Knuckleheads on the left, including Tim Kaine, are throwing around the word “treason” in relation to Donald Trump and Paul Manafort. Knuckleheads on the right, including Seb Gorka, accuse Hillary Rodham Clinton of “treason” for her role in the Uranium One deal. Speaking with Sean Hannity, Gorka compared Mrs. Clinton’s actions to the Rosenberg espionage case, and noted gleefully: “Those people got the chair.”

People get to like the sound and feel of certain words: A New York Post headline over a David Harsanyi column demanded: “Why doesn’t Hillary’s dossier trick count as treason?” (The column itself was more sensible than the headline.) Rush Limbaugh on Monday described the investigation of Trump as part of a “coup.” Left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer says that Trump’s decision to ditch the Paris climate accord is “treason.”

This is nonsense, and these people should grow the hell up.

“Treason” is a word with a specific meaning and, in the case of the United States, a definition right there in the Constitution. Even if we imagine that Trump is guilty of the worst of that which his opponents accuse him of — colluding with the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election — that is corruption, not treason. Trump may be reprehensible, but there really isn’t anything like a reasonable case that anything in the accusations against him amounts to treason or is likely to. Trump isn’t that ambitious.

Neither is it the case, contra Gorka, that Mrs. Clinton’s actions as secretary of state were treason or anything like treason. Gorka, who once held a position of some influence, is deeply irresponsible to say otherwise, and really ought to consider acting like an adult. He doesn’t have anything to lose, except maybe a few Hannity appearances. Surely, that falls within the scope of “pay any price, bear any burden.”

Neither is it the case that the investigation into Trump’s political circle amounts to a “coup.” There’s a pretty good whiff of dirty on Manafort, at least, and there was in fact a Russia-backed effort to mess about with the 2016 presidential election, which ought to be investigated as both a criminal and intelligence issue, which it is. Given the politicization of the IRS and other investigatory agencies during the Obama administration, there is some reason to suspect the federal bureaucracy’s commitment to the rule of law and justice. That calls for reform, not for irresponsible talk about “coups.”

A republic, from the Latin res publica, is a public thing, an entity that depends on the people. A republic depends as much on good citizenship as it does on good government, and all of those rage merchants engaged in loose talk about treason and coups and the like are failing the country. They are bad citizens, and we desperately need better ones.

You don’t have to be a corrupt elected official to sell out your country for personal gain.