I think it's interesting how quick people are to throw around the word "treason" in reference to the act of speaking out against an administration, government, policies, laws, and all the rest.
Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution states
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
It seems to me that treason must be an overt act through which a person makes open war against the States, or aids and abets enemies.
Would disagreeing with the government, and speaking in a manner with which its enemies might agree, be considered such an act?
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
To me it seems clear that no manner of speech can be considered treason. Apparently it is not so clear to others.
Then again, I have odd notions about treason. I feel that I must do what I feel is right, even if it is opposition to government, to the extent that I would advocate armed rebellion if things ever became so bad that it was necessary. Thus, I suppose I really am treasonous. But I consider myself to be in good company:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
John Hancock
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton
Coincidentally, George Ross is one of my ancestors.
I also tend view anyone who is not willing to disagree with the government and stand for what they believe is right, even if they will be labelled traitors, as having betrayed the ideals of our nation.
In that case, who are the real traitors in today's America?
Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution states
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
It seems to me that treason must be an overt act through which a person makes open war against the States, or aids and abets enemies.
Would disagreeing with the government, and speaking in a manner with which its enemies might agree, be considered such an act?
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
To me it seems clear that no manner of speech can be considered treason. Apparently it is not so clear to others.
Then again, I have odd notions about treason. I feel that I must do what I feel is right, even if it is opposition to government, to the extent that I would advocate armed rebellion if things ever became so bad that it was necessary. Thus, I suppose I really am treasonous. But I consider myself to be in good company:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
John Hancock
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton
Coincidentally, George Ross is one of my ancestors.
I also tend view anyone who is not willing to disagree with the government and stand for what they believe is right, even if they will be labelled traitors, as having betrayed the ideals of our nation.
In that case, who are the real traitors in today's America?
I just can't stand it when Poli Sci types trot out the "classical" definition of liberal in order to make it look like we're just a bunch of jerks who're making it up as we go along.
I mean, we are, but so's everybody.
It's funny, because humans seem to be hardwired to regard the past as somehow more authentic than the corrupted present--radical reformers from Confucius, Lycurgus, and Cato to Rousseau, Mao, and Gingrich have usually phrased their proposals in terms of restoring a bygone order, rather than raising a new one.
Liberals themselves are not immune to such temptation, however. We venerate the Founding Fathers just as much as conservatives, with a fetishistic idolization that borders on ancestor-worship. We simply disagree about specifically what they stood for.
I think it's good and right to question, though, if what they stood for is always really relevant today.
In this case, of course, the case of justifiable treason, the answer is obvious. It is America's most significant, and most noble, contribution to history, our true gift to the world (much more so than "freedom," which apparently can mean very different things in the minds of people like Frederick Douglass, on the one hand, and Jeff Davis, on the other). Actually, now that I think about it, the Chinese invented it. But that's not important.
What's important is that I'm trying to say "thanks," and that I'm glad to see that there are others out there in the Opposition with some backbone.
To Victory.
-Z
it's great to fulfill your destiny, isn't it? i mean really. so rare and such a unique pleasure.