Jake's Take: Adam Kokesh and Treason


Jake's Take: Adam Kokesh and Treason




U.S. Constitution - Article 3 Section 3

"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."

"The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted"

These words are directly from our U.S. Constitution. Basically a person is guilty of treason if it is proven by testimony of witnesses or confession in open court that said person is helping enemies of the United States by providing aid to enemies foreign or domestic. This section of the Constitution appears to be very explicit in what makes up the charge of treason.

Adam Kokesh is an Iraq war veteran who served in the Marine Corps. Normally I would say we should support our US veterans but in this case this man appears to want to take up arms and overthrow our federal government(which he fought a war for) for what he sees as oppression.

Recently Mr. Kokesh had planned what he called an armed march on Washington DC. This was planned for July 4, 2013 as a form of civil disobedience against what he saw was the potential that the US government would try to pass laws to disarm all Americans. 

Last week Mr. Kokesh decided that his planned March was not enough and that his so-called "American Revolutionary Army" would be taking their armed "march" to each of the 50 state capitals of the United States. The goal is to force every governor in the United States to start secession from the federal government and reclaiming all federal property. If this is not done within the next year that they may take more extreme action to overthrow the federal government.

 Mr.Kokesh was recently arrested at a "smoke-it-out" marijuana event in Philadelphia Pennsylvania after a short stint in jail he was released and all charges downgraded to citations according to his statements. While in jail he claimed that it was simply a scam set up by the federal government to frame him for the assault of federal official. Now there's no evidence that that shows any wrongdoing by the federal government or Mr. Kokesh. Upon his release he released this short manifesto:

"When a government has repeatedly and deliberately failed to follow its own laws, violated the fundamental human rights of its citizens, threatened the sanctity of a free press, created institutions intended to eliminate privacy of communication, waged war at the behest of special interests that threatens the public safety, killed hundreds of children with drone strikes, imprisoned and destroyed the lives of countless individuals for victimless crimes, stifled economic opportunity to maintain the dominance of the financial elite, stolen from the people through an absurd system of taxation and inflation, sold future generations into debt slavery, and abused its power to suppress political opposition, it is unfit to exist and it becomes the duty of the people to alter or abolish that government by whatever means necessary to secure liberty and ensure peace. A new American revolution is long overdue. This revolution has been brewing in the hearts and minds of the people for many years, but this Independence Day, it shall take a new form as the American Revolutionary Army will march on each state capital to demand that the governors of these 50 states immediately initiate the process of an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession and reclamation of federally held property. Should one whole year pass from this July 4th while the crimes of this government are allowed to continue, we may have passed the point at which non-violent revolution becomes impossible. The time to sit idly by has passed, to remain neutral is to be complicit, just doing your job is not an excuse, and the line in the sand has been drawn between we the people, and the criminals in Washington, DC. While some timid souls will say that it is too early, that we can solve this problem through democratic means provided by government, that current levels of taxation are reasonable for the services provided, and that the crimes of this government are merely a tolerable nuisance; it may already be too late. While there is risk in drastic action, the greater danger lies in allowing this government to continue unchallenged. So if you are content with the status quo, stay home, get fat, watch the fireworks from a safe distance, and allow this Independence Day to pass like any other. But if you see as we see, and feel as we feel, we will see you on the front lines of freedom on July 4th 2013 for this: The Final American Revolution."

Mr.Kokesh does make a few valid points in his argument for armed rebellion, but he is refusing to go through the proper democratic process to achieve his goal. He is right in his anger about drone strikes killing children and the US government waging war and helping the elites of our country profit off the deaths of civilian women and children in other parts the world as well as the deaths of its our own military personnel. 

Mr.Kokesh feels that the misdeeds of this government cannot be solved at the ballot box and that we must turn to violence. He says people such as myself who think we should change our government within the framework of the basic rule law and our Constitution are simply timid souls who are simply scared to rock the boat and complicit in the crimes allegedly committed by our government. 

I would say that Adam Kokesh is the one who needs to put a little more thought into his plan of action. He and his band of thugs need to learn to go through the proper Democratic channels such as the voting booth, running for office such as Congress or even running for president of the United States. Instead they choose to ignore the tools given to them to make change within the framework of our Constitution. 

Also, it seems a bit ironic that the same man that was planning a March in support of Second Amendment gun rights now thinks we should simply trash the Constitution that has got us this far, ignore the rule of law and even suggest armed conflict with those that oppose his views. This makes him the very essence of an extremist. The Taliban works in much the same fashion. 

Simply put Mr. Kokesh and his radical followers are suggesting waging war against America and thus making them domestic enemies. The fact that he and his fellow would-be terrorists enemies of America have not been arrested and placed on trial for trying to start an armed rebellion against the people and government of America is beyond comprehension. With all due respect to the fact that Mr.Kokesh served in the Marine Corps and served in the Iraq war the act of treason against America is one of the most un-American acts any American could partake in. If you support him and his followers it makes you complicit in his crime of treason. Truly I hope we as a people can continue to use democracy and other non-violent means to solve our problems with our government.

Sure our government has many issues, but is armed revolt  really the answer? Can we as Americans truly not solve our differences with anything short of violence? To me all the issues that we have with our federal government could easily be solved peacefully if Americans choose to take the time to learn how our system really works and how to work within it. If we all work together radicals like Adam Kokesh Would not have the opportunity to try to convince us that the only solution is war.

Comments

  1. While I agree with Kokesh's first few sentences about the things are government is doing wrong, I do not agree with his methods. The groups I belong to advocate change through the ballot box and any other means we can without violence. It is encouraging that the latest polls show that over half the country disapproves of our president and government.

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