Over 200 years ago our Founding Fathers signed the United States Declaration of Independence. They were branded as traitors by their then government. They were traitors to the British Empire. In short, they were traitors.
The most famous offenders of the eighteenth-century English treason laws were the American revolutionaries. The Declaration of Independence violated the 3rd law of treason in this statement: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other out Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor“: When John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other founding fathers signed this statement, they did not sign some empty philosophical statement, they signed their death warrant. This action displayed their dedication to the cause of American independence and the ultimate disloyalty to King George the Third.
The Declaration of independence marked the revolutionaries’ acknowledgment that the corruption of the English government was not limited to the Parliament, but extended to the King. For them, this was the point of no return: either the American revolutionaries were going to gain their independence and create a new nation, or, they were going to lose the war to the world’s best army, forfeit everything they owned, ruin their families, and be drawn and quartered. In other words, this was the point when our founding fathers and their revolutionary supporters officially became traitors.
The United States government has been engaged in ongoing, escalating and flagrant violations of the United States Constitution. This is a well-documented and widely-agreed-upon fact. Whether through illegal wiretapping of its citizens, censorship, undeclared wars or prosecution of government critics, the government has been consistently betraying the people’s rights and liberties guaranteed under the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. The government has been a traitor to Americans’ privacy and liberties. The government is, and has been, a traitor to the people.
Whether by the government or its extension in the US media, whistleblowers have been portrayed, declared and branded as traitors. By speaking up on government criminalities, by exposing illegalities committed by the government, whether on torture or illegal surveillance or illegal wars . . . or many other illegalities and abuses of power, whistleblowers have become traitors to the United States government. These whistleblowers exemplify the ultimate selfless disloyalty to a government engaged in illegalities. That is a fact: whistleblowers are traitors.
Thus, since the United States government is traitor to the American people and their liberties, what would that make the whistleblowers who are traitors to the United States government? Aren’t they traitors to the traitors? And if so, who should the American people be supporting in this great scheme of betrayals, treacheries and traitors? The government as traitors to the people? Or the whistleblowers as traitors to the traitors who have betrayed the people’s rights and liberties?
In addition to publishing Boiling Frogs, where this article originally appeared, Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers. She has appeared on national radio and TV as a commentator on matters related to whistleblowers, national security, and excessive secrecy & classification, and has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The American Conservative, and others. Her book, ‘Shooting the Messenger,’ co-authored with Professor William Weaver is forthcoming from Kansas University Press.
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Indeed, whistleblowers are traitors—traitors to the traitors
Don’t be traitors to those who have honorably betrayed the real traitors to the people
Posted on August 1, 2013 by Sibel Edmonds
Over 200 years ago our Founding Fathers signed the United States Declaration of Independence. They were branded as traitors by their then government. They were traitors to the British Empire. In short, they were traitors.
The most famous offenders of the eighteenth-century English treason laws were the American revolutionaries. The Declaration of Independence violated the 3rd law of treason in this statement: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other out Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor“: When John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other founding fathers signed this statement, they did not sign some empty philosophical statement, they signed their death warrant. This action displayed their dedication to the cause of American independence and the ultimate disloyalty to King George the Third.
The Declaration of independence marked the revolutionaries’ acknowledgment that the corruption of the English government was not limited to the Parliament, but extended to the King. For them, this was the point of no return: either the American revolutionaries were going to gain their independence and create a new nation, or, they were going to lose the war to the world’s best army, forfeit everything they owned, ruin their families, and be drawn and quartered. In other words, this was the point when our founding fathers and their revolutionary supporters officially became traitors.
The United States government has been engaged in ongoing, escalating and flagrant violations of the United States Constitution. This is a well-documented and widely-agreed-upon fact. Whether through illegal wiretapping of its citizens, censorship, undeclared wars or prosecution of government critics, the government has been consistently betraying the people’s rights and liberties guaranteed under the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. The government has been a traitor to Americans’ privacy and liberties. The government is, and has been, a traitor to the people.
Whether by the government or its extension in the US media, whistleblowers have been portrayed, declared and branded as traitors. By speaking up on government criminalities, by exposing illegalities committed by the government, whether on torture or illegal surveillance or illegal wars . . . or many other illegalities and abuses of power, whistleblowers have become traitors to the United States government. These whistleblowers exemplify the ultimate selfless disloyalty to a government engaged in illegalities. That is a fact: whistleblowers are traitors.
Thus, since the United States government is traitor to the American people and their liberties, what would that make the whistleblowers who are traitors to the United States government? Aren’t they traitors to the traitors? And if so, who should the American people be supporting in this great scheme of betrayals, treacheries and traitors? The government as traitors to the people? Or the whistleblowers as traitors to the traitors who have betrayed the people’s rights and liberties?
In addition to publishing Boiling Frogs, where this article originally appeared, Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers. She has appeared on national radio and TV as a commentator on matters related to whistleblowers, national security, and excessive secrecy & classification, and has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The American Conservative, and others. Her book, ‘Shooting the Messenger,’ co-authored with Professor William Weaver is forthcoming from Kansas University Press.