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SIGN OF THE TIMES ... Mark Steyn
Steyn Online ^ | 29 Nov 2011 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 11/29/2011 3:51:38 AM PST by Rummyfan

Whenever I write in these pages about the corrosive effect of Big Government upon the citizenry in Britain, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere and note that this republic is fairly well advanced upon the same grim trajectory, I get a fair few letters on the lines of: "You still don't get it, Steyn. Americans aren't Europeans. Or Canadians. We're not gonna take it."

I would like to believe it. It's certainly the case that Americans have more attitude than anybody else — or, at any rate, attitudinal slogans. I saw a fellow in a "Don't Tread on Me" T-shirt the other day. He was at LaGuardia, and he was being trod all over, by the obergropinfuhrers of the TSA, who had decided to subject him to one of their enhanced pat-downs. There are few sights more dismal than that of a law-abiding citizen having his genitalia pawed by state commissars, but having them pawed while wearing a "Don't Tread on Me" T-shirt is certainly one of them.

(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: marksteyn; steyn
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1 posted on 11/29/2011 3:51:42 AM PST by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan

2 posted on 11/29/2011 4:00:22 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Rummyfan

” obergropinfuhrers of the TSA,”

Good one!


3 posted on 11/29/2011 4:03:13 AM PST by vanilla swirl (We are the Patrick Henry we have been waiting for!)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Signs must be installed at all wheelchair ramps.


4 posted on 11/29/2011 4:04:59 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Rummyfan

To those Americans, who exclaim, ‘we’re not going to take it!’, I have to say, ‘What are you talking about? You have been taking it and taking it for a very long time.’

I would Canadians have probably the most responsive governments to its people these days. But still not as responsive as it could be.


5 posted on 11/29/2011 4:10:06 AM PST by Jonty30 (If a person won't learn under the best of times, than he must learn under the worst of times.)
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To: Rummyfan
"a fellow in a "Don't Tread on Me" T-shirt....at LaGuardia, ....the TSA, who had decided to subject him to one of their enhanced pat-downs."

Love Steyn, but that's a poor example.
Most people with even a little bit of class don't wear t-shirts on a flight (certainly not logo shirts).
And anyway, this guy was supposed to do, what, slug it out with the TSA?
I know this is just how Steyn sets up his train-of-thought essays, and worse-case, Armaggedon-type scenario's bring in more dough than "bad-hair day" essays, but Americans will NOT go down with a whimper - I truly believe there are a large (huge) number who would prefer to go down swinging instead of kneeling.

6 posted on 11/29/2011 4:18:45 AM PST by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: Rummyfan

Hey Steyn... move South dude... we will prove to you we are still Americans. South West... Mid West and some places in the North too! The big cities that you hang out in... not so much.

LLS


7 posted on 11/29/2011 4:21:31 AM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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To: vanilla swirl

“obergropinfuhrers of the TSA” Steyn quote.

Long before there were such. I made the decision not to subject myself to the potential for arrest, possible trial, and resultant incarceration. You either rent borrow or lease, and fly from a small airport, or do without. There is a better way, but guess who would just rather make law abiding citizens kneel in compliance rather than offend the guilty.

Just imagine if TSA spent all their time managing the “NO FLY” list, and all those people “LOOKING” for the guilty. It would still be expensive, but far less invasive, if you know what I mean.


8 posted on 11/29/2011 4:25:30 AM PST by wita
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To: Rummyfan
Mark Steyn is the best Rush replacement and is the master at setting up and then knocking down his straw man in order to write a good column.

He must have missed the TEA parties and the results of the 2010 elections.

Unless he is advocating for open, armed rebellion, the movement of the electorate to the right, and the mind set of the country is going to the tax payer and not the leeches with their hands in the gummint cookie jar.

If we want to maintain a civil country we have to do it at the ballot box if not we still have the armed option, but once you start down that path, there is no turning back, there is no mulligan and I've seen that kind of death, and it's not something that you do on a whim.

9 posted on 11/29/2011 4:36:31 AM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke The Terrorist Savages)
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To: Rummyfan

I just came back from a trip that landed me in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Because I was coming from overseas I had to go through security before I could enter the terminal to catch my domestic flight.

I had just re-checked my baggage to its domestic destination when the attendant said, “Please follow me, sir.” He led me to a special security line that had apparently been set up especially for geezers. Everyone in it was clearly on Medicare. Two old women were directly ahead of me. One had a cane; the other had a nervous disorder that caused her to move in a kind of St. Vitus dance.

