Tim Blair

Just in time for Halloween!

We need Kerry to saaaaave us! He’s a great man & is (NEWS FLASH, by the way, originated by a moderate Democrat & told to me over the phone just now) under consideration for the Benedict Arnold Medal with Three Clusters:

First Cluster: For his betrayal of his friends in Viet Nam.
Second Cluster: For his intended betrayal of our soldiers in Iraq.
Third Cluster: For his planned betrayal of our friends in Israel.

How can there be any left to scare?

Wasn't it the sulphured and musty Maureen Dowd at the NYT who said that Democrats have aborted a generation of new voters? Places like Boston and San Francisco are essentially childless cities, and Musty Maureen claims that (I think ) 40 million potential Democrats have been aborted in the past thirty years.

The only kids left must be from families for Bush, and we know how brave THOSE kids are.

Paranoia strikes deep..........

ForNow, please keep in mind that for many of us the much maligned Benedict Arnold is far from the falsely accused traitor that he is held up to be by crazed american patriots. If you wish to slip the knife into John Kerry, perhaps better to choose for an analogy someone who was without principle!

Although Benedict Arnold did at least flip flop over which side to back!!!

Sorry, but it has to be said:

1. Kerry himself talked about “Benedict Arnold CEOs.”

2. For many Americans, Benedict Arnold’s name is synonymous with “traitor”—a traitor in the bosom of one’s very family—many of us when we were little kids playing on the street used his name to call somebody a traitor. It’s that kind of deep heartfelt connection.

3. Benedict Arnold was a low-down dirty traitor to the American Revolution & to his friend George Washington.

ForNow.

Best hit the history books sport, the 'real' history books, not the Readers Digest Guide to the American Revolution. General Benedict Arnold, hero of Quebec and the man that really beat Burgoyne went over to the British because he was convinced that the fools in Congress were about to hand his fledgling nation over to the French. Ring any bells??

You can’t budge an American on this sort of thing. I’ve hit the history books in the past about Arnold’s funny ideas & I’m sure I’ll hit them again in the future. Benedict Arnold’s name is more reviled in the USA than that of Judas.

Boss Hog, you're right, that's what Arnold did.

Yes, he went over to the British, who the Americans were fighting.

But, more importantly, he left the Continental Army standing in the lurch. From the Yank view, that's treason.

More to the point, he abandoned his fellow soldiers, and the American Revolution, and left them behind. Period. The direction or motivation is immaterial. Arnold left his team behind.

Does that sound familiar?

Vote for us or your children will die.

Wait, what was that I kept hearing about the draft? Which side kept bringing that up?

The Real Jeffs

Touche!
'Course, ole Benedict was up the sharp end a lot longer than 4 months. ;-)=

As Jeff Kennet once said: "Bazaar".

More to the point, Arnold tried to hand over West Point on the Hudson River (now site of the USMA) over to the Brits. He was it's commanding officer at the time. That would have given the Royal Navy control of the entire river, and New York.

Sounds like treason to me.

LOL, Boss Hog! Yes, Arnold was more of a soldier and a patriot (even if misguided) than Senator Kerry ever will be.

That having been said, all you leftoids listen up!

No, I am not accusing Senator Kerry of treason. I can't point at any one act of his, find two witnesses, and accuse him of treason. He is not a traitor.

But I question that Senator Kerry is a patriot, and being unpatriotic is not a crime. I know that he is not a soldier.

'Nuff said.

I am not accusing Senator Kerry of treason

What about his meeting(s) with the North Vietnamese when that war was still going on? Seems a bit treasonous to me but then I'm not a lawyer and not a Yank.

The crucible decades formative of our republic saw some over-proud men like Benedict Arnold & Aaron Burr chewed up & spit out, & we & the world have been very much the better for it.

Boss Hogg -- actually, there's a lot of evidence Arnold went over in a fit of pique over not getting a promotion he felt entitled to.

Janice, that's debateable. Not that he met with the North Vietnamese, but that he committed treason.

From the US Constitution, Article III.:

Section 3 - Treason

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.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

The FBI evidence merely indicates that Senator Kerry met with NV officials. Nothing else. No witnesses, no charges.

The linked web site has good notes on this particular section -- read it here.

Uh, Marian, those people with the "Vote or Die" T-shirts on are Kerry supporters.

184 Ronlad Reagan comments on John Kerry

He has a weakness in regards to our natinal defence that is second to none.
Indeed he was on that side during virtually all his years in the senate.
In 1988 John Kerry called Reagan's Presidency an era of "moral darkness".
On Sept 30th 2004
He said "I will try and follow in Ronald reagan's footsteps"

This man is a clear and present danger to the United States of America and their Allies.

I wonder if Shirley Manson can give her therapist's number to Marian? For her inevitable post-Bush reelection trauma, I mean.

God that SMH article is dire. As bad as anything the Guardian has published

But more controversially, could Benedict Arnold be a traitor under the Constitution when that Constitution did not yet exist? Surely he was acting as a patriot to a King, and George Wahington, by any standards was the traitor? Whether or not the treason was justified is another matter, but enlisting the FRENCH for God's sake?? Those obvious fans of limited and representative government!

Treason is treason, has always been and you don't need to have it in the Constitution to know it. Arnold was pissed off about his advancement. The guy talking about the French needs to read up. Not only did Arnold attempt to betray WEst Point he also intended to deliver Washington to the British, and Washington was very fond of him and distressed when he was advised of the plot.

The Brits never trusted him after he switched sides and was shunned even there and died a broken man. You see, the Brits know a traitor when they see one as well.

Benedict Arnold did all those things & more, including, according to sources hitherto untranscribed, the spreading of “false and mendacious rumors that” G.W. “served to his men an artificial and inedible turkey hen, hollow, stiff, & large, & every inch of its surface colored with the nagging hue of a ripe orange.”

PJ, Benedict Arnold is considered a traitor by the US. As you noted, the Constitution wasn't in effect then.

And, as JEM noted, the British knew a traitor when they saw one. Proof of the pudding and all, y'know!

A quick history of Benedict Arnold.

"It is perfectly timed, one week before Halloween..."

oh yes, and a week out from that other, rather unimportant day, the election.

"the Bush campaign team has begun airing a scary political ad."

I think she hired The Wiggles to write this.

...meanwhile in a dark, dark hospital ward, Kerry drags a sick man out of his bed. Lets hope he doesn't die or "Special K." will have to do the whole Weekend At Bernies thing for the next week.