Concerning Sedition

On his Youtube show of December 1, David Pakman made the excellent point that Lame Duck Trump, grasping at the smallest imaginable straws in an insane attempt to overturn the presidential election, repeatedly commits sedition.

Because that's not a word most of us use frequently, here's the Merriam-Webster definition: "incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority." Yes, that sounds like what Trump does when he tries to rally his army of gun-totin' knuckle draggers. So why hasn't he been called out on it?

Because, dear readers, except for a few months at the end of WWI, we haven't had a law against sedition since 1801. That law was the first real test of the First Amendment right to free speech, and the amendment won. The Sedition Act of 1798 was on the books only about three years.

Laws against sedition are fairly common around the world. They are most commonly found in less-than-democratic nations as you might expect, but they also show up in otherwise freedom-loving European monarchies, where badmouthing the royal family is a crime.

Here in the good old U.S. of A. we fiercely defend our right to speak freely, and defend even the right to say things we abhor. As Voltaire allegedly said, “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Few of us who are not military would readily contemplate that kind of sacrifice. But there are some things being said by the Litigant-in-Chief that seem to many of us to to require a strong response.

Can we do anything about it? Well, maybe. Tucked away in Title 18 of the U. S. Code is 18 USC § 2385, which provides penalties including up to 20 years in prison for advocating overthrow of the government. Here is part of it: 

"Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, . . . Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction."¹

This is a de facto sedition act. I think there is evidence that Trump has, by attempting to subvert this country's electoral process, by attempting to dismantle the postal service, by attempting to end Congress' oversight of the Executive Branch, and by inciting violence against state governments, has violated the act.

At this point I doubt anyone with the power would charge him, although his threat to withdraw funding from the military is surely a grave threat to national security. He may be found immune to the charge now, but maybe the FBI will add it to the list of his offenses and swoop in to gather him up after the Biden inauguration.

I can dream, can't I?

--- Diogenes, 12/5/2020

¹ Legal Information Institute, Cornell University: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2385