“Take everything out of your pockets,” I was told. “Anything in your pockets?”
“Some paper money.”
“Hold it in your hands. Anything else?”
“A couple of pills.”
“In your hands.”
I was required to stand in my stocking feet on two yellow-painted footprints. “Raise your hands above your head.”

As Steyn might put it, this was the surrender monkeys’ final capitulation. The St. Vitus lady’s hands-up was a sight to behold.

But Steyn would have been wrong. There was more to come. I having been duly x-rayed, the TSA man now told me, “I’m sorry, sir, I am required to pat you down.”


10 posted on 11/29/2011 4:44:44 AM PST by Malesherbes (- Sauve qui peut)
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To: Psalm 73
What was that guy supposed to do?

Drive.

11 posted on 11/29/2011 4:49:59 AM PST by mewzilla (Forget a third party. We need a second one.)
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To: Rummyfan

So what is Steyn advocating? That we roll guillotines down Pennsylvania Avenue?

The Founders left in place a system to peacefully overthrow tyrants. In the 2010 election, more than 700 patriots were elected to state legislatures, effectively giving us complete control of 26 states.

These patriots are legally throwing wrenches into the federal fascist machinery, for which the goosesteppers have neither the manpower nor the resources to stop.

We are not close to needing an armed revolt. If it comes to that, it will be incumbent upon us to use the legal apparatus of the individual states to muster divisions and carry out a comprehensive battle plan.

But before it comes to that, we have the option of calling a states’ convention to abolish the federal government. The states created the federal government, and the states can abolish the federal government.


12 posted on 11/29/2011 5:18:01 AM PST by sergeantdave
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To: USS Alaska
Mark Steyn is the best Rush replacement and is the master at setting up and then knocking down his straw man in order to write a good column.

As a matter of fact Steyn is guesting for Rush today 29 November.

13 posted on 11/29/2011 5:53:57 AM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: mewzilla
"What was that guy supposed to do?"

It's tough, but I try to keep myself out of "compromising" positions - I travel for business but certainly keep a very low profile - casual business attire, smile a lot - but not too much, try to stay pleasant and business-like at all times. Not loud, but not meek, either.
Fly under the radar for crying out loud - an airport is not the place to let your "freak flag fly", not even before 9-11, and certainly not now.

14 posted on 11/29/2011 5:55:46 AM PST by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: Psalm 73

I’ve got a Gadsden flag shirt and I’ll wear it any dang place I like. But it won’t be while I’m submitting to a grope by the TSA.


15 posted on 11/29/2011 5:59:47 AM PST by mewzilla (Santelli 2012)
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To: sergeantdave
"So what is Steyn advocating? That we roll guillotines down Pennsylvania Avenue?"

Personally, I'm all for it.


16 posted on 11/29/2011 6:15:20 AM PST by ex91B10 (We've tried the Soap Box,the Ballot Box and the Jury Box; one box left.)
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To: wita

Unfortunately TSA will start on trains, etc. Even roadblocks in Tenn.


17 posted on 11/29/2011 7:38:33 AM PST by vanilla swirl (We are the Patrick Henry we have been waiting for!)
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To: JLS

Pingaling !


18 posted on 11/29/2011 7:43:34 AM PST by knews_hound (Credo Quia Absurdium--take nothing seriously unless it is absurd. E. Clampus Vitus)
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To: Psalm 73
*Americans will NOT go down with a whimper - I truly believe there are a large (huge) number who would prefer to go down swinging instead of kneeling. *

If the worst happens, we few remaining real Americans should remember the spirit of the Jim Carrey character in mask when it looked like he would lose the fight and possibly him life:

“I hope you enjoy your victory with one freakin’ eye!”

19 posted on 11/29/2011 8:07:39 AM PST by PATRIOT1876 (The only crimes that are 100% preventable are crimes committed by illegal aliens)
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To: Rummyfan

If they can draw up a “no-fly” list then why in HELL can’t they draw up a parallel list of proven-safe, frequent-flier passengers?

Let those known-safe fliers just breeze through security because they obviously won’t be causing any problems.

Not long ago I flew on a charter flight for a gambling junket and we had to go through the same bullshit security measures. Why? Everybody was known, by name, to the trip organizers, all of us had flown on the previous month’s trip and there was nobody in line younger than 40. Why did we need ANY security screening, let alone the full-Monty TSA shakedown? Ridiculous!

But of course, they’re not doing it for safety. They’re training us to get used to the idea that there is no privacy ... for your own safety, you understand.


20 posted on 11/29/2011 8:26:30 AM PST by DNME (A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it. It keeps him upright. - Robert Heinlein)
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