5 ms·

Actually, traitor is not at all a loaded term. It has a precise meaning as found in Article III of the Constitution: > Treason against the United States, shall

Actually, traitor is not at all a loaded term. It has a precise meaning as found in Article III of the Constitution: > 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.

dvt 10y ago
It's a loaded term because it's at best unclear if Snowden truly had the mens rea (legal experts go back and forth on this). Specifically, whether or not his intent was to aid the US' enemies.
- tanderson92 10y ago
  To me, mens rea is the entirety of the act of treason. Otherwise, many citizens' individual actions hurt US interests vs our "enemies". That aside, that I still don't see how that implies it is loaded. (by the way, I never objected to people believing he should serve jail time as the GP suggested; my comment concerned the certainty that he was a traitor)
  - dvt 10y ago
    Maybe I misunderstood, but my point is that "treason" is a loaded term because we're not really sure if what he did was treasonous or not. As mentioned, treason needs an "intent to aid enemies" which we're not sure if Snowden had -- experts go back and forth on this. So people just say "treason" to be inflammatory. He definitely broke the law and should probably be in jail, but treason is another ballgame altogether.
sparky1990 10y ago
Snowden is not a US citizen, so "traitor" doesn't even apply.
- codethief 10y ago
  Since when? AFAIK they only invalidated his passport.
  - cyphar 10y ago
    And since they only invalidated his passport, we can conclude that Snowden doesn't have any other citizenships (it is against international law to make a person stateless, and the US surely would've retracted his citizenship if they could).

dvt 10y ago

It's a loaded term because it's at best unclear if Snowden truly had the mens rea (legal experts go back and forth on this). Specifically, whether or not his intent was to aid the US' enemies.

tanderson92 10y ago
To me, mens rea is the entirety of the act of treason. Otherwise, many citizens' individual actions hurt US interests vs our "enemies". That aside, that I still don't see how that implies it is loaded. (by the way, I never objected to people believing he should serve jail time as the GP suggested; my comment concerned the certainty that he was a traitor)
- dvt 10y ago
  Maybe I misunderstood, but my point is that "treason" is a loaded term because we're not really sure if what he did was treasonous or not. As mentioned, treason needs an "intent to aid enemies" which we're not sure if Snowden had -- experts go back and forth on this. So people just say "treason" to be inflammatory. He definitely broke the law and should probably be in jail, but treason is another ballgame altogether.

sparky1990 10y ago

Snowden is not a US citizen, so "traitor" doesn't even apply.

codethief 10y ago
Since when? AFAIK they only invalidated his passport.
- cyphar 10y ago
  And since they only invalidated his passport, we can conclude that Snowden doesn't have any other citizenships (it is against international law to make a person stateless, and the US surely would've retracted his citizenship if they could).