re: There You Go Again
One of the interesting side-effects of all this is that it's provoking you to reveal some of your deepest attitudes.
Treason is fundamentally an act of putting personal interests ahead of the state,
Good Lord, where did that come from? The State has an interest in collecting taxes, and you seem to be saying that every American who finds and takes every legitimate deduction is thereby commiting treason. You also seem to be elevating every infraction of the State's law to the status of treason as well--laws are a concrete expression of the State's interests.
[whistle] Wow Mark, you're really a Statist at heart, aren't you? Do you pine for a monarchy?
I think you're also confusing the current officeholders and their party with the State itself. Don't forget that in our system of government officeholders come and go, but the government endures. George W. Bush is not the government, and opposing him is not the same as opposing the State. Actions that aren't in the interests of Bush and Party aren't necessarily against the interests of America, and opposition to bad policies in fact supports the interests of America.
Unbelievable.
Other countries use different definitions for the "crime" of treason.
I'm an American, you're an American, most of the people included in the group Gary's denouncing are Americans. And the HabitableZone's server is located on American soil. What's your point?
If you read the constitutional references MA supplied you will see that the founding fathers intentionally narrowed the definition of the crime of treason full well knowing the word had broader meaning.
Spin. The Federalist Papers record that their concerns had to do with the way that the loose definition in English law allowed for serious abuse. Specifically, they knew that people then, as the Right is trying to do now, would apply the charge of "treason!" to a wide range of legitimate actions, including political dissent. They hoped that they'd foreclosed that possibility with a specific and narrow definition, but it seems that today's flag-wrapped Right is determined to destroy their good work and restore "treason!" to its former status as a potent political weapon.
It isn't working, and I intend to make sure that it doesn't work.
For the rest of your post, phhttt, you're just endlessly restating the same arguments that have gotten you nowhere. Do you have anything new to add?