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Treason and Slander in the Fifth Column
By Nancy Salvato
June 3, 2004
The question begs to be asked. When did the right to freedom of speech trump the crime of participating in an act called treason? According to Section 3 of the Constitution, treason against the United States, shall consist in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
Certainly a case can be made against those who work in the media and deliberately undermine the current Republican Administration's efforts in the war on terror while purposely pushing their own agenda. Although I think that Dennis Pluchinsky in his Washington Post article, "They Heard It All Here, And That's the Trouble," makes a very good argument regarding how the media aids terrorists, he stops short when he says it is not deliberate and that they lack common sense. I don't agree with him. It is common knowledge that most of the mainstream media lean left and therefore slant their reporting to benefit liberal politicians.
I'm not suggesting that we don't have the right to dissent during political debate or we shouldn't be allowed to gather in groups to talk politics. In no way am I saying people don't have a right to their opinion. No, that would destroy the essence of freedom in our country.
What I am talking about is hampering the defense of our country. We are truly in a war on terrorism yet there is a Fifth column who, at the very least, commits slander against our leaders. (Gee, I'm beginning to understand the titles of Ann Coulter's books; Slander, Treason).
Pluchinsky writes: "Imagine that you are a supporter or sympathizer of a terrorist group and you have been tasked to identify and collect tactical information on potential U.S. targets. Consider some of the following headlines that have appeared since 9/11: "Private Plane Charters: One Way Around Air Security," "Suicidal Nuclear Threat Is Seen At Weapons Plants," "Priority Required for Protecting Utilities," "NRC Warns of Missing Radioactive Materials," "Freight Transport: Safe from Terror?" "Chemical Plants Are Feared As Targets," "America's Roads May Be Just As Vulnerable As Its Skies," "Study Assesses Risk of Attack on Chemical Plants," "Terror Risk Cited for Cargo Carried on Passenger Jets: 2 Reports List Security Gaps," and "Truck Terrorism Possible, U.S. Says: Investigation Finds Lack of Licensing Safeguards."[1]
It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to see that it's the media that gives terrorist groups access to the insights and wisdom of the experts who are cited in the above articles. I completely concur with Pluchinsky when he suggests these types of articles should be "filtered through a government agency".[2] During war, this shouldn't be called censorship, it should be called cooperation in the war effort. The government had this type of assistance during World War II.
The media continues to spin to the public that we are losing the war. (For more on this, read Ann Coulter's Tit for Tet http://www.anncoulter.org/ ) This is helping to convince the mainstream that by going to Iraq we have become enveloped in a quagmire, which in turn, undermines public confidence and support for our efforts and in our current president. The media promotes their agenda and that of the terrorists to encourage the election of the "Not Bush" candidate while putting our country at greater risk for the success of terrorism.
Treason has become so acceptable in our country that the Democratic candidate for president committed the act back in 1970 when he conducted a meeting with N. Vietnamese communists. (See a picture of Kerry with Sec. General Muoio of the Vietnamese Communist party in
http://therant.us/vvt_kerry_photo.htm ) Laws forbid private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers.[3] (Isn't that one of the reasons we got rid of the Articles of Confederation and adopted the U.S. Constitution? It ensured specified powers for each branch of the government as well as federal and state powers.)
Kerry gave a press conference advocating the North Vietnamese peace plan in which The U.S. "would have had to pay reparations and agree that we essentially lost the war."[4] He became a spokesman for the communist party.
According to Joe Mariani, Ted Kennedy has undermined "the credibility of the commander-in-chief by accusing him of manufacturing the case for war in Iraq"[5] If Bush caved in to his demand to fire Donald Rumsfeld, in the middle of a war, it would ensure the disruption of our military efforts. Kennedy has damaged the morale of our troops by his comparison of them to torture squads under Saddam Hussein. "For the successful prosecution of the fight against terrorism, our enemies must see that while we may argue amongst ourselves, we are united against them. For the good of the country, Senator Kennedy must step down from the Senate."[6]
The framers of our Constitution put in the law against treason to safeguard our government against attack from the inside. We have a unique set of laws which allow us to guarantee the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are at war against those who would take away our sovereignty. A case can and should be made that the mainstream media, John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy have aided and abetted our enemies all in the name of political free speech. Congress, you have the power to declare the punishment. What say you?
[1, 2] They Heard It All Here, And That's the Trouble http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54650-2002Jun14?language=printer
[3, 4] Author: Kerry's Meeting With Communists Broke U.S. Law
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/5/20/91603.shtml
[5, 6] Treason or Not? The Case Against Ted Kennedy
http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/m-n/mariani/2004/mariani051404.htm
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Nancy Salvato is an educator and an independent contractor for Prism Educational Consulting. She is the Educational Liaison to IL Sen. Ray Soden and she works with national and local organizations furthering the cause of Civic Education. Her writing has been recognized by the US Secretary of Education.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.
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