Comments on: Treason… https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/02/05/treason-2/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: hank https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/02/05/treason-2/#comment-41021 hank Tue, 06 Feb 2018 15:42:59 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=69256#comment-41021 I don't think the Trumpers actually believe an enemy interfered with our election process. They can't afford to, psychologically, because it would be an admission that their power is illegitimate. We all know how sensitive they are on that subject! They need to believe they are part of an overwhelming majority to morally justify the constitutional corners they're cutting in order to get their program passed. They must believe that the majority of the country looks and thinks like the people they hang out with, and everyone else is either a fool or a criminal. This is why they must believe they lost the popular vote only because of massive Democratic poll fraud. It is essential to their view of reality. No, the real traitors here are those Republicans who know better, who know exactly what happened, and why, and still choose to look the other way because they want that tax cut, because they want to shut down the EPA and Obamacare, because they feel recognizing global warming is a threat to their personal financial position, because they believe that ANYTHING they do or support is justified because of their moral and intellectual superiority. RL, the reason I continue to harp on this point is because I believe it is vitally important to focus our analysis on the true root of our political dysfunction. We all know the Trump mystique is based on scapegoating, demagoguery and fear, ignorance and hate, rac-, nativ-, jingo-, fundamental-, militar- and anti-intellectual- ism. But these are all psychopathologies. But Fascism itself is the result of conscious decisions by rational and unscrupulous men. Trump is an ass, and so are his supporters, but the bulk of the Republican Party knows that perfectly well and they STILL are willing to sell their country out for their own personal short-term gain, not because of a moral or intellectual committment. And THAT, <em>is</em> the very definition of treason. I don’t think the Trumpers actually believe an enemy interfered with our election process. They can’t afford to, psychologically, because it would be an admission that their power is illegitimate. We all know how sensitive they are on that subject! They need to believe they are part of an overwhelming majority to morally justify the constitutional corners they’re cutting in order to get their program passed. They must believe that the majority of the country looks and thinks like the people they hang out with, and everyone else is either a fool or a criminal. This is why they must believe they lost the popular vote only because of massive Democratic poll fraud. It is essential to their view of reality.

No, the real traitors here are those Republicans who know better, who know exactly what happened, and why, and still choose to look the other way because they want that tax cut, because they want to shut down the EPA and Obamacare, because they feel recognizing global warming is a threat to their personal financial position, because they believe that ANYTHING they do or support is justified because of their moral and intellectual superiority.

RL, the reason I continue to harp on this point is because I believe it is vitally important to focus our analysis on the true root of our political dysfunction. We all know the Trump mystique is based on scapegoating, demagoguery and fear, ignorance and hate, rac-, nativ-, jingo-, fundamental-, militar- and anti-intellectual- ism. But these are all psychopathologies. But Fascism itself is the result of conscious decisions by rational and unscrupulous men.

Trump is an ass, and so are his supporters, but the bulk of the Republican Party knows that perfectly well and they STILL are willing to sell their country out for their own personal short-term gain, not because of a moral or intellectual committment. And THAT, is the very definition of treason.

]]> By: RL https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/02/05/treason-2/#comment-41020 RL Tue, 06 Feb 2018 14:49:38 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=69256#comment-41020 Assisting an enemy in attacking our election process is Treason.... Assisting an enemy in attacking our election process is Treason….

]]> By: hank https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/02/05/treason-2/#comment-41019 hank Tue, 06 Feb 2018 14:01:13 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=69256#comment-41019 Treason is what Ronald Reagan did during Iran-Contra, or what Nixon did to convince the S. Vietnamese not to come to the negotiating table until <em>after</em> he was elected. What we're seeing now is just money laundering and obstruction of justice, to cover up the fact Trump is being blackmailed by a foreign power and to obscure the fact that power worked to help get him elected. I do not see any premeditation. I don't even see any collusion. The final result may not be all that different from treason, but it fails to meet the legal definition. I don't think the Trump administration actually believes they have done anything wrong, they are in denial. You see, to admit they have been conned by the Russians is as difficult for them as it is for their constituency to admit they have been conned by Trump. When you add to that their desperate greed to implement a business environment tailored to the interests of their class, and their pathological hatred of anything they see as opposed to those interests (the "Liberals"), what you get is the grotesque set of events and personalities we now find ourselves embarrassed by. These people will not believe any evidence, no matter how compelling, nor will they accept any judgement, no matter how just, that conflicts with their alternate reality. This is not a coherent political ideology or a consistent philosophy of government, its a fucking cult. Treason is what Ronald Reagan did during Iran-Contra, or what Nixon did to convince the S. Vietnamese not to come to the negotiating table until after he was elected.

What we’re seeing now is just money laundering and obstruction of justice, to cover up the fact Trump is being blackmailed by a foreign power and to obscure the fact that power worked to help get him elected.
I do not see any premeditation. I don’t even see any collusion.

The final result may not be all that different from treason, but it fails to meet the legal definition. I don’t think the Trump administration actually believes they have done anything wrong, they are in denial. You see, to admit they have been conned by the Russians is as difficult for them as it is for their constituency to admit they have been conned by Trump.

When you add to that their desperate greed to implement a business environment tailored to the interests of their class, and their pathological hatred of anything they see as opposed to those interests (the “Liberals”), what you get is the grotesque set of events and personalities we now find ourselves embarrassed by.

These people will not believe any evidence, no matter how compelling, nor will they accept any judgement, no matter how just, that conflicts with their alternate reality. This is not a coherent political ideology or a consistent philosophy of government, its a fucking cult.

]]>