Glenn Greenwald: Questions about the first treason indictment in 50 years

(updated below)

"Treason" is an accusation that is tossed around casually and frequently by Bush followers. Many of them seem to think that the bulk of the Democratic Party and large swaths of the non-Fox press corps are guilty of it. But treason is actually one of the most rarely charged crimes. Nobody has been indicted for treason in the U.S. in more than 50 years, and there have been only 30 or so treason prosecutions in all of American history.

Not a single American was accused of treason through the entire McCarthy era, during the Korean and Vietnam wars, nor at any time during the last four decades of the Cold War nor in connection with the rise of McVeigh-type anti-government militia movements of the 1990s. As intended by the Founders, the U.S. Government, regardless of which political party controls it, has traditionally exercised great discretion and restraint when it comes to charging Americans with that crime.