The dictionary defines treason as, “disloyalty or treachery to one’s country or its government.” And so with that in mind one has to ask, are the Republicans guilty of treason?

At the end of last year, Republicans took a hard-line stance to secure tax breaks and tax loopholes for millionaires, during the debate over the budget and unemployment benefits. Their intransigence could have caused two million unemployed Americans to go without a check, and taxes to rise for all Americans if President Obama refused to agree to their terms, which included extending tax breaks for the richest 1% of American people.

Last week we got to see their terror tactics taken to the next level entirely. Despite dozens of adjustments to the debt ceiling over the past few decades, Republicans decided to hold the United States to ransom engaging in some of the most shameful, and some would say treasonous actions that we have witnessed in American politics. Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, held to a no-compromise position, which included storming out of meetings and refusing to take phone calls from the President of the United States. When a final agreement was reached, he bragged to his base that he got 98% of what he and his party wanted.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world tends to pay attention to these kind of events, and thanks to the political self-serving shenanigans of the Republican party, China (one of our biggest investors) issued a stinging rebuke calling the behavior of the Republicans, “dangerously irresponsible.”

Soon after the fight was over, and Obama signed a largely ineffective Republican compromise into law, Standards and Poor’s; one of the three largest credit rating firms downgraded America’s credit rating from AAA to AA+, noting that partisanship and the ineptitude of Congress was partly to blame.

As if this wasn’t enough Republicans made moves that could have shut down the FAA, grounding flights all across America, once again turning a minor budget debate for an essential government agency into a debacle that saw 4,000 construction workers forced to down tools until the situation was finally resolved.

Essentially, what we have seen ever since Barack Obama took office, is the deliberate road blocks, filibuster threats, stonewalling, and refusal to work in a bipartisan way with the government. Since the 2010 midterm election, Republicans have taken their game to the next level, by manufacturing crisis after crisis, taking every single negotiation down to the wire in a manner that is both unprecedented and wholly unnecessary. It seems that they are more interested in playing politics and making Obama look bad, than they are working in the best interest of our country. In short, if they can sink the economy, and ruin the reputation of the United States, all they need to do then is finger point at the president and hope they can steal another election in 2012.

The actions of these Republicans who signed the Grover Norquist no taxes and no closing of tax loopholes pledge, and Republicans who align themselves with the Tea Party, are clearly no longer in the best interest of the country. They are a self-serving pandering to radical fringe movements that are in no way in line with mainstream America. And when a group of powerful people are willing to put their own political ideals and ambitions ahead of the country and the will of the people, is this not the very definition of treason? When a group of radicals hold the government to ransom with serious global consequences isn’t that a form of terrorism?

Many on the right will no doubt pour scorn on the idea that Republicans are guilty of treason, after all Republicans like to tell us repeatedly how much they love their country. But it becomes increasingly hard to believe when we see how their actions fail to measure up to their words. There is a lot of idealism in politics, and sure, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I accept that there are many different solutions to a specific problem. However, I cannot see the justification for manufacturing crisis after crisis, deliberately destabilizing America’s trust and reputation around the world.

Make no mistake, the recent Republican led fight over the debt ceiling will have far-reaching and significant ramifications for this country. Even though we managed to avoid default, other countries, financial institutions, and corporations have all taken notice of what happened. The fact that the Republican party were willing to create this situation and exploit it for what they perceive to be their gain is, as far as I am concerned, an act of treason. I don’t by any means blame all Republicans for what happened, but there are enough of them with blood on their hands. It will be interesting to see how many more crisis points they will try and manufacture on the run up to the 2012 election, just so they can convince the stupid among the American people, that Obama is not doing a good job, and should be replaced. The only question that remains, is how much damage they can do to our country if we are stupid enough to hand them the keys to the Oval Office.

Yes, the brown “INFIDEL” t-shirts read, “Everything I Need to Know About Islam I Learned on 9/11,” which is why they are calling themselves “infidels,” for irony.

So anyway the moral of the story is we are sorry for whoever lives in Lexington, Kentucky. [Thanks to Wonkette Operative "HolyCow!!"]

