How Many Republicans Are Guilty Of Treason?

[porphyrian]

I think that we are way overdue for some serious public outcry demanding that the traitors in this administration be brought to justice, now. How much of our time and tax money was wasted on an impeachment hearing over a lie under oath regarding Clinton's sexual behavior, yet virtually no mention is made of this administration being responsible for exposing the identity of a CIA operative outside of forums such as DU? I want fucking heads, and I want them now!

[the Kelly Gang]

1. I second that !

[olddem43]

2. I want heads too, but it may do more good in October -

A few small heads now would be OK however, with a long scandalous investigation, then the big ones before election day.

[lottie244]

3. Can we put Tom DeLay at the top of the list?

Many, many things in his closet could be tagged as 'treasonous' including helping to overthrow a US election.

[porphyrian]

5. I'd love to see his ass go down... - n/t

[Jim Sagle]

4. About half.

[GumboYaYa]

6. Zero, none, nada, zilch....

Treason is very narrowly defined and no Republicans have met that definition as far as I know.

Here is the definition of Treason in the 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.

* * *

Charges of Treason are extremely serious and should only be levied in the same seriousness. Screaming Treason everytime we disagree with a political act, no matter how heinous, only diminishes the gravity of the case against the Repubs.

[jmowreader]

8. Treason is almost impossible to convict for

During the Cold War, we rarely even charged spies with treason.

Clayton Lonetree: US Marine who let the KGB into the cipher room at US Embassy Moscow in exchange for sex, was convicted of espionage, sentenced to 20 years, released after serving 9

Jonathan Pollard: Civilian Naval Intelligence analyst who passed tons of US classified information to Israel. Pled guilty (plea-bargain, never went to trial) to espionage, sentenced to life without parole.

James Hall: a US Army warrant officer, Hall provided so much intelligence to the East Germans and the Soviets for money that the KGB told him to slow the fuck down before someone noticed how much he was walking out the door with. Was busted after the Stasi and the KGB, who had an information-sharing system established, realized they were paying twice for the same intel. Convicted of espionage, sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Michael Peri: a specialist-four assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, he got pissed off one day that his boss wouldn't let him take leave when he wanted to. He copied the 11th ACR's battle plans to a laptop, drove to East Germany and offered himself up for political asylum. The East Germans gave him to the KGB. The KGB copied the battle plans to their own computer, then called the 11th ACR staff duty office and told them to come get him. Convicted of espionage, sentenced to 30 years in prison.

These people were all traitors, and none of them was charged with treason. It's extremely hard to convict on treason charges because of the high bar the Constitution sets; espionage, by comparison, is an easy conviction.

There are crimes the Bushies are clearly guilty of--election fraud, conspiracy to violate restricted airspace (when Bush allowed bin Laden's relatives to leave the country on airplanes while the US airspace was closed) conspiracy to defraud Congress, false official statements, outing CIA officials, just hundreds of things. Screaming Treason! isn't gonna help; we can't convict on it (even though we could arguably get them for this on the $43 million to the Taliban and allowing bin Laden's relatives to return to Saudi Arabia), so let's try charging them with things we can put them in jail, or on the gurney, for. Yes, I think some of the actions of this government rise to the level of capital crimes.

[noonwitch]

7. Any repub who was involved in Iran Contra is a traitor

The late Ronnie, GHW Bush, North, Poindexter, etc.

They sold weapons to people who had previously demonstrated every intention of injuring and killing americans by holding our diplomats hostage. The same people they sold weapons to funded the killing of 300+ marines in Beiruit. The people who were then given the funds from the illegal sale were also terrorists, but Ronnie considered them "freedom fighters", which is an interesting term to use for a militia known for murdering nuns and missionaries and selling cocaine.