[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
own voices as being vitally necessary to the crafting of the Constitution and, even more important, to the life of the
new nation.
We have to abandon the passive role we have accepted as mere consumers of media; we must see ourselves in a new
light or rather, see ourselves once again in a Revolutionary light as citizen leaders with responsibilities to speak the
truth.
TEN
CHAPTER
CAST CRITICISM as
"ESPIONAGE" and DISSENT
as "TREASON"
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort.
Article 3, U.S. Constitution
The Constitution defines treason as actually "levying war" against America or giving "aid and comfort" to its enemies.
The Founders intentionally made it difficult to throw around the term traitor, which had so often been used to
intimidate the Revolutionary generation.
But in every fascist shift, more and more kinds of speech and protest become cast as "treason," "terrorism,"
"subversion," "espionage" or "sabotage." (A charge of "slander" tends to prepare the ground first: In Stalin's Russia,
criticism of the state was first defined as "slander" and then redefined as "treason." Ann Coulter's book Slander was
published one year in advance of her book, Treason.)
The Bush team is trying to move "treason" from its narrow Constitutional definition to a looser definition. The smear
of treason has a long, ugly and unfortunately time-tested history of use by mid-twentieth-century dictators, as do
the accusations of sabotage and espionage. The Bush administration has started to use the notion of treason in its
Stalinist sense: as a weapon designed to harass critics and to frighten opposition leaders.
In a fascist shift, as I've noted, leaders introduce and then seek to establish new categories of offenses that criminalize
citizens' ideas, actions, or speech.
This is an important turning point. The next step is that new laws or new interpretations of existing laws attach new
criminal penalties for these acts of "treason." As this verbal "third rail" becomes established, certain subjects become
too charged to address, or begin to be avoided altogether, because addressing them carries possible criminal penalties.
The Heimtuckegesetz law of 1934 in Germany criminalized political libel and slander. Though penalties were not usually
severe under this law, the prosecutions were many: more than 100,000.' People were being sent to prison for telling
jokes. Klemperer notes about the jokes of the day that "Conversations in heaven are popular. The best one: Hitler to
Moses: 'But you can tell me in confidence, Herr Moses. Is it not true that you set the bush on fire yourself?'" The man
who told this joke was sentenced to ten months in prison.2 In cold-war Czechoslovakia, if you read banned printed
material samizdat you were not committing a crime, but if you handed the material to a friend, you had committed a
crime.
Right-wing pundit Coulter's 2003 bestseller Treason repackaged the "speech-as-treason" concept for post-World War
II U.S. popular culture. Coulter's book introduced "treason" as a legitimate term to characterize the opinions of artists,
entertainers, and press critical of the Bush administration: "While the form of treachery varies slightly from case to
case, liberals always manage to take the position that most undermines American security."3 In 2003, this approach
was a rhetorical feint with no real consequences. However, four years on, with the invocation of the Espionage Act, a
piece of rhetoric becomes something much more serious. Coulter re-introduces the idea that in wartime America,
speech, so long as it is identified as "treason," can be criminally prosecuted.
Fortunately for Hollywood liberals and former Democratic presidents, the country discontinued prosecuting
treason
long ago. World War II-era traitors were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms for radio broadcasts heard
by no one within America. Axis Sally was sentenced to twelve years in prison. Tokyo Rose got six years in prison.
Hanoi Jane makes aerobics videos. During the Vietnam War, Fonda gave wild, inflammatory
anti-American speeches from Hanoi----At the time, serious thought was given to prosecuting her, but the ruling class
was equivocal about treason. The refusal to prosecute Fonda was just one more indication that we weren't fighting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
own voices as being vitally necessary to the crafting of the Constitution and, even more important, to the life of the
new nation.
We have to abandon the passive role we have accepted as mere consumers of media; we must see ourselves in a new
light or rather, see ourselves once again in a Revolutionary light as citizen leaders with responsibilities to speak the
truth.
TEN
CHAPTER
CAST CRITICISM as
"ESPIONAGE" and DISSENT
as "TREASON"
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort.
Article 3, U.S. Constitution
The Constitution defines treason as actually "levying war" against America or giving "aid and comfort" to its enemies.
The Founders intentionally made it difficult to throw around the term traitor, which had so often been used to
intimidate the Revolutionary generation.
But in every fascist shift, more and more kinds of speech and protest become cast as "treason," "terrorism,"
"subversion," "espionage" or "sabotage." (A charge of "slander" tends to prepare the ground first: In Stalin's Russia,
criticism of the state was first defined as "slander" and then redefined as "treason." Ann Coulter's book Slander was
published one year in advance of her book, Treason.)
The Bush team is trying to move "treason" from its narrow Constitutional definition to a looser definition. The smear
of treason has a long, ugly and unfortunately time-tested history of use by mid-twentieth-century dictators, as do
the accusations of sabotage and espionage. The Bush administration has started to use the notion of treason in its
Stalinist sense: as a weapon designed to harass critics and to frighten opposition leaders.
In a fascist shift, as I've noted, leaders introduce and then seek to establish new categories of offenses that criminalize
citizens' ideas, actions, or speech.
This is an important turning point. The next step is that new laws or new interpretations of existing laws attach new
criminal penalties for these acts of "treason." As this verbal "third rail" becomes established, certain subjects become
too charged to address, or begin to be avoided altogether, because addressing them carries possible criminal penalties.
The Heimtuckegesetz law of 1934 in Germany criminalized political libel and slander. Though penalties were not usually
severe under this law, the prosecutions were many: more than 100,000.' People were being sent to prison for telling
jokes. Klemperer notes about the jokes of the day that "Conversations in heaven are popular. The best one: Hitler to
Moses: 'But you can tell me in confidence, Herr Moses. Is it not true that you set the bush on fire yourself?'" The man
who told this joke was sentenced to ten months in prison.2 In cold-war Czechoslovakia, if you read banned printed
material samizdat you were not committing a crime, but if you handed the material to a friend, you had committed a
crime.
Right-wing pundit Coulter's 2003 bestseller Treason repackaged the "speech-as-treason" concept for post-World War
II U.S. popular culture. Coulter's book introduced "treason" as a legitimate term to characterize the opinions of artists,
entertainers, and press critical of the Bush administration: "While the form of treachery varies slightly from case to
case, liberals always manage to take the position that most undermines American security."3 In 2003, this approach
was a rhetorical feint with no real consequences. However, four years on, with the invocation of the Espionage Act, a
piece of rhetoric becomes something much more serious. Coulter re-introduces the idea that in wartime America,
speech, so long as it is identified as "treason," can be criminally prosecuted.
Fortunately for Hollywood liberals and former Democratic presidents, the country discontinued prosecuting
treason
long ago. World War II-era traitors were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms for radio broadcasts heard
by no one within America. Axis Sally was sentenced to twelve years in prison. Tokyo Rose got six years in prison.
Hanoi Jane makes aerobics videos. During the Vietnam War, Fonda gave wild, inflammatory
anti-American speeches from Hanoi----At the time, serious thought was given to prosecuting her, but the ruling class
was equivocal about treason. The refusal to prosecute Fonda was just one more indication that we weren't fighting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]