What do Napoleon and Trump really have in common?
They are both wrong—
No man (or woman) is the state.
“What is a throne? — a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state— I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public—people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.”
― Napoléon Bonaparte
On Monday, the president lambasted Democratic lawmakers and called their SOTU behavior "un-American" and “treasonous”.
"You're up there, you've got half the room going totally crazy — wild, they loved everything, they want to do something great for our country," Trump said. "And you have the other side — even on positive news, really positive news like that — they were like death. And un-American. Un-American. Somebody said, 'treasonous.' I mean, yeah, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not!" www.cnbc.com/...
Why not? Hmmm.
Because treason is a real word, with a real and defined meaning in US law.
Treason as defined in the U.S. CONSTITUTION (Article 3 Section 3):
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. www.usconstitution.net/…
No mention of failure to smile, stand, or applaud as others desire. Huh. Go figure.
Treason: Yet Another Word Trump Doesn't Understand:
By calling Democrats "treasonous," Trump proved how little he understands the Constitution – and how tyrannical his comments have become
...President Donald Trump says a lot of idiotic things. Yesterday, Trump added to his best-hits catalog of stupid, claiming that the Democrats were treasonous for not clapping during his State of the Union speech. What makes this statement so utterly ridiculous is that the Constitution's text clearly answers him back about that word: "I do not think it means what you think it means."…
But invoking "treason" is well beyond normal for President Trump. Treason is the most serious crime against our country, which is why it is defined in the Constitution. By labeling Democrats in this way, even if just a joke, he is trying to discredit his opposition and force everyone to be loyal to our dear leader. That is not something a constitutional democracy founded on the very notion of criticizing governmental leaders should countenance.
By even suggesting that those who are critical of him are guilty of treason, Trump is acting much more like Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un than like any American leader who has preceded him. www.rollingstone.com/… [Final bolding mine.]