Minute 1: Beck is outside the New York City studio his show is filmed at. Okay, I can do this. I’ve got a Snapple and an entire bag of Baked Cheetos to get me through this.

Minute 3: A montage of people saying how great Glenn Beck is…all of them are white.

Minute 5: Beck shows a blackboard with “All the things we’ve learned over the years,” on that board are “obscure” names like Andrew Jackson, Andrew Hamilton, and Ben Franklin. So far the only thing I’ve learned is that Beck has only been on the air for TWO and a HALF years instead of the much longer time period it felt like.

Minute 10: I’ve drunk the Snapple dry and moved on to Beer. The bag of Cheetos has been licked clean and thrown into the corner of the room. Time is crawling. I think I can literally hear the grass growing outside. Two snails fucking would move faster than this hour of programming.

Minute 11: Beck references–what else–Hitler. He quotes Hitler as saying “Communism and Christianity are the same thing.” So if they’re the same, and Beck hates Communism does that make him unChristian? Or in league with HITLER?!!! To the blackboards conspiracy nuts!

Minute 15: Beck goes on and on about how brave he is. He takes a pathetic pot shot at Jon Stewart who uses “writers” and “people with college degrees” to make him look good so the “intelligensia” that hands out awards will give him an award. Beck says he doesn’t know who hands out TV awards because he will never win one. In the interest of bi-partisanship, I agree with him.

Minute 20: The first commercial break, no surprise, it’s a gold company that Beck is a paid sponsor for. Also, whenever Beck says the world is falling apart and to buy gold, it’s important to note that HE’S PAID TO TELL YOU TO BUY GOLD. All of his predictions of the apocalypse are just corporate sponsored doomsdaying.

Minute 24: Unfortunately, the show returns. I wish I hadn’t. Beck talks a little about his next venture as if moving to a website is some sort of upgrade over basic cable. He refutes claims that his show was slipping in the ratings even though it is a proven fact that it was. But then again, Beck doesn’t traffic in proven facts.

Minute 30: The next commercial break reveals why Beck is really going: he has no sponsors. There’s not a single “product” advertised during this commercial break so much as ads for gold, capital investment firms, and Obama hate groups.

Minute 34: We return to find Beck has not died from patting himself on the back, although he continues to be the most self-satisfied prick in primetime…except Beck isn’t in primetime so much as a daytime graveyard that makes his claims about “big ratings…for this hour” seem kind of like saying you’re the world’s tallest midget.

Minute 35: In a fake bit of humbleness Beck says he’s just the “dumbest guy” and for once we agree. It’s just a preamble to Beck complementing himself for hiring such a “smart” crew of yes men that agree with everything he says. I’ve decided to take a drink every time Beck compliments himself for being brave and/or knowing something no one else does. Also, I’ll take two shots every time he references Hitler.

Minute 38: Beck makes a desperate attempt to show he’s not a racist by showing how many black people work for him on his crew…none of them look happy.

Minute 41: Beck is talking about how brave he is by stepping down from Faux News. I take a drink….A minute later Beck is admiring himself by watching an old broadcast and smiles, so I take another drink. A minute later Beck is threatening other members of the media gloating over his downfall (oops, he knows about me) and says we will “prayyyy for the day he was just on television.” Actually, I prayed for the day he was off TV and now I’m getting it, lucky me.

Minute 44: Another commercial break with the usual suspects: Merit Financial and a paid commercial from Medicare-buster Paul Ryan. Beck has the narrowest advertiser appeal of all Faux News anchors, I have not seen one commercial for a legitimate product…unless I blacked out because I am now getting a pretty good buzz.

Minute 47: We return to Beck…oh shit…

Minute 48: Beck gives his audience a call to arms to join him on his website. He’s still insisting that going from your own TV show to a website is a step up. I wish I had made allowances to drink every time Beck deludes himself…of course I wouldn’t have been able to type this I’d be so drunk.

Minute 49: Beck says he lives in a really nice New York apartment, and I take another drink. Beck talks about meeting Bono, and I take another drink just to get over the boredom. He once again talks about how brave he is to be leaving his own show, and I take another drink.

Minute 50: I’m about to fall into an alcohol induced coma.

