Doesn't everyone know?

There's a war on! Cue the music!

Over there, over there

Send the word, send the word over there

That Hunter's coming

To keep Burisma running

And those stock options coming...

Something like that.

Look it's been what? Five minutes since were were involved in a war?

And, really, how could we possibly pass up the opportunity to risk a conflict with Russia?

In the winter.

I don't see any way that could possibly go wrong, although I am now regretting sleeping through third-period European history when I was a high-school sophomore.

Ah, probably didn't miss anything important.

Of course, there are a handful of malcontents who think this might be a slightly less than fabulous idea.

Those people need to be arrested according to cyber security expert and Twitter blue check, Chris Vickery.

Treason. Tucker Carlson is engaged in treason. Arrest him. Hold him in a cell. He is a clear and present danger inflicting undeniable harm in service of a foreign wartime enemy. Charge him.

Of course, Vickery is getting a little ahead of himself. Russia isn't quite a "foreign wartime enemy" just yet.

Jack Posobiec called him out on this.

Vickery's response was, well, let's call it, "telling."

I mean, he appears to think he got this massive "own."

He starts by reposting an image of Posobiec's tweet, highlighting the part where Vickery had cited the Rosenberg case.

In that circled tweet he notes the United States "never declared war against the USSR," that the Rosenbergs were nonetheless executed for their crimes, and then suggests the same will happen to other "treasonweasels."

Extra points for "treasonweasels."

Apparently, he thinks Carlson and Posobiec and others like them will share the Rosenberg's fate.

Why, he's got supporting links, and even a GIF!

Dunk!

Except, there's one little problem.

The Rosenbergs weren't tried for treason. They were tried for espionage, and espionage has nothing to do with treason and nothing to do with anything Carlson or Posobiec stand accused of doing.

Espionage is the crime of spying or secretly watching a person, company, government, etc. for the purpose of gathering secret information or detecting wrongdoing, and to transfer such information to another organization or state.

In fact, had Vickery bothered to check, he would have come across this.

On July 17, 1950 the FBI arrested Julius, and one month later Ethel was arrested. On March 6, 1951 their trial began in New York's Southern District federal court. The trial lasted for nearly one month. They were charged with conspiracy and providing atomic secrets to the USSR. They could not be charged for treason since the U.S. was not at war with the USSR.

Oops.

Too bad, Vickery does seem to have traitormania on the mind.

Not to mention loving the idea of some killin' being done.

Sort of like this:

Only instead of riding the bomb, Vickery will be cheering it on from his home office in Santa Rosa, which is kind of the same with the exception of the whole "certain death" thing.

Regardless, the mania for war and the hunting down of those opposing it hardly ends with Vickery and his 55,000 followers. Pretty much the entire political class and media establishment have come down with the same fever.

Max Boot at The Washington Post, a man who has spent his entire career championing wars he will never have to fight, says some kind things about people who politely disagree with the march to war.

But while Biden's get-tough approach with Russia has bipartisan support, he is being criticized by some thoughtful analysts who argue that the United States has no stake in defending Ukraine and that it should be up to our European allies to counter Russian aggression. Journalist Peter Beinart, for example, suggests that the United States needs to recognize a Russian "sphere of influence" in Eastern Europe, while former Trump Defense Department official Elbridge Colby writes, "We don't and won't have a military big enough to increase commitments in Europe and have a chance of restoring our edge in Asia against China."

How very polite and genteel.

However, when it comes to someone with actual reach, who can sway public opinion away from the war – oh, well, that's an entirely different thing altogether.

This is not the mindless pro-Russian cheerleading of Tucker Carlson. These are serious thinkers, and their concerns deserve a serious response.

He links to the Daily Beast for the take down where writer Julia Davis details his crime:

Saying things the Russians like.

Russia's state TV propagandists express their delight in seemingly having the likes of Tucker Carlson in their corner, praising his coverage as the prime example of Russia's successful influence operations abroad. Carlson's talking points often sound identical to those pushed by the Kremlin's propagandists—or by Putin himself.

This is one of the "thoughtful analysts" of which Max Boot approves, indictment by association, indictment by the fact that both the Russians and Tucker Carlson agree that getting the United States involved with fighting Russia over the Ukraine is something to be avoided.

Davis's more recent piece, published a day after Boot's in a manner almost suggesting a coordinated attack by the media against opponents of war (nah!), Davis decides to fully embrace self-parody.

Top Russian state propagandists are concerned that no one will take the Fox News host seriously any more.

I read the entire piece. It says no such thing, offers no supporting evidence, just more of the same weak tea, including this.

Proving the Russian propagandist at least partially correct, on Monday New Jersey Congressman Tom Malinowski wrote on Twitter: "My office is now getting calls from folks who say they watch Tucker Carlson and are upset that we're not siding with Russia in its threats to invade Ukraine, and who want me to support Russia's ‘reasonable' positions."

That tweet, the same one Vickery referenced, is here:

My office is now getting calls from folks who say they watch Tucker Carlson and are upset that we're not siding with Russia in its threats to invade Ukraine, and who want me to support Russia's "reasonable" positions.

Carlson never said that, and I somehow doubt that Malinowski's office was inundated with calls for supporting Russia, but hey, he's gotta run.

War doesn't foment itself, you know!

I guess not everyone's seen The Princess Bride.

People of good will can certainly have a difference of opinion over the kinds of support the United States should give Ukraine, but the attempt by establishment politicians and their media allies, particularly the broadly bipartisan hive-mind agreement over it – combined with the hysterical attacks on anyone with the temerity to genuinely and effectively oppose it – should deeply trouble everyone.