Senator Ted Kennedy Accused of Treason

The right-wing blogosphere is abuzz with allegations regarding a memo that supposedly has been unearthed in the former Soviet archives. According to a new book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism , Senator John Tunney had traveled to the Soviet Union on Kennedy's behalf and offered the assist them in a PR campaign to counter Reagan's foreign policy.

As CNS News describes it:

The letter, dated May 14, 1983, was sent from the head of the KGB to Yuri Andropov, who was then General Secretary of the Soviet Union's Communist Party.

In his letter, KGB head Viktor Chebrikov offered Andropov his interpretation of Kennedy's offer. Former U.S. Sen. John Tunney (D-Calif.) had traveled to Moscow on behalf of Kennedy to seek out a partnership with Andropov and other Soviet officials, Kengor claims in his book.

So this is a KGB official's interpretation of comments by Tunney, supposedly on behalf of Kennedy.

"Kennedy was afraid that Reagan was leading the world into a nuclear war," Kengor said. "He hoped to counter Reagan's polices, and by extension hurt his re-election prospects."

Which, of course, is Kengor's interpretation of Chebrikov's interpretation of Tunney's comments, supposedly on behalf of Kennedy. And what exactly were those comments? Apparently suggestions that Andropov attempt to persuade the American people that he really wanted peace, as apparently he did. Treason, say the wingnuts.

Hot Air/has some of the memo itself:

If the proposal is recognized as worthy, then Kennedy and his friends will bring about suitable steps to have representatives of the largest television companies in the USA contact Y. V. Andropov for an invitation to Moscow for the interview. Specifically, the board of directors of ABC, Elton Raul and the television columnists Walter Cronkite or Barbara Walters could visit Moscow. The senator underlined the importance that this initiative should be seen as coming from the American side.

Hot Air adds, "I think the next step here is to nail down the authenticity of the memo." I would think this would be the first step, before accusing a sitting US Senator of treason. I suspect the memo may be authentic, although it would be nice to see it in its entirety.The memo is interesting but what it relates falls far short, it seems to me, of being evidence of Treason, which , by the way, requires two witnesses to the same overt act of providing aid and comfort to our enemies, according to the constitution. Not so, however, according to Junk Yard Dog:

If this is true, and what it seems to be, we should start impeachment proceedings immediately. And perhaps begin testing some rope with a very high tensile strength.

Rick Moran at the not so aptly named Right Wing Nut House is a bit more cautious:

There are many reasons why this might not be true, not the least of which is that Soviet agents were notorious for lying to their superiors – especially when it came to bragging to their bosses about Americans who may or may not have worked with Communists. Contained in the million or so pages of documents that came to light in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union are the names of dozens of prominent Americans that Soviet agents claimed were helping the Communist cause, including FDR’s friend and closest White House advisor Harry Hopkins as well as famous entertainers like Marilyn Monroe. The long and short of it is, you need a helluva lot more than one memo to prove that Ted Kennedy wanted to take part in this scheme.

The majority of wingnuts, however, are apparently ready to hang Teddy.