Minute 51: A three wheeled roadster is advertised, thus being the first real product I’ve seen advertised on here, so congratulations…goofy looking three wheeled roadster that looks like the penis mobile the Ambiguously Gay Duo ride around in.

Minute 53: Sabra Dips advertise hummus…something approximately 0.00001 percent of Glenn Beck’s audience would ever eat. Not a good use of your dollars Sabra Dips.

Minute 54: We return to Beck and as he’s “overwhelmed with a feeling” to leave New York City with “his soul intact,” I’m filled with a feeling of relief that we’re almost in the final five minutes.

Minute 55: Glenn talks about a special, top secret plan called “Mercury One” but doesn’t tell us what it is…instead only teasing us to go to his website to find out about the plan that will save us “one person, one country, one planet” at a time. Apparently, even the planet Mercury isn’t safe from Beck.

Minute 56: We go to a commercial, meaning that this show has about as many commercials as it actually has Beck…which makes his proud claim that his show is “content” based with just him talking pretty bogus since his “hour” is probably only 35 minutes a day. He doesn’t need to go to flashy screens on his show because he cuts to a commercial every 90 seconds.

Minute 58: An anti-Obama commercial…good thing I’m sitting down or I would have died from shock. Actually, I don’t think I can stand as I am now thoroughly drunk. Thank God the show was mostly commercials and I only started the drinking game halfway through it.

Minute 59: Beck’s final comment…he’s gay. That’s right, Beck just came out of the closet. Oh, and he gave his crew an awkward shout out…no mention of the fans though which is strange considering he’s basically asking them to interact with him on his website that officially launches September 12th.

Minute 60: We go to a different show with Brett Baer’s big potato head and I go to a different network…and probably to throw up.

End Note: What a shitty show. It wasn’t emotional or funny or in anyway satisfying for a series finale. Beck didn’t seem to care much about it so much as himself, and didn’t work to put together anything that felt like it had the slightest concern for the audience he’s wanting to “interact” with him on his new online venture. He just came off like an egomaniac who pretends to care about interacting with his crew and fans (he’s said that he doesn’t want couch potatoes so much as active Americans) but never lets anyone else talk. Today he didn’t have guests or compelling clips of the past or a new theory on anything, and it just felt like he was running the clock instead of either showing some past great moments or giving us one last conspiracy chestnut to savor. The finale felt self-congratulatory, slapdash, thrown together, and planned with no forethought. Which in a way is a pretty fitting way to describe Beck himself.

(source)

This is a backup of that video.

We can’t venture a guess why this video was placed on YouTube as unlisted or why it was removed as soon as it was brought to the public’s attention, but we do know the following:

Americans for Prosperity is Part of the Koch Industries Right-Wing Machine:

Koch’s founder, Fred Koch, also helped found the John Birch Society, an ultraconservative organization that believed the U.S. government was controlled by a traitorous cabal of communist sympathizers. Koch Industries’ charitable arm, the Koch Family Foundations, has provided over $120 million in the past 20 years to the Cato Institute (founded by Charles Koch), Citizens for a Sound Economy (founded by David Koch, now known as Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks), the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Mercatus Center, North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation, and dozens of other right-wing, anti-regulatory, and global warming-denial organizations.

Koch Front Group Americans For Prosperity: ‘Take The Unions Out At The Knees’:

In a speech in February at the Conservative Political Action Committee’s annual conference, Americans For Prosperity-Michigan Executive Director Scott Hagerstrom revealed the true goal of his group and its allies like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s and Gov. Kasich’s efforts. Speaking at CPAC’s “Panel for Labor Policy,” Hagerstrom said that AFP really wants to do is to “take the unions out at the knees”.

Why do you think AFP tried to hide it and then once made public removed it so quickly?

Don't retreat, reload!

The move puts a damper on widespread speculations that Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour, which launched on Memorial Day, was a precursor to a potential White House bid for 2012. Palin never made it to her scheduled stops in the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

RealClearPolitics, which originally broke the story about the bus tour, reported Wednesday on Palin’s “extended hiatus.” The remaining legs of her trip, according to Scott Conroy, are “in limbo” as “Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska.”

