CRIMES AGAINST THE STATE

If you mention Watergate to someone, the first word that usually comes up is burglary. But the Watergate break-in involved a much more serious crime. The five men sent by the White House to break into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel weren’t looking for jewelry. They were looking for strategic information that might help Richard Nixon win a second term. They needn’t have bothered – he won in a landslide. But the fact remains, the real crime wasn’t burglary, it was treason.

Free and open elections are at the heart of any democracy. If the elections are altered, the state is altered. Those five men sought to undermine the integrity of that election, and therefore committed treason.

Nine days remain till the upcoming election, or so my MoveOn.org email tells me. The newspapers and political talk shows are filled with stories of voter suppression and voter fraud, but nobody seems very concerned about it. The Democratic Party and the Obama campaign say they have people “keeping watch,” whatever that means, yet I don’t see anyone lighting signal fires or ringing alarm bells. Why is that?

There are tons of ways, both legal and illegal, to achieve targeted voter suppression, all of which are attempts to steal an election. You can play footsie with registration forms or you can just put thugs out on the street to intimidate voters, it all amounts to the same thing. And that thing is treason.

Allen Raymond was on Real Time the other night. In his book, How To Rig An Election, Raymond, who spent three months in jail, tells how he helped steal the 2000 election for George W. Bush. I understand that he has since repented and feels poorly about what he did. I’m glad to hear it, but I think he should be telling his story from behind bars. Three months ain’t much for treason.

Using the 1st Amendment as a shield, campaigns are legally permitted to intentionally deceive the public in their advertising. That should be remedied, but at the moment, it is what it is. On the other hand, anyone who attempts to otherwise alter the outcome of an election should be charged with the real crime they are committing - treason - and suffer the appropriate consequesces.