I also said “It usually will follow this pattern of behavior which we have seen being instigated even by those elected in the government who engage in these behaviors”
We’ve seen our elected gov’t officials abuse the system and they need to held accountable. They can break the law and endanger the Constitution.
You wrote : “At least in this country, which properly values freedom of speech and assembly, we have the right to denigrate, criticize” I agree here
“and even lie about the government if we don’t like it.”
You can be sued for Defamation
“The only thing our laws prohibit is advocating violence”
I agree an we have many people doing it right now and the it sure looks like the JFK files showed an internal plot against the POTUS and it looks like people in our own gov’t has initiated plots against Trump.
That leaves the military to protect the Constitution against such things.
Sure you can - but you can't be charged criminally for it, which is what you said should be done to those wanting to form a "shadow cabinet". And you can only be sued for defaming people, not the government itself.
That aside, there's also the issue of who determines what a lie actually is, and that's where the damn war is. Remember what they did during Covid? Who determined what was a "lie" back then? What did they do to people who "lied" about Covid, or "destroyed trust" in the government? Yet that's the exact road you want to go down. actually worse, because you want to prosecute for "sedition" or "treason" those who disparage the government.
You, and people who think like you in terms of shutting down dissent, are the biggest threat to this country.