Treason

 March 27, 2003

Freedom of speech is alive and well in the United States. From the Dixie Chicks to anti-war protesters to simple anarchists, the Constitution of the United States has never been stronger. Even US Senator Tom Daschle feels sufficiently comforted by its protections to blame the current war on President Bush. It is indeed a wonderful and strong country that can stand at the brink of war and brook its citizens and government officials making uninformed, ill-timed and simply idiotic statements.

Freedom of speech however should not be confused with treason. Senator Daschle is certainly guilty of poor judgment, a lack of consistent principles and obviously a complete inability to recognize the obvious. He is not however, guilty of treason. The Dixie Chicks, Martin Sheen and Janeane Garofalo, while popular entertainers, should not be confused with a well informed, coherent representation of opposition to this Administration’s policy. While pathetically naive, they are not guilty of treason.

Just so there is no confusion, the definition of treason from the American Heritage dictionary is as follows: Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. When one thinks of treason one thinks of Benedict Arnold, who was one of Washington’s generals until he decided to switch sides and join the Redcoats. When one thinks of treason one thinks of the Rosenbergs who gave the nuclear secrets to the Soviets. As bad as those traitors were, their treachery was rather straightforward in that they were directly, if not openly, aiding the enemy. The traitors that face us today are far more dangerous. Who are they? They are the collection of peace activists, anti-capitalists, anarchists who have vowed to block roads, streets, and other forms of transportation and business because the American people do not agree with their radical ideas.

In the first place, these people misunderstand the basic tenant of this war. They think the war is against Iraq. It is not. It is against Terrorism. Simply put, whatever face is above the fold on the morning paper, the fact of the matter is that America is at war with Terrorism. Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist. Saddam Hussein is a terrorist. Others abound whose names most of us have never heard and would likely not recognize if we did. September 11^th demonstrated exactly what terrorism means in clear unambiguous terms. As bad as it was, with biological or chemical weapons the toll might have been much worse. Saddam Hussein and his regime are simply another chapter title in that war on terrorism. While some were willing to wait for a smoking gun before disarming Saddam, President Bush recognized that a gun is only smoking once a bullet has been fired. He decided to disarm the gun before America or one of its allies was the victim of another terrorist shot.

This misunderstanding is critical to the charge of treason. Unlike both World Wars, or Korea or Vietnam or even the first Gulf War, the enemy is not only on a distant battlefield, but they are here as well. Not only are they here, they are being exhorted to commit terrorist acts across the country and bring America to its knees. In the face of this very realistic threat, these protesters are doing nothing short of committing treason.

On Tuesday New York Mayor Bloomberg suggested that it would cost his city at least $5 million a week to deal with the heightened terrorist threat. That money is going to pay the salaries of policemen, firefighters, doctors, nurses, EMTs and others who are at the front line of Homeland Defense. Their role in this war is to attempt to prevent terrorist threats before they occur or deal with them if they do occur. Their goal is to save lives. While 3,000 people died on September 11^th, how many Americans survived because of the swift response of those brave individuals? Now imagine that terrorists detonate a chemical, biological or even a small nuclear weapon in one of our cities. How many innocent civilians would perish in Washington as the city is choked by traffic because the main thoroughfares were blocked by bicycle wielding protesters? How many innocent children might suffocate in a school in Harlem because instead of being poised and ready to rescue them, police were busy arresting limp bodied protesters who decided Time’s Square was the appropriate place to cause chaos and suck the resources of the city.

This is not a diatribe against free speech or peaceful protest. Those are protections that are very much at the heart of the United States and our Constitution. It is however a censure of the abuse of those freedoms by individuals and groups who the country has chosen to disagree with. The Dixie Chicks and Senator Daschle or any person in the country who is ashamed of America or hates President Bush or is disagrees with the manner in which he chooses to wage this war on terrorism are welcome to voice those opinions as loudly as they would like. They can appear on TV, they can write to newspapers, they can call in radio programs, they can put signs in their front lawns, and they can put bumper stickers on their cars. They can send e-mail, they can send faxes, and they can send junk mail. They can call their senators, they can call their congressmen and they can speak up in church. They can even rally in protest with hundreds of thousands of their closest of friends, as we have seen many times over the last few months. They have the same Freedom of Speech and Assembly rights all Americans have. What they do not have however, is the right to aid the terrorists and endanger the lives of the rest of America by abusing legitimate rights in an attempt to bow opinion across the country. By actively disrupting the normal workings of our American cities, by willingly distracting the attention of those who are tasked with protecting America and her citizens from terror, these protesters are as guilty of treason as if they were sending food and weapons to Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. They should therefore be treated as traitors, or at least subjected to the same laws that have been used to round up terror supporters in Lackawana, Tampa and cities across the country. In the event that a terrorist is able to carry out one of their despicable acts, I’m certain those protesters would rather be sitting in a prison cell somewhere rather than stranded in a subway car or elevator shaft waiting for help that can’t arrive because their friends in the Shirts Off Coalition had closed down Key Bridge.