"Treason" is a term occasionally bandied about but rarely discussed seriously.  President Trump, in a recent speech, joked about it.  Referring to the catatonic Democrats during the State of the Union address, "They were like death and un-American.  Un-American.  Somebody said, 'treasonous.'  I mean, yeah, I guess, why not?  Can we call that treason?  Why not?  I mean, they certainly didn't seem to love our country that much."

As leftists are prone to do, they took Trump's words literally – the opposite of how his supporters approach Trump's joking.  Commenting on what someone else said – "yeah, I guess, why not?"  Trump being Trump.

In typical fashion, the media blew a gasket – led by CNN, of course, with Chris Cillizza, with a straight face, declaring that Trump actually believes that not clapping for him is treasonous.

It's just like when the media took literally Trump's debate comment on the missing Hillary Clinton emails.  "I will tell you this, Russia: if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing."  He was joking over the James Comey assertion that the FBI couldn't find the missing emails.

Again taking Trump literally, not seriously, Politico, close relative of CNN, responded, "Trump urges Russia to hack Clinton's email."

So what about the T-word Trump let slip?  Treason.  As the media never takes Trump seriously, how about a serious discussion of what treason is?

A simple dictionary definition popping up on a Google search is "The crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government."

The U.S. Constitution, Article 3, Section 3 has similar words.  "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."

The U.S. Code, from 1948, further clarifies.  "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason."

What are the commonalities?  Allegiance to the U.S., meaning U.S. citizens.  Who assist enemies, which would be foreign governments, aiding them.  Waging war against the United States, with the goal of removing the sovereign, meaning president, or overthrowing the lawful government.

War, in the days of the Constitution, was muskets and cannons.  Two centuries later, war is more sophisticated: electronic surveillance, fabricated evidence, weaponized government agencies.

In other words, it's exactly what was going on before, during, and after the last presidential election.  We're talking opposition research by one political party, created by and with the assistance of a foreign entity, declared "valid intelligence" by the government of the same party, then presented to a secret court dishonestly, resulting in illegal surveillance of the candidate and campaign of the other political party.  These surveillance results were then illegally disseminated to the media, who willingly spread the disinformation far and wide to the entire world.

What was the goal?  To subvert the Constitution, the lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next.  Having failed, the conspirators then tried to undermine the sovereign, the president, through accusations and investigations, assisted by a foreign enemy.

The phony dossier, described by former FBI director James Comey as "salacious and unverified," created with the assistance of the Russian government, served as the basis of spying on a political candidate and campaign.

Post-election, the losing candidate, "within twenty-four hours of her concession speech," cooked up a scheme to blame her loss on Russian interference.  The Russians did indeed meddle, mostly after the election – not to affect the election outcome, but to sow discord within America, as the recent Mueller indictments described.

They were assisted by the Deep-Staters within the FBI and DOJ, altering testimony, leaking classified information, conspiring to "kill the sovereign or overthrow the government."  Not literally kill, but to cripple the president via false information, leading to his impeachment and removal from office.

All this is not to leave out the U.S. media, willing and eager participants in Russian propaganda and meddling, co-conspirators in the coup against the duly elected leader of the country.  This is the same country these people all pledged allegiance to at some point.  Either informally as U.S. citizens, or formally when taking their oaths of office.

So where does the T-word fit into all of this?  American citizens conspiring to overthrow the duly elected constitutional president and executive branch of government.  Working with a foreign government, an enemy, willingly waging war against the president, trying to "kill the sovereign."

Sure sounds like the above definitions of treason.

What's the punishment?  It's not only the president who can be impeached.  The Constitution, Article 2, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

According to the U.S. Code, those guilty of treason "Shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

Don't hold your breath waiting for any of this to actually play out, although it is within the realm of possibility.  Military tribunals and Gitmo are predicted on some of the blogs and Q discussion boards.  More likely, the guilty will be given a pass, in exchange for shutting up and going away.

But for the swamp to be truly drained, for the light of truth and liberty to shine brightly on the Deep State, a reckoning and accounting are necessary.  The concept of treason is well ensconced in the U.S. Constitution, even if it is rarely discussed or considered.

As this collusion story plays out, "treason" is a word that needs to be brought back into discussion and applied if necessary and appropriate.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer.  Follow him on Facebook,  LinkedIn, and Twitter.