The “One Nation” tour launched with intense media pursuit, as reporters initially followed Palin and her family on the road, diligently trying to decipher the former half-term Alaska governor and ex-GOP vice presidential nominee’s 2012 intentions. But after being ignored and mislead and denied interviews or access, reporters’ interest fizzled.

Palin has been remarkably coy about her plans for 2012, declining to rule out a presidential run but refusing to come any closer than saying she has “fire in the belly.”

The Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines treason as, “the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance,”. The Random House dictionary (dictionary.com) defines treason as, “any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one’s government.” And the clearest definition of all can be found in the Cambridge dictionary, which defines treason as, “(the crime of) showing no loyalty to your country, especially by helping its enemies or attempting to defeat its government.”

So here’s the question… At what point do the Republican Party’s attempts to undermine the United States of America, in every way become treasonous? I contend they crossed that line long ago.

Just look at what they’re doing, and try to tell me with a straight face that their actions aren’t going to “impair the well-being” of the state itself, not to mention it’s people. Just try to tell me that their actions, like pushing our country to default on it’s debt for the first time in history, undermining the rights of our workforce, assaulting the health of our people, and the ability of our elders to live out their final years with dignity, like taking dictatorial levels of power for Governors and even eliminating democracy itself at the local level wherever they please, like ignoring our crumbling infrastructure knowing full well that doing so leaves us vulnerable to attack and disaster, like dragging our fighting men and women into wars in the wrong theaters against the wrong enemies, as they did in Iraq, while letting our real enemies get away, as they did with Bin Laden, like revolting against fair taxes on the rich who can afford them painlessly anyhow, forcing our nation has to slash it’s spending on it’s own people to the bone, like ignoring the consensus of 97% of scientists warning us of the consequences of climate change, even though that endangers our people and presents a national security threat, because that’s not in the interest of their true loyalties – to industry – just try to tell me that all of that, and all the other shameless things they’re doing don’t add up to treason. Clearly, it does!

Now a lot of people may think calling these actions treason may be going a little too far on my part, but I strongly disagree. Sure, in a traditional sense we think of treason as selling secrets to a foreign government, or switching sides from our military to our enemy’s, like Benedict Arnold. But, especially these days when multi-national corporations and conglomerations are at least as powerful as most, if not all, nations on Earth – particularly when you look not just at the individual companies but their entire industries as a whole, treason can no longer be narrowly defined as betraying your country to another country. Rather, we have to realize that betrayal is betrayal no matter who they sell out to, be it another nation, or a corporation, conglomerate, or lobbyist. Fact is, a back-stabber is a back-stabber no matter where they got the knife.

Republicans like Paul Ryan, Pat Toomey, and Ron Paul who are actively working to cause our country to deliberately default on it’s obligations for the first time ever are actively trying to undermine America’s standing in the world. Nothing could be more treasonous than that. Republicans like Scott Walker and John Kasich have seized dictatorial levels of power, power not granted them in by the people, power not traditionally granted to their office, and all but swept democracy aside – even seeking to make it harder for the people to vote, especially if they’re the kind of person less likely to vote for them. Even wiping out lower governments entirely. How is THAT not treason?

With the exception of one’s family, or possibly one’s God, when you are more loyal to any other entity than you are to your own country, be that entity a lobbyist, or a corporation, or an industry group, or a political party, or a foreign nation – if you’re an American citizen, and you consider yourself to be anything else first, and an American second, then you’re disloyal. But when you take action on that disloyalty, and actively work to undermine the standing, or security of the United States of America – which is a government of, by, and for the people – then you are by definition a traitor. And that means most of the Republicans in major federal or state office today meet that definition. It’s time we started calling them out on it!

Their argument is always that government can’t tax or has to cut taxes for large corporations or millionaires so that they can invest in the economy and create jobs. My first question for them is “Have you ever heard of General Electric?” Here is a corporation that paid zero dollars ($0.00) in corporate taxes, and received a tax benefit of 3.2 billion dollars. In addition, they are still shipping American jobs overseas. General Electric has over 300 tax lawyers that help them evade paying taxes and find every corporate loophole known to man. They do not need another lobbyist that is paycheck “free”. The people that need to be heard or need lobbyist are the middle class that had to almost give up their right arm for a tax break, the federal workers who are receiving a two year freeze in pay, and the state workers that have been taking furlough days for the last four years. Those are the people that need to be represented and have their voices heard.

