Sen. Jim DeMint: An act of Sedition?

[AndyA]

Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements, or say or do anything except by way of bona fide and not disloyal advice to an investor or investors, with intent to obstruct the sale by the United States of bonds or other securities of the United States or the making of loans by or to the United States, and whoever when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause, or incite or attempt to incite, insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct or attempt to obstruct the recruiting or enlistment services of the United States, and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United States into contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute, or shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any language intended to incite, provoke, or encourage resistance to the United States, or to promote the cause of its enemies, or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully by utterance, writing, printing, publication, or language spoken, urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production in this country of any thing or things, product or products, necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war in which the United States may be engaged, with intent by such curtailment to cripple or hinder the United States in the prosecution of war, and whoever shall willfully advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated, and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or the imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both: Provided, That any employee or official of the United States Government who commits any disloyal act or utters any unpatriotic or disloyal language, or who, in an abusive and violent manner criticizes the Army or Navy or the flag of the United States shall be at once dismissed from the service...

Sounds to me like DeMint could be in a lot of trouble if he does what he's said he's going to do.

[Taverner]

1. Yes that would be correct

What if Sen Kerry had gone to Iraq before the war to tell Sadaam to "Resist the US"?

What if Joe Kennedy had gone to Germany to tell Hitler to "resist the allies"?

[AndyA]

2. If Joe Kennedy had gone to meet Hilter, he might have bumped into

George W. Bush's grandfather dropping off the latest load of arms in defiance of United States laws.

[Taverner]

6. This is true

They should have kicked Prescott out of the Senate for that one

[atreides1]

7. He might be in violation of the Logan Act

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
1 Stat. 613, January 30, 1799, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004).


The question is does this administration have the balls to charge him with it? Personally I don't think so!

[MzNov]

24. I agree, but the Senate Resolution slapping his wrist must be on its way! nt

[hfojvt]

16. you know there was a Democrat from Washington who went to Iraq

before the war and he said something like "Saddam is co-operating with the inspectors and President Bush is lying"

[BBG]

30. Representative Jim McDermott

My Congressman. And it was before that illegal invasion of Iraq that he made the trip.

[tblue]

3. To what is this referring?

Sorry. Did I miss something?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. DeMint's trying to fly to Honduras to support the military coup.

Against the position of the U.S. State Department.

[LeftishBrit]

9. He is doing whaaaaaaat????

This DeMented character sounds like a cross between Jesse Helms and Ollie North. Who elected him anyway???

[atreides1]

10. The People of South Carolina

Not all of them just the mouth breathers, but enough to get him elected.

[G_j]

29. careful..

your gonna hurt somebody's feelings..

:-(

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Supporting the military coup.

DeMint and the coup are both backed by the same corporate interests.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

5. See this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/demint-honduras-trip-plan_n_307632.html

[AndyA]

12. Sen. Jim DeMint (R) is going over to Honduras to meet with

de facto Honduran president Roberto Micheletti. Micheletti seized control from elected president Manuel Zelaya on June 28th, when Zelaya was awakened in his night clothes and deported to Nicaragua by the military.

He is going in defiance of President Obama.

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. Then let him go and when he gets back, lock him up.

He can share a cell with Ensign.

[tblue]

13. I would love to see our Justice Department dismiss politics and just follow the dang law!

If DeMint breaks a law, indict him!

[atreides1]

15. We all Would

Unfortunately, the DOJ is working under the new Cumbaya law as well.:D

[AndyA]

14. Ensign and Coburn. Please, please, please let Coburn be involved

to the point of losing his seat! If there's a God...please!!!

[bain_sidhe]

26. Better yet - declare him "persona non grata" and don't let him come back n/t

[Old and In the Way]

17. Undermining our government/democracy by honoring the overthrew

of a democratically elected government in Central America. A rather open act of sedition...the message that DeMint is clearly sending to his domestic audience: "See, this is how other RW extremists get rid of Democratic/Leftish/Progressive governments and I support them, openly....get the picture?"

I'd escalate the warning to DeMint and let him know, in no uncertain terms, what the consequences/charges could be to undermine official US policy - particularly in his role as a standing US Senator of the minority Party.

[hfojvt]

18. shades of McDermott?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x12934

[BBG]

31. Get a clue, not even close.

No way are they even close to the same thing. You're an idiot to even imply it.

[pnorman]

19. That's from the Sedition Act of 1918

http://www.libertyparkusafd.org/lp/Madison/federalism%5CSedition%20Act%20of%201918%20-%20Wikipedia.htm

That's not the sort of legislation we should be championing, particularly in the case of wars NOT declared By Congress (WW2 was our last such War). But it should help point out the HYPOCRISY of those former "Super Paytriots"!

pnorman

[pnorman]

27. Here's some MORE hypocrisy from those Reptilican assholes:

Republicans visit Honduras despite US coup policy

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup

pnorman

[redqueen]

20. K&R

I hope this blows up.

[MzNov]

21. The Logan Act

He is in CLEAR violation and should be prosecuted fully.

http://law.jrank.org/pages/8357/Logan-Act.html


added
From Think Progress:

The Logan Act forbids “unauthorized citizens” from negotiating with foreign governments. In a 1936 Supreme Court ruling, Justice Sutherland wrote that “the President alone has the power” and “the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it.”

[iceman66]

22. Sure looks that way to me.

[alsame]

23. He's there. Sanchez on CNN showed pictures of him in Honduras. He should

be arrested the minute his plane lands in the US.

[Are_grits_groceries]

25. They need to have a word of prayer with the Rethugs.

The government has every right to do so. DeMint is probably going to convey good news from rich RW loons too.

I read his book, "Saving Freedom", and he truly believes he needs to lead a revolution. DeMint is worse than Sanford. He sees no place for government in practically anything. He even went off on Eisenhower for building the interstate highway system.

I'm sure there are others who sneak and do things. However, he is openly defying the government. Hillary needs to jerk a knot in him. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is going next week, and Connie Mack went in July.

[dgibby]

28. Interesting article from BuzzFlash:

Meet Senator Jim DeMint, Honduran Coup Supporter and Apologist: Oh, He's Republican Too.


President Obama has decried it. The Organization of American States and countries throughout Latin America have condemned it. The European Union has protested loudly. The majority of world leaders have raised their voices in opposition, confirmed by a resolution just passed in the United Nations General Assembly. And yet, one prominent legislator on Capitol Hill has leapt to the defense of the new coup regime which took power in Honduras on Sunday. That politician is Republican South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.

snip:

It’s hardly surprising that DeMint would come out for the military takeover in Honduras given that he’s been a long time booster of Central American free trade. In this sense, he shares the ideological views of newly installed Honduran President Roberto Micheletti, a former businessman and conservative politician who has supported the trade initiative.

snip:

Over the past five years DeMint has promoted his globalizing agenda, the same agenda shared by the likes of Roberto Micheletti and the Honduran elite which has just taken power in Tegucigalpa. In the days ahead it will be interesting to see whether his fellow Republican compatriots, also believers in free trade, will be so brazen as to come out for a government which brutally represses its people.

Nikolas Kozloff is the author of Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics and the Challenge to the U.S. (Palgrave, 2006) and Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave, 2008). Check out his Web site at http://senorchichero.blogspot.com

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/8900


Looks like DeMint and Micheletti like the same people. No doubt these people have very deep pockets.