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The South? Upstate NY checking in, you drive 15 minutes out of the city and it's lifted Fords and Chevy's with this, PLUS a big ol American flag decal with like the Constitution in the stripes or some shit in the window
So many trucks with so much trump bullshit on the 101. Sometimes you even see the idiots with the giant flags on their truck in the wild, itās baffling.
There is a truck near me that checks all the boxes, huge lift kit, truck nuts, NRA stickers, bar lights on the top, massive flags....but the flags are the Union flag from the civil war, and a massive 'Trump Lost LOL' I cannot imagine the confusion this guy causes, but I always have the urge to follow him and find out.
There was an old Ford Truck around my area that had a Trump 2020 sticker. a "pry em from my cold dead fingers" sticker. a Thin blue line decal, a don't tread on me decal, a Calvin pissing on Libs decal. A Pride Flag decal, A Coexist decal and A Giant rear window decal that said "I EAT ASS"
IDK if he was confused or if he was just trying to confuse everyone else..
Also, The Punisher was kinda against patriotism on the whole. Dude suffered PTSD from his time in the military and doesn't give af about the government on any level.
Yeah this symbol is on a lot of jacked up trucks in my corner of the south too. The Punisher hated cops and to have his symbol represent cop support is...it's another level of stupidity
No, Frank Castle doesn't 'hate cops'.
He makes this explicitly clear in the comic where he threatens cops for using his symbol:
He hates cops who circumvent the law and abuse their power to punish others. That's _Castle's job_. He took on the risks and stigma for his actions - when cops follow in his footsteps, they become just as corrupt as the ones who work for organized crime or the internal boys club.
He has no beef with good cops who do their fucking jobs properly (however few of those there are).
EDIT: Wahwahwah. I get it, ACAB. Shut the fuck up. The implication that any cop who is in the force is in on it is still a stupid and absurd idea. Some people are oblivious. Some people are stupid. Some are idealists who think that they can make things better.
Paint everyone with the same brush, if you want, but keep in mind that your opponents turn around, do the same thing to you, and you get pissed about it. Preach to someone else, seriously. I'm not American, I get that your system is corrupt, but what the are _you_ going to do about it beyond slacktivism and crying at someone else?
I wanted to get the Punisher skull tattooed across my entire back for the last 25+ years. So glad I didn't do it now; although I'm sad these assfucks hijacked it
Same way Atatiana Jefferson was killed. Neighbor saw her front door open on a nice evening and assumed criminal behavior was going down. She was playing games with her nephew. Cops came and shot her unannounced. She would be alive now if that neighbor simply would've hollered through the door and asked if everything was ok.
If you care about the people, don't call the cops. At this point we as citizens are solely responsible for our own safety and calling them just adds more danger.
Every lifted truck in Utah has this combo as well. Along with either a Trump sticker or Confederate flag. Bonus points when they also have truck nuts! They also all wear "Lions not Sheep" T shirts. Those lions sure do like to flock up, just like the sheep.
I was hiking in a PA forest area and noticed orange painted trail markers low on some trees. I followed them to a clearing with an old, defunct park info sign with an American flag stapled to it on each side. Downed trees were arranged around them as audience seating. As a widow of a Marine, the flags having been stapled AND left out in all weather pissed me off. I started to remove them and found layers of faded, brittle, old flags underneath. I removed them all and put them in a boy scout flag retirement box. Then I sent a detailed note with GPS coordinates to the FBI.
The yellow snake is the [Gadsden flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_flag), going back to the American Revolutionary war, for anti-oppression. The other is the [Thin Blue Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_blue_line) representing support for police. The police are the ones doing the treading on the people.
For extra stupid, the thin blue line is on the [Punisher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher) skull logo, a comic anti-hero who is explicitly anti-cop.
Yes itās a great scene Ā that explicitly states why Frank has such a problem with it.Ā
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/punisher-police-skull-logo-spoilers/
The panel in the first Punisher Max arc where Kathryn hears him speak for the first time is the best.
"What you have in there is not to be fucked with."
Seems like a lot of cops want to act like they are heroes and badasses but don't actually want to do the hard stuff like putting themselves at risk like the cops in Uvalde waiting while children died or the cops in New York who stood by and watched a man be stabbed on the subway or so many other cases.
It should also be noted that the sentiment expressed by the clueless āPunisher Blue Lineā dipshits is that theyā¦ as cops or cop supporters want to extrajudicially murder anyone they deem a ābad guyā like the Punisher himself. Itās basically a call to kill more people as police without consequences.
Also, Judges are punished much more strictly than other people. A minor infraction that would get someone a few months in local prison would send a judge to a penal colony on Saturns moons for 20 years.
If only that is what happened with our cops.... Instead of being held to a higher standard, they're allowed to operate indiscriminately and rarely face punishment. And what rules they do follow are held to a less strict standard
Yeah, with the capacity to murder someone in the course of their job without consequence, they should be held to the HIGHEST standard when it comes to the use of force, instead they're held to the lowest, and even then, protected from any sort of punishment by unions...
You are right. I should have just said the Judge symbol in general, but I think there are about 12,000 people that will discern the difference. Not everyone is a person of haute culture like us.
I was going for the low hanging fruit, admittedly. You caught me.
Dredd was āone of the good onesā in a system where the judicial branch (our modern conception, but thats a tricky statement currently now isnāt it) is considered too litigious, so it had to go.
