Well, I figured this Facebook post from last night, copied and pasted verbatim below, would ruffle a few feathers. So far it has ruffled only a few. It reflects my exasperation at the jaw-dropping and breathlessness people of various political stripes have exhibited in response to something our Dumpster-Fire-in-Chief said and/or did in Helsinki.
Per the US Constitution:
"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."
1. We can rule out the part about levying War against the US (so far) by the standard definition of military action, even though 45 has spent 18 months committing acts of war against American citizens, immigrants, and common decency. But according to what authority is the Russian Federation an Enemy of the United States? (Rachel Maddow's say-so does not count.)
2. By saying, "No, my friends, the alleged president of the United States is not committing treason," I am not defending 45; I am defending language, semantics, and the Constitution itself.
3. Stop clutching your pearls so hard; you'll crush them & get pearl dust all over your chest. We've known for decades that 45 is a puerile moron with no verbal filters or sense of decorum. In Helsinki, he put his foot in his mouth and stepped in the shit that was lying there. That's par for the course for him. This surprises you...how exactly? Focus instead on what he & his gang actually do with those presidential powers: bills signed, executive orders issued, officials appointed, trade policies advanced. His behavior makes for a great distraction while the Congressional majority is making its corporate sugar daddies' wettest dreams come true.
UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald takes to Twitter to resurrect a 2006 blog post of his that examines the problem of applying loose definitions to words like "treason."
Donald Trump says that he takes the word of Vladimir Putin over that of the US intelligence services. Trump is a habitual liar—and yet people are taking him at his word. The US intelligence services have a documented history of lying to the people and Congress to manufacture consent for wars and capitalist excesses abroad and domestically—and yet people are taking them at their word that Russia is up to the same old Cold War tricks (which, of course, the US has also played).
To quote the Worst President Ever, "Sad."
Even sadder is the dichotomous thinking I'm seeing among Democratic voters of my acquaintance: There are only two electoral alternatives, and anybody who votes for a third party is just a dangerous weirdo siphoning votes from the only two parties that actually exist. Everyone who voted for Johnson or Stein would have voted for Clinton in their absence. We can't talk about the greater numbers of Obama voters who switched to Trump. We can't talk about the even greater numbers in the big swing states who didn't vote at all.
If you're getting whipped into a lather over talk of treason, please stop, drop, and roll. Then take a few deep breaths, tell your lizard brain to calm the fuck down, and let your neocortex take over. As bad as Trump is, and as much as we'd like to see him gone, treason cannot be proven (yet). An impeachment process launched from some dipshit comments made at an international meeting of two elected tyrants will be a waste of time, money, energy, and human resources.
If the Mueller probe ever produces any actual evidence of actual malfeasance worthy of impeachment, I'm ready and willing to see it. Then it's just a matter of whether Republicans in Congress are willing to believe it. Meanwhile, if we must refresh the Tree of Liberty with the blood of this tyrant and his crew, let's make sure we're acting on something provable in a court of law. Acting on mere accusations is a recipe for decades of deadly ugliness.
If there's any "good" news to be found in the whole Shocked! Shocked, I say! kerfuffle, it's that establishment Republicans are turning on The Donald in greater numbers. It's no longer just the George Wills and the Bill Kristols, but Republicans who have run interference for him in the past, including his enablers on Fox News.
Donald Trump says that he takes the word of Vladimir Putin over that of the US intelligence services. Trump is a habitual liar—and yet people are taking him at his word. The US intelligence services have a documented history of lying to the people and Congress to manufacture consent for wars and capitalist excesses abroad and domestically—and yet people are taking them at their word that Russia is up to the same old Cold War tricks (which, of course, the US has also played).
To quote the Worst President Ever, "Sad."
Even sadder is the dichotomous thinking I'm seeing among Democratic voters of my acquaintance: There are only two electoral alternatives, and anybody who votes for a third party is just a dangerous weirdo siphoning votes from the only two parties that actually exist. Everyone who voted for Johnson or Stein would have voted for Clinton in their absence. We can't talk about the greater numbers of Obama voters who switched to Trump. We can't talk about the even greater numbers in the big swing states who didn't vote at all.
If you're getting whipped into a lather over talk of treason, please stop, drop, and roll. Then take a few deep breaths, tell your lizard brain to calm the fuck down, and let your neocortex take over. As bad as Trump is, and as much as we'd like to see him gone, treason cannot be proven (yet). An impeachment process launched from some dipshit comments made at an international meeting of two elected tyrants will be a waste of time, money, energy, and human resources.
If the Mueller probe ever produces any actual evidence of actual malfeasance worthy of impeachment, I'm ready and willing to see it. Then it's just a matter of whether Republicans in Congress are willing to believe it. Meanwhile, if we must refresh the Tree of Liberty with the blood of this tyrant and his crew, let's make sure we're acting on something provable in a court of law. Acting on mere accusations is a recipe for decades of deadly ugliness.
If there's any "good" news to be found in the whole Shocked! Shocked, I say! kerfuffle, it's that establishment Republicans are turning on The Donald in greater numbers. It's no longer just the George Wills and the Bill Kristols, but Republicans who have run interference for him in the past, including his enablers on Fox News.
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