MoveOn.com Sedition Petition Demands GOP Arrests After Shutdown

Progressive group MoveOn.org has a “sedition petition” that is sure to ruffle partisan feathers — demanding that authorities “Arrest and Try House GOP Leadership for Sedition” after the crippling government shutdown.

MoveOn’s sedition petition is intended to be delivered to President Barack Obama and the U.S. House of Representatives, and signers are signing to the following statement:

“I call on the Justice Department of the United States of America to arrest Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and other decision-making House Republican leaders for the crime of seditious conspiracy against the United States of America.”

The “seditious conspiracy” claimed in the petition’s statement is explained, accusing House GOP members of extorting American citizens in a bid to tank legislation with which they did not agree, namely the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. The petition reads:

“The House GOP leadership’s use of the Hastert Rule and H. Res 368 to shut down the government and threaten the U.S. economy with default is an attempt to extort the United States government into altering or abolishing the Affordable Care Act, and thus, is self-evidently a seditious conspiracy. Arrest the perpetrators in Congress immediately and bring them to justice.”

After MoveOn’s sedition petition hit the 15,000 signature goal, a new goal of 40,000 signatures was set — and more than 38,000 people have advocated arresting House GOP members for sedition in the wake of the shutdown.

Evidence of alleged sedition is presented in a video that went viral this week, in which a House rule-change (H. Res 368) is explained in House proceedings. Titled “the GOP’s little rule change they hoped you wouldn’t notice,” the clip has drawn more than three million views and a description reads:

“Late in the evening on September 30, 2013, the House Rules Committee Republicans changed the Rules of the House so that the ONLY Member allowed to call up the Senate’s clean CR for a vote was Majority Leader Eric Cantor or his designee — all but guaranteeing the government would shut down a few hours later and would stay shut down. Previously, any Member would have had the right to bring the CR up for a vote. Democracy has been suspended in the House of Representatives.”

Watch the clip that inspired MoveOn’s sedition petition, above.