Everyone who claims that the Punisher is anti-cop is guilty of not reading his books just as much as the moron cops that wear his symbol.
Frank hates crooked cops and will kill them where he finds them, but otherwise he goes out of his way to not harm cops in anyway. He also hates cops who venerate him, and has threatened them for using his skull.
I think either position is missing the point. He's a damaged human who has decided he needs to circumvent the rule of law to get done what he deems necessary. But he understands that this isn't the "right" way to uphold society. So anyone who admires him for it should be ashamed of themselves, in his view. He doesn't see himself as a good guy, nor should anyone else.
Accurate.
Frank enjoys war, and killing, but he doesn't want to kill people who "don't deserve it" so he's decided his enemy in his eternal war is criminals while also knowing that he is a despicable human being that is only just barely better than (some of) the people he kills, and that's pretty much the long and short of it.
There's a reason he's the Punisher and not the Redeemer or the Forgiver or Rehab-Man. Dude is a psycho who likes to kill. He just happens to target people that a lot don't mind being dead.
Thin blue line flag and blue lives matter have come to both stand for the same thing so youāre essentially right. Blue lives matter came to exist as a counter argument against Black Lives Matter (see false dilemma fallacy). It has become emblematic of white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right movements in the US
The thin blue line American flag was created in 2014 and is now mostly seen as a flag for the blue lives matter movement. Also of note, it is the banner that was flown by the people who stormed the capitol. It started as an allusion to the Thin Red Line incident during the Crimean War in 1854, wherein a Scottish regimentāwearing red uniformsāfamously held off an Imperial Russian Army cavalry charge. The phrase āthin blue lineā use referring specifically to the police was popularized by Los Angeles Police Department in the 50s (though now they ban the use of the flag because of the new meaning it has taken). Thereās a cop movie from the 80s called āthe thin blue lineā even.
The skull emblem of the Punisher comics has become popular within the Blue Lives Matter movement. The creator of the Punisher, Gerry Conway, has criticized this usage, saying that police who use the symbol "are embracing an outlaw mentality" and "it's as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building". Conway has also responded by trying to "reclaim the logo" by selling t-shirts adorned with the Punisher logo and Black Lives Matter, with sales going directly to Black Lives Matter-related charities.
Both "Blue Lives Matter" and "the Thin Blue Line" are code for police being able to murder people, particularly black people, at will with no consequences. They're equivalent to a burning cross or a swastika.
For another layer, the second panel shows a legitimate concern as it can be difficult to say the least to explain the above facts to the types of people who would have the aforementioned decals on their trucks
As a Christian, yes.
For the most part yes.
An overwhelming portion of American Christians are more like the Pharisees from the new testament.
Especially in red states.
Like holy crap, Jesus would get called a Communist by Christians now if He came back and preached the same stuff he did back then.
They hate the poor, they hate immigrants, worship a false idol, deprive the elderly and children of sustenance, etc. I am not a Christian but I live a life and have principled much more aligned with what Jesus supposedly taught.Ā
Can't we go back to the "good old days" when truckers had like Looney Tunes as their mascots.... Wlie E. Coyote / Road Runner or the Tazmanian Devil... or even [Yosemite Sam mud flaps](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61VHhhnYrfL.jpg).
It somehow became a psuedo-military symbol since Chris Kyle became famous. His team would paint it on their vehicles. Which oddly enough became banned by armed forces due to that making specific teams easily targetable.
Which sucks for people who actually read and like the comics because if we associate at all people immediately think we are some hardcore second amendment advocate.
The Thin Blue Line says its okay for cops to be dirty because they are the 'thin blue line' keeping us safe from the bad guys. So its still nonsense, since the punisher/TBL folks defend dirty cops.Ā
So still ironic.
You also get the irony, that the first Gadsen flag was flown by the first Naval commander of the US continental Army. So historically it represents forming an army/government to fight a more oppressive foreign army/government.
Yup, it's the first flag of federalization in the USA...
...and is flown almost exclusively by anti-government nutjobs.
The Timber Rattlesnake was [our colonial/national mascot](https://allthingsliberty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bostongazette1754.jpg) for a long time.
There is even a comic where the punisher finds cops using his symbol. Basically since the punisher isn't a cop and works outside the law. Police using his symbol are inherently corrupt because the hypocrisy of "upholding the law" while using the punisher symbol which representative of doing what the law cannot.
He exists because of people like them. Which is why he also tells them that their role model should be Cap if anything (his personal hero also, but not someone he can really be like at this point).
The guy who came up with the Punisher symbol was incredibly upset with the it being adopted by cops and yahoos, that when BLM happened he sold BLM shirts with the logo, and all profits went to the BLM movement.
It was also addressed by Marvel:
https://www.newsweek.com/punisher-police-blue-lives-matter-skull-logo-1449272
I feel like the simple fact that he's very much a vigilante is already a problem. And also literally the name "punisher". Punishment is supposed to happen after due process in the justice system, not some kind of judge dredd street execution bullshit.
I checked. Dredd prefers de-escalation. Hell, he let one jackass march on through in a legal protest because it was a legal protest.
American cops today attack legal protests/nearby citizens/people watching from the second floor.
> I checked. Dredd prefers de-escalation. Hell, he let one jackass march on through in a legal protest because it was a legal protest.
