Hush

“People tell me what to say/what to think/and what to play/I said, people tell me what to say/what to think/and what to play.”"Hush" – ToolI was sitting watching television the other night. As is typically the case with me, I don’t have a lot of time for TV viewing, so when I do watch, it’s typically the news. This particular night was no exception.

So I’m watching and the talking heads come on. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the setup – an issue, a view from the right, a view from the left, and the supposed unbiased moderator in the form of the show’s host.

I don’t remember what the exact issue was and I don’t remember exactly who the two debating the issue were because I got completely derailed in my train of thought when one of the two going back and forth accused the other of treason.

Treason … ? Really … ? What, for disagreeing with your opinion? So of course this got me going and I went and looked up treason – 

Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]. In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavor.”

Like I said, I can’t remember the exact issue but it was something like abortion or foreign oil or some other such thing – nothing that either side was saying was treasonous.

Heated? Sure. Passionate? Sure. On opposite ends of the political spectrum? But of course!

See, that’s what’s wrong with our political discourse these days – how in the world can you have an honest, open debate about the issues at hand if any side is willing to drop to the lowest of accusations to try and discredit the other's point of view?

Article Author: Benjamin Cossel

A working journalist, Benjamin currently serves as a combat photojournalist and is the managing editor of a weekly newspaper in southeastern Wyoming. He’s worked as a reporter in Ohio, Arizona and done several deployments in the military crossing the globe. …

Visit Benjamin Cossel's author page — Benjamin Cossel's Blog