None dare call it treason
Thursday, January 24th, 2008OK, some dare.
(Just because I like matchy things and these appeared a day apart.)
Jonathan Schwarz at A Tiny Revolution:
It’s hard for our type to comprehend this, but it’s true. Much of real right-wing power in the United States, right up to senior White House staff, sees the world like this. They simply cannot understand why anyone to their left behaves as they do, and the only answer that makes sense to them is “TREASON!!!” They honestly believe that “secular progressives” (as Bill O’Reilly likes to call us) are pining to turn America into the New Caliphate…
Of course, this seems utterly bonkers to us, but remember: from their perspective, simply telling the truth is treason.
Fintan O’Toole on the reaction to Enda Kenny’s criticism of Bertie Ahern:
As a comic turn, the notion that it is treasonous to raise the awkward issue of Bertie Ahern’s finances and tax affairs when he is outside the jurisdiction (including, presumably, when he is Manchester) is good for a laugh. But this “hit me now with the green flag wrapped around me” posture has a serious side…
Let’s remember what, in this world view, is not treasonous. It is not treason to line your pockets with private donations while you’re in well-paid public office.
It is not treasonous to evade the tax and exchange laws of your country, as Haughey did, by stashing that money in the Cayman Islands. It is not treasonous to accept large sums from private citizens while you are minister for finance. Or to withhold evidence from a tribunal established by the Oireachtas until it discovers it for itself. Or to be unable to produce a tax clearance certificate. Or to state, quite bluntly, that you appoint people to State boards because they are your friends. But it is treasonous to criticise any of these things.