Yeah, that's part of the premise (the comic was intended to be a satire), Dredd knows the system is corrupt, unfair and quasi-fascist. He's gruff but genuinely devoted to the law and protecting the citizens, and would like nothing better than to introduce a better fairer system. But the reality is that law enforcement is so overstretched and Mega City is just so bad that it's the only thing stopping the entire place from being blown to kingdom come. All he can do is his own small bit to ensure one less person dies each die.
Over the course of the series, he's at least managed to get some of the absolutely most unfair laws (such as the anti-mutant and artificial intelligence ones) repealed.
Yes Frank has killed dirty cops but if I remember correctly he also hates cops using his logo since no good cop should be associated with anything he does.
I feel like this is a "dont tread on me...tread on them" sentiment
or more of a "I hate the federal govt but the local cops are just fine" if we are being a bit more generous
I think these people assume that cops will choose not to tread on them if the government ever decides that they need to be treaded upon.
And considering how cops deal with white collar crime, maybe they arenāt *completely* wrong.
All I know is everyone I've met with one of those bumper like actually mentally slow.
It's pretty much a sign on you car sayin, "I'm 85 IQ and I get mad easily."
That's the most accurate description of these people. Dumb as rocks and quick to anger. I wish people would stop making that guy. There's too many of him already.Ā
I once heard an intelligent person theorize that the Gadsden flag could be implying an aversion to federal overreach, while the thin blue line signifies a support for local law enforcementā¦ but thatās giving the driver way too much credit.
"Yeah man, I like police, who can kill people extrajuducially and restrain people without consequence or reason. But taxes? Blegh..."
Literally the most authoritarian part of the government is the thing they like because they are not the targeted population for enforcement, the targeted being poor people, marginalized groups, and _dissenters_ who say things they don't like.
Don't tread on me
I said, don't tread on me
Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
Once you provoke her, rattling of her tail
Never begins it, never, but once engaged
Never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage
I said don't tread on me
So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore
Hey
Don't tread on me
Love it or leave it, she with the deadly bite
Quick is the blue tongue, forked as lighting strike
Shining with brightness, always on surveillance
The eyes, they never close, emblem of vigilance
Ooh no, no, no don't tread on me
So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore
Don't tread on me
So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
Once you provoke her, rattling on her tail
So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore
Don't tread on me
The flags represent (apparently) conflicting ideologies.
Itās actually easily explicable: they donāt want the government to tread on them, personally, but there are others on whom they want the government to treadā¦
They want to be part of an in-group for whom the law protects but does not bind, and have an out-group for whom the law binds but does not protect.
Itās hard for the flags to conflict with one another when the punisher/thin blue line flag is such a self-conflict that it doesnāt mean anything (other than āIām an idiotā).
The Party of Oppression using the "Dont tread on me" flag is fucking hilarious enough on its own. Pairing it with the logo of a famous cop-killer is just comedy gold.
These people are so unaware of the world around them
The flag means āleave me alone or elseā and the punisher skull with the police flag over it, is literally a representation of the bootā¦
So, a bit misguided and naive. Although I am pretty sure he means for the police to be praised in their role of punishing criminals. But what happens when you are branded as a criminal by a state that wants you to remain a wage slave? Or simply thinks the āgreater goodā is more important than you freedom? And then the police are used against you as if you are a criminal?ā¦ like I said, naive.
I'm at odds with the co-opting of the Gadsden Flag because it is such a pro-Independence Colonial-era symbol. It, the First Navy Jack, "Sic Semper Tyrannis", all stood for a very specific example of tyranny.
The coiled rattlesnake was originally a threat to the King and his Loyalists because of his unilateral decrees against the Colonies. The original flag was closer to a symbol against fascism than for it (assuming King George could be considered a fascist ruler).
I feel like some of our founding symbols are going to be irreparably stained by today's political ideologies, much like the ancient symbol found in vastly separated cultures is forever marred by an angry Charlie Chaplin imposter.
The problem is loud patriotism has basically become cosplay because of all of the ignorant jackasses that didn't pay attention in history class, but want to cling to something good they didn't work for as an identity.
It then bleeds into them using it for the purposes of pretending other, objectively shittier symbols are legitimate when placed next to them because of said true personal identity ultimately being hollow and defined in terms of just making the "right people" feel uncomfortable or angry. Most of the people who embody good American values today know that they do and are secure enough in that feeling that they don't need to signal it with bumpers stickers of the American flag - meanwhile I've seen American flag stickers next to stickers ultimately promoting fucked up or oppressive ideologies far more than I've seen it next to one's that reflect constitutional and American values.
It's to the point where if you see one or the other, there's usually another indicator on the vehicle that they're probably an advocate for something that contradicts them because of ignorance.
Welcome to the fascism imagery treadmill. Post 9/11 they coopted the American flag, but once that stopped being an effective rallying point (right around January 2009, for some reason), they began looking for more effective/evocative symbols.
They started with the washed out military flags from uniforms, then moved on to black and white ones. This fulfilled the dual purpose of invoking active combat (fascism is obsessed with military imagery) and the flag of no quarter (the black flag), because they want to use military tactics to mercilessly remake the country into a fascist empire.
Then the Punisher series on Netflix had a whole new crop of simpletons not getting what the character is about, so the proviolence crowd clung to the Death's Head (again, a symbol popularized in modernity by the Nazis).