Just take my state, the state of Maryland. We just came out of the ninety (90) day session where everyone was on the chopping block except for millionaires and corporations. Young Workers received tier systems for pensions, retirees have to pay more for prescriptions, the EZ-Pass tolls for drivers are going up, the cost of alcohol taxes were raised, and many social programs were cut. However the corporate loophole called combined reporting, was never addressed. This is where large corporations that do business with multiple states pay taxes on the profits they made in the State with the lowest tax margin. This helps them to evade paying corporate taxes in Maryland. This is a great disadvantage for Maryland small businesses that are being squeezed and can’t enjoy those lucrative tax loopholes. Most of all, when children, retirees, new workers, state employees, and others are sharing in the sacrifice the millionaires in Maryland get a tax break. The Millionaires tax rate went from 6.25% to 5.5% starting on January 1, 2011. So I say once again they do not need another lobbyist that is paycheck “free”.

How could anyone think that trickledown economics could ever work? Banks and Insurance companies proved this when they received all types of bailouts during the recession and refused to lend money to the working class or small businesses. Instead they just let the money sit in their vaults, closed lines of credits (LOC’s), and let the American economy go on life support. The way to go will always be bottom-up. Give the tax breaks to the working class or small businesses because they will always spend the money to put their kids through college, purchase a home, go on vacation, buy food at the local grocer, and maybe even purchase a car. America’s economy has always been strong when the middleclass is thriving because the dollars are being recycled and people are spending money.

Once again if you are poor, in the middle class, or a small business owner I ask you not to be ignorant to the issues. Many millionaires and large corporations are doing things for their sole benefit to make sure their voices are heard. It is our job to make sure that the other 95% of Americans have their voices heard to represent the interest of all Americans.

We the people of the United Tea Party and GOP States of America, in order to control a more Christian union, establish Southern Justice, ensure Domestic Sovereignty, Provide for the World’s Defense, Promote the Elitist’s Welfare, and Secure God’s Blessings of Liberty for only Ourselves and our Posterity, do Ordain and Establish this Constitution for the United Tea Party and GOP States of America.

… actual text of constitution is the same since we don’t really understand it …

The Bill of the Right:

1st Amendment: Thou shalt not tread on me (aka Freedom to Force Religion Down Atheists Throats)

2nd Amendment: We can shoot anything without thumbs (aka Know the Nuge)

3rd Amendemnt: Ooh Rah Ooh Rah Fear US Guns Boom Boom Run Away (aka A Bomb Only Cost Us A Quarter)

4th Amendment – Stay off my land, don’t you see my gun? (aka That is Not Kiddie Porn on My PC)

5th Amendment – I never said that, it was my twin, oh no you didn’t! (aka Oh It’s On Tape, My Bad)

6th Amendment – We shall have drive through courts equipped with ATM machines (aka Unless You Were Smoking Pot, then Instant Conviction)

7th Amendment – All juries should be Christian since they are the only ones with a conscience (aka Jews Are Cool Too, I Guess)

8th Amendment – All punishment will match the crime, unless it is done by a government official, diplomat, policeman, agent, spy, or anyone else living off tax payers money (aka If They Are Black, Latino, Asian, Indian, or non-American, Then Death By Beating for Jaywalking is Acceptable)

9th Amendment – Blah blah blah all numbers equal the same number blah blah blah (aka Math and Counting Is Difficult so Who Cares)

10th Amendment – States get to make their own laws; nani nani boo boo there is nothing you can do about it in Washington ha HAH! (aka Unless It Is Against God or Has Anything to do with Smoking Pot)

11th 12th 13th 14th blah blah blah the rest are just suggestions, not really laws, you don’t have to follow them if you have a better idea, go for it

28th Amendment – All words of the forefathers of America are holy scripture; all of which can be interpreted to mean what we want them to mean (aka All Forefathers Were Baptist Christians Who Dreamed of a Theocracy in America) [ratified November 5th, 2010]