LETTER: The smoke never stops
The news is replete with reports of Donald Trump ranting over the six Democrats who advised our military personnel that they are duty-bound by oath to the Constitution to refuse orders that are illegal. None of the six in the spotlight has advised our military to disobey legal orders from their commanders, including the commander-in-chief. It just cannot be any clearer than that! Trump is engaging in rhetorical corruption of the federal statute which clearly defines seditious conspiracy. Trump is using the presidential megaphone to distort and contort the precise wording of this law.
Readers are advised to research 18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious Conspiracy. Readers will discover that this statute clearly states that an act of seditious conspiracy involves the use of FORCE against the government. It says nothing about verbal or written statements of any kind as being in violation of this law. Furthermore, a conviction of seditious conspiracy under the law is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both. It also says absolutely nothing about the execution of those who may be convicted of it, contrary to Trump’s bellicose statements. This is another pitiful example of his reckless corrupting of facts in order to glorify himself to his admirers.
Another important consideration that belies Trump’s rant is that the First Amendment significantly restricts the ability to punish seditious speech. Many historical sedition laws have been considered unconstitutional because they targeted the concept of free speech guaranteed by the amendment.
No person needs to be a legal scholar or a lawyer to understand the meaning of the federal law on seditious conspiracy. I encourage all of our citizens to match the text of this law against the fire hose of misinformation coming from Trump and his sycophantic talking heads, then judge them for questionable integrity or their obvious disingenuousness.
Ronald J. Yamka
Canonsburg