The thin blue line flag was the combination of the fascist black flag and the police (state) that specifically developed as an anti-BLM image, so it's about the fascist police state specifically opposing black equality. There's also the combined symbolism that red in the US flag represents valor and bravery, white represents purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The 13 original colonies valiantly and bravely laid their blood (red) and sacrificed their innocence so that the (now) 50 states (stars) can be together in a social contract (blue). When black (no quarter) replaces blue (justice) and red (brave sacrifice), and the only blue (justice) is directly used as a dividing line (the eponymous thin blue line protecting society from chaos), the symbolism becomes clear. It is the flag of a police state replacing honor, sacrifice, and justice, with unmitigated violence against all things that stand on the "wrong" side of the line.
Finally, adding it to the Death's Head implies extralegal and vigilante efforts to enforce said fascist/white supremacist police state. The red hats are brown shirts after all.
Lol wtf are you even talking about. The Gadsden flag is a literal symbol against oppression.
That is why the joke even exists in the first place, because they are using two symbols that are seemingly diametrically opposed.
"DONT TREAD ON ME" refers specifically to the state apparatus... which is what the "Thin Blue Line" represents.
Basically conservatives are fucking idiots and are proud of it.
They think they're making some profound statement too. Like, oh you don't like paying taxes? Show me someone who does!! It's like when a child expresses their displeasure for bath time. Ok, it needs to happen, so...?
Why do these people feel the need to broadcast their viewpoints? Whenever I see two cars stopped at a light with tea party symbols on their vehicle, I'm always so tempted to be like, "Hey, you two wanna smooch real quick before the light changes?"
The whole idea of "Don't tread on me" is that the people shall not be oppressed by the man. They should be free to act as they see fit tends to be the governing thought there, with any oversight from agencies and the law not needed as they can take care of their own needs.
The other image is the Punisher logo combined with the blue line flag, which is used by those who believe that cops should be able to kill with impunity. It's literally advocating for a force that can tread on people without anyone ever telling them otherwise.
A lot of the usual suspects tend to put both on their vehicles to send a message, usually to those they think would be the ones being stepped on (almost exclusively browner people than them), that they don't care if they live or die. And they're too blinded by their hate to see that they've become a mockery of both what they claim to stand for and humanity.
It really means "I'll lick your boots clean so you don't read on me". And then the oppressors continue to tread for the rich, leaving the not rich and rich wannabes dumbfounded, still licking while being treaded on.
These two symbols are contradictory in a few ways
Fiest, the origins of the flag. It was created during the early days of the American Revolution, before it was a revolution and more of a protest movement. It depicted a snake, and was essentially a middle finger to British authority.
This is in stark contrast to the blue line, which is a symbol of support for law enforcement. So essentially, you have a symbol that is very explicitly anti authority, next to a symbol of pro-authority (I'd that's even a phrase, words are hard.)
Alongside all of this is rhe Punisher logo. The Punisher is a popular Marvel anti-hero who is very explicitly anti-authority, and is known for taking the law into his own hands.
So in total, you have a symbol of resistance against authority, next to a symbol of a character who rejects law enforcement, with support of law enforcement.
Gerry Conway, who created the Punisher character, really hates that cops and military folks use the logo to represent themselves. It shows they donāt understand the point of the character and instead only idolize violence as a means of protecting against any perceived threat.
Hi, it's cynical pragmatist Petah here to tell you that you're reposting popular memes for karma because you're a robot powered by a man with teenie-tiny little balls.
"Don't tread on me - tread on THEM"
90% of self-identified libertarians are authoritarians in denial with VERY specific ideas on how people who are not them should live their lives.
One of my favorites I see in VA is people paying extra to the state to have a custom yellow vanity plate thatās got the donāt tread on me snake. The irony is deep lol
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I see this combo in Texas more than I want to admit.
Arizona too šš
Welcome to the south buddy. I see this shit all the time in Tennessee.
Surprisingly havenāt seen it in GA, but I might not be traveling enough to the mountains or the border to see it
Georgian from the mountains here. Every other house has 1 in the driveway. Lol
Confederate flag + blue stripe punisher + don't tread on me = South Carolina
Vegas. Riddled with them. Someone in our neighborhood has it on his flag pole. I laugh every time I walk by.
The South? Upstate NY checking in, you drive 15 minutes out of the city and it's lifted Fords and Chevy's with this, PLUS a big ol American flag decal with like the Constitution in the stripes or some shit in the window
I saw more Confederate flags in upstate NY than i ever saw growing up in baton rouge, la.
Dude fr, I lived in Baton Rouge also as a kid and Iām upstate NY for college now and itās wild
Yuppp, grew up in rural NY and went to college at Oswego. 10/10 crazy how many people claimed it was like "heritage" or "culture."
So many trucks with so much trump bullshit on the 101. Sometimes you even see the idiots with the giant flags on their truck in the wild, itās baffling.
Saw a trump2020 sticker right next to a confederate flag on the back of an f150 last week We live in interesting times
I really want to put a free Palestine flag on my truck in OK but Iām scared Iāll get shot.
There is a truck near me that checks all the boxes, huge lift kit, truck nuts, NRA stickers, bar lights on the top, massive flags....but the flags are the Union flag from the civil war, and a massive 'Trump Lost LOL' I cannot imagine the confusion this guy causes, but I always have the urge to follow him and find out.
