that question except “Yes.” Period. He took an oath to do exactly that. To respond in any other way is traitorous. But don’t just blame him. Blame the Republicans who don’t say a word. Blame the Republicans who also took an oath, which they continually break with abandon. Their real oath is to Donald Trump, in one of the most despicable displays of rank partisanship in our nation’s history.

THANK YOU, JUDICIARY. I always try to end this section on a positive note, so here’s some good news. In North Carolina, a federal judge ruled against a state Supreme Court candidate’s effort to overturn his narrow loss, ending six months of legal battles. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers, a Trump appointee, ruled that Jefferson Griffin, a Republican judge on the state Court of Appeals, cannot “change the rules of the game after it had been played.” Well done.

What Can You Do?

1. JOIN THE NO KINGS PROTEST! Mark your calendars now for this one. We’re protesting on June 14! More details to come…

2. CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG? 50501 is planning something sooner…

3. WANT TO ORGANIZE IN YOUR COMMUNITY? Action Network has everything you need to get started. Visit actionnetwork.org to get started.

4. GET YOUR #NOKINGS MERCH! If you’re going to protest, you might as well have the right gear. Click here for the #NoKings store at One Flag Initiative!

Spotlight on Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lancaster is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, roughly halfway between Philadelphia to the east and the state capital of Harrisburg to the west. How did I end up in this small city in a mostly rural county, perhaps known best for its Amish and Mennonite communities (which I never even saw)? It was all thanks to Ann Womble.

Ann was a superstar for the “Republicans for Harris” committee in Pennsylvania, and I got to know her while campaigning for Kamala Harris last year. Back in March, I reached out to Ann to see if she could get a group together in Lancaster for a conversation.

Ann got right on it. “I had already begun to meet with a small group of concerned citizens in February to start to think about how we could turn our anxiety about national politics into some action locally,” Ann said. “So I reached out to them and asked them to invite a few others to this gathering, and that's how we got the group that showed up.”

This was a politically well-informed group that included both Republicans and Democrats, as well as former congressional candidates, a former county commissioner, a city councilman, and a political consultant. Notably, three refugees were in attendance, including the city councilman, who hails from Chad. It makes a lot of sense when you consider that Lancaster is the per-capita refugee capital of Pennsylvania. While Lancaster leans conservative, its citizens tend to be “shining city on a hill” conservatives, who are welcoming to immigrants. My kind of people.

Here’s some more info on Lancaster…

DEMOGRAPHICS: As of the 2020 census, the City of Lancaster had around 58,000 residents, while Lancaster County has over 550,000. Thirty-nine percent of the residents are Hispanic, and there’s a particularly large Puerto Rican presence. Lancaster has one of the highest concentrations of Spanish speakers in Pennsylvania. The racial composition beyond Hispanics is 38% White, 13% Black, 3% Asian, and 7% multiracial.

INDUSTRY: Lancaster County is a national leader in farming, particularly dairy, poultry, and produce. It also was a historically strong manufacturing community, still active in food processing, tools, and furniture. Millions of tourists are drawn to the area every year for the cultural attractions, including the Amish Country markets. And it has burgeoning healthcare and tech sectors, with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health serving as a major employer.

ENVIRONMENT: Lancaster is part of the Piedmont Plateau, with gently rolling hills, fertile soil, and the Susquehanna River to the west. It has cold winters, warm humid summers, and four distinct seasons. Agricultural runoff into the Chesapeake Bay watershed is a long-term environmental issue.

POLITICS: While the city of Lancaster is progressive-leaning with a Democratic mayor and City Council, the county as a whole traditionally votes Republican in state and national elections. In the 2024 presidential election, Lancaster County awarded 57% of its vote to Donald Trump, while Kamala Harris earned 41%, and 2% went to others.

Among the many topics we discussed was the idea of decency, and whether it still means something to Americans. Here’s what this group of folks had to say:

My takeaway from this is that decency still matters a lot to people, but our online world has helped to break down the barriers that help maintain it. What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send them our way.

For more videos from Lancaster, please visit the Conversations with Joe section on our website.

Hey, I want to hear from you!

What do you think of The Social Contract with Joe Walsh? What are your thoughts about what’s happening this week? How can we fix the political mess we’ve created in our country? How do we mend our frayed social fabric and rebuild an America that works?

Tell us your story and share your ideas with us. Email our editor at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.