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Mary Anne — (archived)

The word "treasonous", which has an explicit legal definition, is used, and yet it's not proper to hold the user(s) to its definition. I see. So using words correctly is an example of liberal thinking. Thank you.

Free speech and dissent is still not treason, except in a tyranny. You can expect all you want from me. Agreement will not be forthcoming.

As for creation of "enraged idiots", you could just as easily say that the US Dept. of Defense did that when they neglected to plan for an effective occupation based on pie-in-the-sky projections of what it would take to secure and rebuild Iraq.

Sure, people have the right to call other people treasonous. The people thus labelled have every right to be angry, to call the name-caller on it, and if they feel strongly enough, to demand satisfaction in court. (They would win.) People can call other people criminals, but then there's the little matter of proof. Of course, if one is only calling people criminals out of frustration, and not because it's true, the genuine crime no longer has a meaningful label. It's just another nasty word.

If you would like to defend someone else's right to accuse others of treason based on remarks they have made, are you also prepared to contribute to that person's defense fund? Defamation of character is a crime too. If I were to, say, accuse someone of being a child molester because of a remark he made about an underage girl, would you defend my right to do that as well? It's the same thing.

To express an opinion about foreign policy, or to repeat bad news, is not treason, or treasonous. "Giving aid and comfort", I say again (since you had the audacity to quote me in your own support), has a specific definition. "Making the enemy happy" doesn't come close to that definition. Unless a person is actively, explicitly recruiting for the enemy, no amount of repetition of uncomplementary remarks constitutes "aid and comfort".

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