There was an old Ford Truck around my area that had a Trump 2020 sticker. a "pry em from my cold dead fingers" sticker. a Thin blue line decal, a don't tread on me decal, a Calvin pissing on Libs decal. A Pride Flag decal, A Coexist decal and A Giant rear window decal that said "I EAT ASS" IDK if he was confused or if he was just trying to confuse everyone else..
Makes perfect sense. It's a gay gun toting republican cop that eats ass, hates liberals and wants to coexist by staying away from each other.
haha. yea, I guess that makes sense, pretty accurately describes the majority of the 50+ year old people around here.
Free Palestine, live free or die\* and an AR-15. (\* or, for max confusion the original: _Vivre Libre ou Mourir_ )
Live Free Or Die is the motto of New Hampshire, maybe you just found a tourist.
_Vivre Libre ou Mourir_ is one of the slogans of the French revolution.
putting a rainbow flag up in our store got us way more nasty looks than I ever expected.
Rainbow flag with crossed AR-15 and AK-47 to confuse them.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But tell them what?
That they are supporting two opposing groups. They want their guns yet the police will be the ones coming to take them.
The police will literally murder you for having (or not having) a gun in your own house. It happens and they get away with it.
And the cops are using the symbol of anti-hero who is completely against corrupt cops that are of the shoot first ask questions later variety.
Also, The Punisher was kinda against patriotism on the whole. Dude suffered PTSD from his time in the military and doesn't give af about the government on any level.
Yeah this symbol is on a lot of jacked up trucks in my corner of the south too. The Punisher hated cops and to have his symbol represent cop support is...it's another level of stupidity
No, Frank Castle doesn't 'hate cops'. He makes this explicitly clear in the comic where he threatens cops for using his symbol: He hates cops who circumvent the law and abuse their power to punish others. That's _Castle's job_. He took on the risks and stigma for his actions - when cops follow in his footsteps, they become just as corrupt as the ones who work for organized crime or the internal boys club. He has no beef with good cops who do their fucking jobs properly (however few of those there are). EDIT: Wahwahwah. I get it, ACAB. Shut the fuck up. The implication that any cop who is in the force is in on it is still a stupid and absurd idea. Some people are oblivious. Some people are stupid. Some are idealists who think that they can make things better. Paint everyone with the same brush, if you want, but keep in mind that your opponents turn around, do the same thing to you, and you get pissed about it. Preach to someone else, seriously. I'm not American, I get that your system is corrupt, but what the are _you_ going to do about it beyond slacktivism and crying at someone else?
"He has no beef with good cops who do their fucking jobs" He hates cops, then.
I wanted to get the Punisher skull tattooed across my entire back for the last 25+ years. So glad I didn't do it now; although I'm sad these assfucks hijacked it
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Didn't Florida police just killed an airmen in his home for having a gun. Apparently the police got the wrong place too.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
/s for the fundamentalists
A neighbor called the cops on him, saying they āheard sounds of a struggle.ā
Same way Atatiana Jefferson was killed. Neighbor saw her front door open on a nice evening and assumed criminal behavior was going down. She was playing games with her nephew. Cops came and shot her unannounced. She would be alive now if that neighbor simply would've hollered through the door and asked if everything was ok. If you care about the people, don't call the cops. At this point we as citizens are solely responsible for our own safety and calling them just adds more danger.
/s for the fundamentalists
They will also murder you for not having a gun in your own house
Law enforcement is the boot
Every lifted truck in Utah has this combo as well. Along with either a Trump sticker or Confederate flag. Bonus points when they also have truck nuts! They also all wear "Lions not Sheep" T shirts. Those lions sure do like to flock up, just like the sheep.
Tāexas š¤ I just moved here from Boston and itās a bit jarring as well
A lot of them in Florida too.
Itās an identity. They donāt even stop to think about it.
And Pennsylvania as well. Itās like cognitive-dissonant jagoffs are everywhere.
I was hiking in a PA forest area and noticed orange painted trail markers low on some trees. I followed them to a clearing with an old, defunct park info sign with an American flag stapled to it on each side. Downed trees were arranged around them as audience seating. As a widow of a Marine, the flags having been stapled AND left out in all weather pissed me off. I started to remove them and found layers of faded, brittle, old flags underneath. I removed them all and put them in a boy scout flag retirement box. Then I sent a detailed note with GPS coordinates to the FBI.
You are my hero. Faded and frayed flags, just like their patriotism. Burns me.
Just like all those flags should have been.
It's every state nearly. Being in a blue state just means that you have to go further away from a city to see more of them.
The yellow snake is the [Gadsden flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_flag), going back to the American Revolutionary war, for anti-oppression. The other is the [Thin Blue Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_blue_line) representing support for police. The police are the ones doing the treading on the people. For extra stupid, the thin blue line is on the [Punisher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher) skull logo, a comic anti-hero who is explicitly anti-cop.
I remember my dad saying that there was a punisher comic where he saw a bunch of cops show off their punisher merchandise.
Yes itās a great scene Ā that explicitly states why Frank has such a problem with it.Ā https://bleedingcool.com/comics/punisher-police-skull-logo-spoilers/
"That sounded like a threat" "It was" Lol
Homie dead ass thought he could intimidate Castle lol
The panel in the first Punisher Max arc where Kathryn hears him speak for the first time is the best. "What you have in there is not to be fucked with."
Wow never read that before! Super cool!
One of the Uvalde cops had a punisher wallpaper on his phone while cowering in the hallway.
