Sen. Lindsey Graham wants "Human Shields" punished. I like it, but let me explain. For a while conservatives have been in a dither about how hard it is to punish people for treason. The founders made it hard to prosecute, yadda yadda. So be it. In effect, since we have "symbolic speech" that consists of burning flags, holding signs, etc., any physical action can be thrown out as "symbolic speech." Burn a flag, symbolic speech--I can buy that. Give a military convoy the finger, symbolic speech--yeah, that finger does mean something.

We've got something different here, though. True aid and comfort--actions meant to actively hinder our own military activities in favor of a foreign power. A lot of them wussed out, so let them off. They're traitors with a doubt, but in the end the only thing they really did was to step into a big pile of reality when the evil dictator they were aiding decided to put their traitorous activity to good use. That's the rub--if they haven't left by the time shooting starts, prosecute 'em. I mean, damn, somebody's gotta be treasonous. As for the ones that got mugged by reality, they could make good witnesses. Wouldn't they hate that?