Sedition

I was watching a movie today about Will Rogers. He was a great man who had a way of bringing people together by finding their common ground. Instead of threats or verbose oratory he used plain speech and humor. There was one part, right after he returns from Texas, where, in response to a comment about Texas, he said, “Those are fighting words in Texas.” It made me start to wonder about some public statements made lately by some common citizens, elected officials, and a few conservative political pundits. How close can you get to the line before crossing over into sedition?

According to Wikipedia, sedition is: “In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interests of sedition.” Put another way, “Sedition is the stirring up of rebellion against the government in power.”

Kaufman's "call to action" came during a Tea Party rally in Fort Lauderdale on July 4 during which she said, "If ballots don't work, bullets will." Kaufman's rhetoric has been draped in hate for many years. But since Obama was elected, she's cranked it up and aimed it at the American government (rather than her usual targets, Muslims). She's intimated on numerous occasions that the Tea Party crowd needs to start some kind of revolution. She's compared the Teabaggers to the founding fathers prior to the Revolutionary War. "They decided that they were going to declare independence from a ruthless king who taxed them without representation," she said at a rally last year to wild cheers. "Does that story sound familiar?"
For example, take Joyce Kaufman, a right wing, conservative radio personality in Florida.

In March 2009, Michelle Bachmann was interviewed by the Northern Alliance Radio Network and promoted two forums she was hosting the next month in St. Cloud and Woodbury regarding Obama's proposed cap and trade tax policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Bachmann said she wanted Minnesotans "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back." In the interview, she also stated that Thomas Jefferson had said that "having a revolution every now and then is a good thing." According to the Star Tribune, her quote went viral across the internet. Bachmann's office quickly clarified that she was speaking metaphorically, meaning "armed with knowledge."

 Sarah Palin blasted the Obama administration at the inaugural national "tea party" convention in Nashville. America is "ready for another revolution," Palin said.

An Op-Ed article in the New York post, in March of this year, by Eugene Robinson Stated that, “Demagogues scream at people that their government is illegitimate, that their country has been "taken away," that their elected officials are "traitors" and that their freedom is at risk. They have a right to free speech, which I will always defend. But they shouldn't be surprised if some listeners take them literally.”

It should be no surprise then that the number of armed militia groups has risen dramatically since Obama was elected President.  In fact, since the 1990’s (during President Clinton’s term) the number has gone from around 200 to over 500 identified groups. One you may recall hearing about recently is the Hutaree. Nine members of their organization were arrested for, "Possible such acts which were discussed," the indictment says, "included killing a member of law enforcement after a traffic stop, killing a member of law enforcement and his or her family at home, ambushing a member of law enforcement in rural communities, luring a member of law enforcement with a false 911 emergency call and then killing him or her, and killing a member of law enforcement and then attacking the funeral procession motorcade" with homemade bombs.    

I could go on and on with examples but I won’t. I think you get the idea. Look, irrespective of your politics, when you start talking about starting a revolution or deciding elections with bullets, you are advocating the armed over throw of the elected government of the United States of America. Of course, when asked, all these people will tell you they were speaking rhetorically.

So, I guess I was just wondering how close you can get to threatening the United States or the President before you cross over the line into sedition, and what kinds of words one would have to say to be considered a seditionist.