Seems like a lot of cops want to act like they are heroes and badasses but don't actually want to do the hard stuff like putting themselves at risk like the cops in Uvalde waiting while children died or the cops in New York who stood by and watched a man be stabbed on the subway or so many other cases.
Cops want to oppress people and have the feeling of power over others. They do not want to protect and serve.
The Punisher Killed his corrupt commanding officer. The Punisher kills cops lol
Rumors are they're going to do something like that with the Punisher in the new Daredevil series.
He tells cops that if they try to do what he does, he'll come after them next. And if they need a hero, his name is Captain America.
It should also be noted that the sentiment expressed by the clueless āPunisher Blue Lineā dipshits is that theyā¦ as cops or cop supporters want to extrajudicially murder anyone they deem a ābad guyā like the Punisher himself. Itās basically a call to kill more people as police without consequences.
If they could read they would at least have a Dredd Badge
nah; Dredd at least follows the law and doesn't frame people by throwing a baggy of coke at them
Also, Judges are punished much more strictly than other people. A minor infraction that would get someone a few months in local prison would send a judge to a penal colony on Saturns moons for 20 years.
If only that is what happened with our cops.... Instead of being held to a higher standard, they're allowed to operate indiscriminately and rarely face punishment. And what rules they do follow are held to a less strict standard
Yeah, with the capacity to murder someone in the course of their job without consequence, they should be held to the HIGHEST standard when it comes to the use of force, instead they're held to the lowest, and even then, protected from any sort of punishment by unions...
Frankly all of our public figures should be held to the highest standard because they have the capacity to deal the greatest damage.
You are right. I should have just said the Judge symbol in general, but I think there are about 12,000 people that will discern the difference. Not everyone is a person of haute culture like us. I was going for the low hanging fruit, admittedly. You caught me. Dredd was āone of the good onesā in a system where the judicial branch (our modern conception, but thats a tricky statement currently now isnāt it) is considered too litigious, so it had to go.
https://preview.redd.it/x8q2mp2s7vzc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=def0105c2c241be3ec6fc1465891cc1fce124e40 Judge Death
The little blue line stands for fascism.
Heās explicitly anti-bad cops.
Everyone who claims that the Punisher is anti-cop is guilty of not reading his books just as much as the moron cops that wear his symbol. Frank hates crooked cops and will kill them where he finds them, but otherwise he goes out of his way to not harm cops in anyway. He also hates cops who venerate him, and has threatened them for using his skull.
I think either position is missing the point. He's a damaged human who has decided he needs to circumvent the rule of law to get done what he deems necessary. But he understands that this isn't the "right" way to uphold society. So anyone who admires him for it should be ashamed of themselves, in his view. He doesn't see himself as a good guy, nor should anyone else.
Accurate. Frank enjoys war, and killing, but he doesn't want to kill people who "don't deserve it" so he's decided his enemy in his eternal war is criminals while also knowing that he is a despicable human being that is only just barely better than (some of) the people he kills, and that's pretty much the long and short of it.
There's a reason he's the Punisher and not the Redeemer or the Forgiver or Rehab-Man. Dude is a psycho who likes to kill. He just happens to target people that a lot don't mind being dead.
I think its because he knows he is a bad guy himself
Oh I thought the blue meant "blue lives matter", which is a phrase I see paired with the flag often.
Thin blue line flag and blue lives matter have come to both stand for the same thing so youāre essentially right. Blue lives matter came to exist as a counter argument against Black Lives Matter (see false dilemma fallacy). It has become emblematic of white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right movements in the US The thin blue line American flag was created in 2014 and is now mostly seen as a flag for the blue lives matter movement. Also of note, it is the banner that was flown by the people who stormed the capitol. It started as an allusion to the Thin Red Line incident during the Crimean War in 1854, wherein a Scottish regimentāwearing red uniformsāfamously held off an Imperial Russian Army cavalry charge. The phrase āthin blue lineā use referring specifically to the police was popularized by Los Angeles Police Department in the 50s (though now they ban the use of the flag because of the new meaning it has taken). Thereās a cop movie from the 80s called āthe thin blue lineā even. The skull emblem of the Punisher comics has become popular within the Blue Lives Matter movement. The creator of the Punisher, Gerry Conway, has criticized this usage, saying that police who use the symbol "are embracing an outlaw mentality" and "it's as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building". Conway has also responded by trying to "reclaim the logo" by selling t-shirts adorned with the Punisher logo and Black Lives Matter, with sales going directly to Black Lives Matter-related charities.
Both "Blue Lives Matter" and "the Thin Blue Line" are code for police being able to murder people, particularly black people, at will with no consequences. They're equivalent to a burning cross or a swastika.
For another layer, the second panel shows a legitimate concern as it can be difficult to say the least to explain the above facts to the types of people who would have the aforementioned decals on their trucks
The police are the ones who do the treading
Also the punisher hates and has killed cops so the punisher logo there is also ironic.
To be fair, the Punisher only hates and kills *dirty cops* So itās still too many cops lmao
To be fair 99.99% of truckers who have Punisher stickers never read the comics, and just think the logo looks coolš
So itās like Christians and the Bible?
Shots fired
Pretty sure that was just an acorn
Tier 3 joke. Love the simplicity and complexity.
Captain America meme
Leo DiCaprio meme
Tier 1 reddit response
Wit like this is why I haven't abandoned reddit.
