Patriots & Traitors

Patriots and traitors have been part of the American landscape throughout our history. While one-third of Americans supported our long war for independence (1775-1783), the other two-thirds resisted our efforts, collaborated with the enemy, or opted out. As our soldiers endured unimaginable hardships and repeated defeats by the British, they also faced domestic ridicule and treachery from the anti-war factions and a hostile press. If not for the courage and tenacity of those patriots, human history would be far different than it is today.

Our patriotic minority has grown since then. But while a minority of American families still risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to support and defend the United States against our enemies, America’s gaggle of communists, socialists, propagandists and traitors continue to harass and ridicule our patriots and collaborate with the enemy. And if calling themselves patriots isn’t bad enough, these sociopaths use the First Amendment to attack the volunteers who defend it.

This isn’t the first time. During World War I, Charles Schenck and members of the Socialist Party distributed 15,000 leaflets to draftees telling them not to appear for military service. The leaflets declared that the draft was despotism in its worst form, and a monstrous wrong against humanity in the interest of Wall Street's chosen few. It also warned that if draftees did not assert themselves, they were degrading rights that are the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain.

Schenck and the other traitors were convicted of conspiracy and espionage. In its affirming opinion, the US Supreme Court ruled that the leaflets would have been within their constitutional rights…But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done… free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic… (or) protect a man from… uttering words that may have all the effect of force. When a nation is at war, many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight, and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.

One of the most vital components of an effective fighting force is morale – a spiritual determination that motivates soldiers to achieve their mission. When morale suffers, military effectiveness can degrade to the point where disgruntled troops become liabilities as dangerous as soldiers who murder their comrades. Our Vietnam experience illustrates what happens to troops when the silent majority of good people allow sociopaths and the propagandist media to undermine our national security.

While I’m not condoning round-ups of protesters or the closure of media outlets, I want Americans to recognize these sociopaths for what they are – traitors as un-American as the Nazis, socialists, and communists who our patriots helped more than a billion people escape from.

Using logic as perverted as Schenck’s, THE LEFT employs tactics no different from those used by drug addicts, criminals and sexual predators to recruit the vulnerable and weak to parrot their propaganda. THE LEFT exploited Cindy Sheehan as easily as a neglected child who finds a grown-up who likes her. If that wasn’t bad enough, they coerced Cindy into perverting the patriotism of her son and other fallen soldiers. And while I don’t doubt Cindy’s diminished capacity, if THE LEFT’s actions result directly or indirectly in the injury or death of a single soldier, this traitorous propaganda becomes criminal.

On a positive note, the patriots who created, defended, and sacrificed for America since 1775 have always prevailed over our enemies both foreign and domestic. As coercion is the engine of THE LEFT, courage is the engine of patriots. As long as our patriots stand firm and resolute in this fight, America will remain a stabilizing force for freedom and peace at home and abroad.

In the meantime, let’s not forget the difference between America’s patriots and traitors. CB