Speaking of friendship as treason (and groups with "G.D." as an acronym) Glenn Reynolds links David Kopel's post which asks a good question about Green Day:

If a person likes Green Day's sound, but not their politics, what other bands might the person enjoy?

I'm thinking about the trouble Ann Coulter has made for the Grateful Dead, and I'm wondering . . .

Suppose she put in a good word for Green Day. In logic, something like that should not alter the opinion of any thinking person -- either about Ann Coulter or Green Day. But there are a lot of non-thinking, mostly emotive beings out there.

And there are also a lot of people -- left and right -- who believe in the principle of guilt by association. I don't think Ann Coulter would suffer, as she's already been outed as a Deadhead, and few things are more likely to irritate the scolding wing of moral conservatism than the (gasp!) "approval" of a drug-addled band generally seen as a major contributor to America's "culture rot." As culture rot has already become "Coulter Rot," what's one more admission to the culture scolds of the right?

More likely, I think the "Green Day Ann" meme would infuriate Green Day fans (and possibly the band members themselves) in a manner impossible for "Deadhead Ann."

Who knows? If you believe in karma and astrology and all that stuff, being forced to endure Ann Coulter as a fan might be a well deserved punishment for them. Besides, there's no way to make fans disappear, as anyone can buy a CD, and anyone can cover himself or herself with purple Crisco and drink the right Koolaid.

The downside is that this might be seen as giving license to treason.

But that's not my problem.

I'm a traitor if I do, traitor if I don't.