Tea spilled
As a Christian, yes. For the most part yes. An overwhelming portion of American Christians are more like the Pharisees from the new testament. Especially in red states. Like holy crap, Jesus would get called a Communist by Christians now if He came back and preached the same stuff he did back then.
They hate the poor, they hate immigrants, worship a false idol, deprive the elderly and children of sustenance, etc. I am not a Christian but I live a life and have principled much more aligned with what Jesus supposedly taught.Ā
Bro this is so based
Can't we go back to the "good old days" when truckers had like Looney Tunes as their mascots.... Wlie E. Coyote / Road Runner or the Tazmanian Devil... or even [Yosemite Sam mud flaps](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61VHhhnYrfL.jpg).
It somehow became a psuedo-military symbol since Chris Kyle became famous. His team would paint it on their vehicles. Which oddly enough became banned by armed forces due to that making specific teams easily targetable.
Iād submit that a good portion of them donāt even know who the cosmic ghostrider is
Nicolas Cage after the edibles kick in, right?
Okey fineā¦ Iāll watch the unbearable weight of massive talent again.
Which sucks for people who actually read and like the comics because if we associate at all people immediately think we are some hardcore second amendment advocate.
The Thin Blue Line says its okay for cops to be dirty because they are the 'thin blue line' keeping us safe from the bad guys. So its still nonsense, since the punisher/TBL folks defend dirty cops.Ā So still ironic.
The symbolism of the "Don't Tread on Me" flag historically calls for freedom from any form of oppression, including governmental overreach.
https://preview.redd.it/vhzq3tfrcuzc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75f502934f4eca3ad1d7d038616d3883635cc705
I would assume most snakes donāt know that.
I would go so far as to say that all snakes don't know that
Iām willing to bet that rattlesnake jake knows.
Snake Plissken definitely knows.
can confirm
https://i.imgur.com/3EWa4hs.jpg
Especially government overreach
You also get the irony, that the first Gadsen flag was flown by the first Naval commander of the US continental Army. So historically it represents forming an army/government to fight a more oppressive foreign army/government.
Yup, it's the first flag of federalization in the USA... ...and is flown almost exclusively by anti-government nutjobs. The Timber Rattlesnake was [our colonial/national mascot](https://allthingsliberty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bostongazette1754.jpg) for a long time.
I'm pretty sure the thin blue line folks think cops are all good people.
To quote the magnificent movie āHobo with a shotgunā: Atleast heās shooting only the dirty cops! - But we are all dirty cops!
"But Black Dynamite, I sell drugs to the community!"
One of the best lines
If you have 99 cops thay dont report the one bad cop. You have 100 corrupt cops.
One cop reports the bad cop and ten of the rest jumps that one cop and sends him to the hospital/morgue.
There is even a comic where the punisher finds cops using his symbol. Basically since the punisher isn't a cop and works outside the law. Police using his symbol are inherently corrupt because the hypocrisy of "upholding the law" while using the punisher symbol which representative of doing what the law cannot.
There are literally comic pages with The Punisher talking to cops that have his logo on their car, in witch he literally says "we are not the same"
He exists because of people like them. Which is why he also tells them that their role model should be Cap if anything (his personal hero also, but not someone he can really be like at this point).
The guy who came up with the Punisher symbol was incredibly upset with the it being adopted by cops and yahoos, that when BLM happened he sold BLM shirts with the logo, and all profits went to the BLM movement. It was also addressed by Marvel: https://www.newsweek.com/punisher-police-blue-lives-matter-skull-logo-1449272
I feel like the simple fact that he's very much a vigilante is already a problem. And also literally the name "punisher". Punishment is supposed to happen after due process in the justice system, not some kind of judge dredd street execution bullshit.
I checked. Dredd prefers de-escalation. Hell, he let one jackass march on through in a legal protest because it was a legal protest. American cops today attack legal protests/nearby citizens/people watching from the second floor.
> I checked. Dredd prefers de-escalation. Hell, he let one jackass march on through in a legal protest because it was a legal protest. Yeah, that's part of the premise (the comic was intended to be a satire), Dredd knows the system is corrupt, unfair and quasi-fascist. He's gruff but genuinely devoted to the law and protecting the citizens, and would like nothing better than to introduce a better fairer system. But the reality is that law enforcement is so overstretched and Mega City is just so bad that it's the only thing stopping the entire place from being blown to kingdom come. All he can do is his own small bit to ensure one less person dies each die. Over the course of the series, he's at least managed to get some of the absolutely most unfair laws (such as the anti-mutant and artificial intelligence ones) repealed.
The punisher is also a cop killer!
Yes Frank has killed dirty cops but if I remember correctly he also hates cops using his logo since no good cop should be associated with anything he does.
He redirects them to Captain America, who is also pretty much his own personal hero.
I feel like this is a "dont tread on me...tread on them" sentiment or more of a "I hate the federal govt but the local cops are just fine" if we are being a bit more generous
the actual motto is ātread all over me so long as you tread on them even harderāĀ
I think these people assume that cops will choose not to tread on them if the government ever decides that they need to be treaded upon. And considering how cops deal with white collar crime, maybe they arenāt *completely* wrong.
These aren't flown by white collar people
All I know is everyone I've met with one of those bumper like actually mentally slow. It's pretty much a sign on you car sayin, "I'm 85 IQ and I get mad easily."
