Secret Kill Lists

If sympathizing with our enemies and propagandizing on their behalf is the equivalent of making war on the country, then the Johnson and Nixon administrations should have bombed every elite college campus in the country during the 1960s. And as satisfying as putting Jane Fonda on a kill list might have been, I do not think that our understanding of the law of war would encourage such a thing, even though she did give priceless aid to the Communist aggressors in Vietnam. Students in Ann Arbor, Mich., were actively and openly raising funds for the Viet Cong throughout the war. Would it have been proper to put them on kill lists? I do not think that it would. There is a difference between sympathizing with our enemies and taking up arms against the country; there is even a difference between actively aiding our enemies and taking up arms against the country, which is why we have treason trials rather than summary execution.

  National Review

May I comment?

1) “Johnson and Nixon administrations should have bombed every elite college campus in the country during the 1960s.” And wouldn't they have loved to? In fact, Nixon did call out the troops on campuses, and did actually fire on and kill student protestors. Remember Kent State?

2) “There is even a difference between actively aiding our enemies and taking up arms against the country.” Yes, may I remind us all that W's grandpappy Prescott Bush financed Hitler?

Andrew C. McCarthy writes to assure me that under current federal law, Jane Fonda would indeed be considered an “enemy combatant” and therefore eligible for a place on the secret federal kill list. I suspect that whether you regard that as a sign of progress or a sign of regress communicates a great deal about your conception of citizenship.

Or your attitude toward women and Hollywood. ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.