Memo to Trump: If this be ‘treason,’ make the least of it

When ordinary people too cavalierly throw around the word “treasonous,” they devalue civil discourse and constitutional understanding. When a president wantonly uses the word, he himself is being almost, well, treasonous.

And if that second sentence above is a slight overstatement, even with the modifier “almost” included, well, it’s still a lot closer to truth and reason than it was for President Trump to tweet the accusation Monday morning at two top law-enforcement officials. Trump concluded a series of tweets by saying that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe had done something “illegal and treasonous” in questioning his fitness for office.