Fun with the lexicon

President Donny has done a lot of highly questionable things but, at least according to the Constitution, treason is not one of them.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Let's break it down, shall we.

According to the definition of treason found in Article III, Section 3, one commits treason if one levies war against the US. Levy means to "enlist someone for military service." In other words, to levy war against the US would be to raise troops to fight against the US. Thus, everyone involved with the secessionist movement and the Confederate government committed treason.

The next part of the definition is "adhering to their enemies." Adhere means "to believe in and follow the practices of."  Enemy means "a hostile nation or its armed forces...especially in time of war."

The first thing we need to look at is whether Russia is a hostile nation. From 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the Soviets were considered an enemy of the US. They were considered an enemy because they stood for the destruction of capitalism. Let's make no bones about this - the Cold War was never about expanding freedom or democracy or any of the other things our government told us. The Cold War was about making the world "safe" for capitalism.

During the Cold War era the US overthrew, orchestrated the overthrow of or funded the overthrow of countless democratically elected governments that espoused socialist ideas.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been as much of an ally as anything else. Sure, the Russian government flexes its muscle at times when dealing with some of its former allied states and republics (but just look at US foreign policy in Central America)., but both states are for the expansion of capitalism.

Aside from that, the US and Russia are not at war with one another. The US and Russia are not in a state of armed conflict with each other. I know we like to throw the word war around like its cheap candy, but there is nothing resembling armed conflict between our nations.

So, before we throw around terms like treason, maybe we should make sure we know what that term means. Otherwise it makes you look like a raving lunatic. Donald Trump is a lot of things, but traitor isn't one of them.