Following the attempt on Jan 6 to right a serious wrong, Liberals were quick to accuse every patriot in attendance of high treason. They won the election fair and square. As is now being witnessed by the lack of any criminal charges against the protestors reaching fruition, they weren’t then, and they aren’t now, traitors.
Times have changed immensely since the Mayflower docked at Plymouth Rock. Conflicts, wars, embargos, nuclear treaties, and such, have replaced the fictional image of nicely dressed pilgrims breaking bread with smiling Native Americans. So has the meaning of treason. It ain’t what it used to be.
Throughout U.S. history a fair amount of people have been tried and convicted of the crime, but it all happened during less complicated times when our political arena wasn’t so fragile. The country wasn’t so dependent on who sat in the Oval Office to fix what was broken because not that much was. They had to give it time, and here we are.
Just for kicks, here are some of the more famous traitors in American history, the reasons why they were shamefully accused of the crime, and the outcomes.
AARON BURR
In 1807, Vice President Aaron Burr, serving under Thomas Jefferson, tried to convince some states into succeeding from the Union. It was claimed to be part of a devious military plot to steal land from Mexico and Spain and then to lodge war against his own country.
Burr was acquitted by the jury. According to the rules of the constitution as pointed out to them by the prosecutors, planning to war against the U.S. is not a crime unless or until you carry out the plan, which never happened.
CHRISTIANA RESISTANCE
This episode “Who’s a Traitor” involved more than one person. It involved some escaped slaves and a couple or so well-meaning white folks from Christiana, Pennsylvania, in 1851. The white people were charged with treason for resisting the U.S. marshals who were hunting down the slaves. While their attorney did agree that the crime bordered on government resistance, it didn’t qualify as “levying war” as required by the constitution to make the charges stick.
The charges were dropped against the whites on trial and the roughly 40 others who were discovered to be part of their extensive network. The slaves were returned to their rightful owners.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
Here’s a guy who convinced the entire Southern portion of the U.S. to form their own one nation under God and leave them damn Yankees eating dust. A treasonous crime by any countries standards.
Though Davis was found guilty as charged by a jury of his non-peers, the charges were soon after dropped and the case was disposed of in the circular file to never be spoken of again. It was all part of some reconciliation agreement, or if you prefer, politics as usual. An additional clause stated that no Confederate generals or statesmen could be charged either.
There are plenty more from these long-gone eras such as the queen traitor of them all, WWIIs famed Tokyo Rose, who did serve out six of her imposed ten-year sentence, but let’s fast forward a bit.
PUERTO RICAN NATIONALISTS
Who remembers the Capitol Building building being stormed in 1954? Yeah. Thought so. There were only four people involved in the attack but they did some damage with the assistance of more than a dozen others working behind the scenes. The rifle blazing attackers were Puerto Rican activists who were against their countries dependence on the U.S.
Several representatives on the House floor were wounded in the attack and the four attackers and their accomplices were found guilty of seditious conspiracy.
Known for his violent nature, Oscar Lopez Rivera, in his role as leader of a radical Puerto Rican independence group, was convicted of treason for carrying out a ruthless bombing campaign throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He had the group target shopping malls, office buildings, and anywhere they could get the most amount of bang for the buck. Dozens were killed and mutilated.
Rivera spent 35 years in federal prison until his sentence was commuted in 2017 by none other than…hold on…Barack Obama.
ADAM GADAHN
Gadahn had the honor of being the first American citizen to be accused of treason since the Japanese grounded their Kamakaze pilots and surrendered. Accused of rendering “aid and comfort” to al-Qaida, the case never made it to trial. While in Pakistan, Gadahn was blown to bits by a U.S. drone attack. Coincidence?
DONALD TRUMP
Just kidding.
JOE BIDEN
Not kidding.
There are more names on the list, some proven guilty, others walking away, but one thing is for absolute certain. No one who took any part in what happened on Jan. 6, belongs on it. Nor does Trump. Get over it, libs.