The smoke blower-in-chief
One sure thing we can always count on is for Donald Trump to bellicosely blow as much smoke as the media will report.
Recently, Trump called for former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney to be charged with treason and prosecuted in a televised military tribunal. This is about as convoluted as it can ever get. Cheney is a civilian and is not an active member of any branch of the military, therefore, she is not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Also, no one can make up their own definition of a law, then accuse another person of a fabricated crime. Here is the exact wording of the federal law on treason: “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”
The United States is not at war, and Cheney did not give aid and comfort to any enemy of our country. Furthermore, the framers of our Constitution specifically worded this statute so that no one could arbitrarily fabricate a false charge of treason in order to imprison a political opponent or quash criticism of a public official. The Founding Fathers were keenly aware of how a fabricated charge of treason was horrifically abused by radical governments in 18th century Europe. They endeavored to prevent such miscarriages of justice in our new republic.
Trump’s gamesmanship is always the same. Bellow as loudly as possible to rile up his legion of devotees while being intentionally ignorant of whatever he proclaims as fact.
Some say ignorance is bliss, but we Americans cannot allow ourselves to be constantly deceived by an incompetent, wannabe autocrat hellbent on destroying our precious democracy with his plans for a dictatorship.
Ronald J. Yamka
Canonsburg