Hang The Traitors

In a comment to a friend's blog, a psycho right-winger called me a traitor for my criticism of American foreign policy. He then gave me the love it or leave it b.s. that Nazi-like tyrants like to use. Bill O'Reilly, the poster-child of right-wing psychopaths, recently suggested that Cindy Sheehan's attempts to obtain an audience with Emperor Bush amounts to treason.

Are you serious?

The irrationality that associates disagreement with treason is becoming so commonplace these days that sane people should really pause and reflect. Treason is a strong word that should not be used lightly. Article III, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution defines treason as follows:

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.

The use of the word only is important. Treason is levying war against the U.S., adhering to enemies and giving them aid and comfort. That's it. Dissent, writing and criticism are not on the list.

I am not a traitor unless you define blogging as aiding and comforting an enemy. Cindy Sheehan is not a traitor unless you define camping on a ranch in Texas as aiding and comforting the enemy. And, if you, like Bill O'Reilly, are irrational enough to define treason in such broad terms, then there are people in this country who have provided so much more aid and comfort to Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein that myself and Cindy Sheehan do not even make it on the radar.

Let's start with good ol' Rummy. He and Saddam were homies in the not so distant past. During their collegial visits, Rummy arranged the sales of millions and millions of dollars in weaponry to Saddam to aid him in quelling the Kurdish insurgency in the north. The entire American government knew what the weapons were used for and made no objections at the time. They just wanted to aid and comfort a friend. After all, what are friends for?

How about the CIA under Emperor George I? There once was a man named Osama Bin Laden, who left his wealthy family in Saudi Arabia to help the Afghani people fight the Russians who invaded their country. Poor Osama Bin Laden was down and out and unconsolable over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Feeling bad for Osama, his good friends George I and the U.S. defense industry, came to his rescue during his time of need and provided him all the aid and comfort Osama could have ever asked for. They boosted Osama's spirits with top notch training of the mujahedeen, they invited Osama's homies in the Taliban to hang out with them in Washington D.C. and let them pick and choose from a grand arsenal that any wacko killer would dream of. Osama had never felt better thanks to the generous aid and comfort he received from the CIA. Thanks to the aid and comfort, Osama and his homies emerged victorious in their David v. Goliath battle against the Russians.

Then there is Iran, the newest public enemy number one. No discussion about aiding and comforting the enemy would be complete without a discussion of Iran. Remember that whole Iran Contra thing? The Islamic Republic of Iran -- the country that held American hostages -- was in the throes of an 8-year war against Iraq. The U.S. officially sided with Iraq and enriched the arms industry by selling arms to Saddam, but that wasn't good enough for everyone. Ollie North and whoever he conspired with in the Reagan Administration sold arms to Iran to fund the Contras in Nicaragua (another group hell-bent on overthrowing a democratically-elected government). Members of the Reagan Administration aided Iran militarily notwithstanding the fact that Iran has been on the Billboard Top 40 Hated Countries list since 1979 (and has made quite a comeback recently). Ollie's punishment for treason? He is working as a bag of hot air at Fox News.

The traitors are not people like me who believe in freedom and democracy and the importance of the U.S. Constitution. They are those who call for the Constitution to be tossed aside because they despise the freedom and democracy it ensures. They are those who do not believe in America's separation of church and state, but would rather establish a religious state in America. And they are those who shelter the treasonous bastards who have put America in harms' way by providing aid and comfort to her enemies.