Once in a while, as I scan the new postings on the website
of National Review Online, I encounter an article written by Tom Rogan. I start
reading it to see if there is something worth responding to, and then do what I
do with other works, which is to leave it before reaching the end if it doesn't
sound promising enough early on.
But then, I started leaving the Tom Rogan articles for
another reason also. It happened when he began to say something like: “As I
noted before...” My reaction to that has been to say to myself: If what you
noted before was as stupid as what you're mouthing now, I have no use for you.
And I would leave the article in search of something more worthy to spend my
time on.
This time, he did it so early in the article, and did it
with so much gall that I decided to read the article to the end just so that I
see for myself what it is that turns this guy on. Make no mistake about it, a
guy that keeps saying, as I noted on a previous occasion, is one who sees
himself as a roused stud ready to impregnate all of humanity with his divine
semen … and perhaps populate the Earth with little gods in his image.
All of that comes to mind upon reading the article he wrote
under the title: “The Traitors Who Join ISIS” and the subtitle: “Western
nations have fought shy of enforcing their treason laws. They shouldn't.” It
was published on October 23, 2014 in National Review Online. He begins with:
“As I noted yesterday...” and wastes little time dividing humanity into at
least three categories, placing them at different levels. On top, he places the
four English speaking countries: Australia ,
Canada , the U.K. , and the U.S. – properly lined in
alphabetical order.
Below that, at the second level, he places the other Western
countries which, he says, “honor with gratitude” the first four because they
are democracies. But he cautions that “tragically some Westerners are betraying
that honor by joining the Islamic State's global movement.” We must infer from
this pronouncement that he places the Islamic State at a level below the
second. Whether this is third or fourth depends on where he places everyone
else – which he neglected to mention in this article. Maybe next time.
From this point on, he speaks in terms of “we” and “they.”
We, being the four Anglomocracies (my term, not his) and they, being the
Islamic State and everyone that joins it. We stand for freedom and the rule of
law; they stand for totalitarianism and the tyranny of one psychotic man, he
goes on to say. And yet, there are 165 souls from Canada ,
Australia and America along
with hundreds of Britons who joined the Islamic State, he adds. And he explains
that these are “Westerners who detest their democratic society.” They are
hateful minds inspired to turn toward terrorism at home, he stresses.
What to do about them? Charge them with treason, he says. It
might be a little difficult to do it in Britain
where it hasn't been done since 1946, but not so in America where it was done as
recently as the late 1990s, he asserts. And he tells how American law defines
treason: “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against
them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid an comfort within the United
States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death [or
imprisonment]...”
Well, if this defines treason, what does “owing allegiance”
mean? Does that come with birthright, or do you have to get elected to office
at which time you swear allegiance to the Republic? Also, when is an act considered
to be “levying war against the United
States ?” Who is an “enemy” of America in the
absence of a declaration of war by the Congress? What constitutes giving the
enemy “aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere?”
The thing is that until the advent of ISIS
or perhaps its predecessor al-Qaeda, no country was more prone to seeing its
citizens join the civil wars and cross-border wars of other countries than the
Anglomocracies. And many of those whom Rogan would classify as enemies of America went to fight the Assad regime, the
undeclared enemy of America .
Would he consider these kids to be traitors? If they are, what about the
American Jews who would not volunteer to serve in the American military but
join the Israeli army whether or not they have dual citizenship?
And so, Tom Rogan ends the article the way that a pompous
ass would. He basically says he personally visited the graves of the soldiers
who died fighting. And he feels he honored them by his presence.