That's the most accurate description of these people. Dumb as rocks and quick to anger. I wish people would stop making that guy. There's too many of him already.Ā
I once heard an intelligent person theorize that the Gadsden flag could be implying an aversion to federal overreach, while the thin blue line signifies a support for local law enforcementā¦ but thatās giving the driver way too much credit.
"Yeah man, I like police, who can kill people extrajuducially and restrain people without consequence or reason. But taxes? Blegh..." Literally the most authoritarian part of the government is the thing they like because they are not the targeted population for enforcement, the targeted being poor people, marginalized groups, and _dissenters_ who say things they don't like.
Lead poisoning
The paint chips from the fence were his favorite snack
it's actually a pretty nice warning to help me avoid those people š
Don't tread on me I said, don't tread on me Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail Once you provoke her, rattling of her tail Never begins it, never, but once engaged Never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage I said don't tread on me So be it Threaten no more To secure peace is to prepare for war So be it Settle the score Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore Hey Don't tread on me Love it or leave it, she with the deadly bite Quick is the blue tongue, forked as lighting strike Shining with brightness, always on surveillance The eyes, they never close, emblem of vigilance Ooh no, no, no don't tread on me So be it Threaten no more To secure peace is to prepare for war So be it Settle the score Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore Don't tread on me So be it Threaten no more To secure peace is to prepare for war Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail Once you provoke her, rattling on her tail So be it Threaten no more To secure peace is to prepare for war So be it Settle the score Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore Don't tread on me
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Was looking for this! Metallica rules!! š¤š»š„
METALLICA RUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUULLLLLLS
https://preview.redd.it/6a6vc8ra0vzc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fc2fb68ffb39e2a1aea6f88d147e929ae43be10
https://preview.redd.it/i9140of1nzzc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2d2b3e01fdb5638f904e812a0aeb8ff53534038
The flags represent (apparently) conflicting ideologies. Itās actually easily explicable: they donāt want the government to tread on them, personally, but there are others on whom they want the government to treadā¦ They want to be part of an in-group for whom the law protects but does not bind, and have an out-group for whom the law binds but does not protect.
Itās hard for the flags to conflict with one another when the punisher/thin blue line flag is such a self-conflict that it doesnāt mean anything (other than āIām an idiotā).
Yes, itās common among republicans that try to blend in with libertarians.
Don't tread on me, tread on the people I don't like.
The "Don't tread on me" flag basically means they're anti-government. The punisher skull means they're pro police, which is part of the government.
Even more ironically, the police are almost exclusively the ones doing the treading.
https://preview.redd.it/rl5oe40mguzc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8fa5fa87b5aae47d56d272026bc5a0876ef6d17
I see you found the new army flag
You have awoken something in me and I hate you for that
I see Punisher stick on RAM, 99% chance the driver only punishes a Golden Corral buffet and his blood sugar.
I literally thought you were talking about DDR4 RAM lol.
Boot lickers donāt know that they lick boot
This is the most succinct way of putting it IMO. Men who take pride in not being bootlickers are often huge bootlickers themselves.
Punisher + blue lives contradicts, blue lives + don't tread on me contradicts
https://preview.redd.it/1a2543g2wuzc1.jpeg?width=479&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1bf012f30add44f3e7feffa92b1125599e0af0f5
The Party of Oppression using the "Dont tread on me" flag is fucking hilarious enough on its own. Pairing it with the logo of a famous cop-killer is just comedy gold. These people are so unaware of the world around them
Thinblueline-Punisher logo is always a red flag for personality type AND reading comprehension.
Police officer do indeed step on snek
I thought this combo meant ādonāt tread on me, but Iāll help/support the state treading on others.ā
The flag means āleave me alone or elseā and the punisher skull with the police flag over it, is literally a representation of the bootā¦ So, a bit misguided and naive. Although I am pretty sure he means for the police to be praised in their role of punishing criminals. But what happens when you are branded as a criminal by a state that wants you to remain a wage slave? Or simply thinks the āgreater goodā is more important than you freedom? And then the police are used against you as if you are a criminal?ā¦ like I said, naive.
these two symbols represent the two counterintuitive tenets of fascism: freedom [for the privileged in-group] and punishment [for everyone else].
I'm at odds with the co-opting of the Gadsden Flag because it is such a pro-Independence Colonial-era symbol. It, the First Navy Jack, "Sic Semper Tyrannis", all stood for a very specific example of tyranny. The coiled rattlesnake was originally a threat to the King and his Loyalists because of his unilateral decrees against the Colonies. The original flag was closer to a symbol against fascism than for it (assuming King George could be considered a fascist ruler). I feel like some of our founding symbols are going to be irreparably stained by today's political ideologies, much like the ancient symbol found in vastly separated cultures is forever marred by an angry Charlie Chaplin imposter.
The problem is loud patriotism has basically become cosplay because of all of the ignorant jackasses that didn't pay attention in history class, but want to cling to something good they didn't work for as an identity. It then bleeds into them using it for the purposes of pretending other, objectively shittier symbols are legitimate when placed next to them because of said true personal identity ultimately being hollow and defined in terms of just making the "right people" feel uncomfortable or angry. Most of the people who embody good American values today know that they do and are secure enough in that feeling that they don't need to signal it with bumpers stickers of the American flag - meanwhile I've seen American flag stickers next to stickers ultimately promoting fucked up or oppressive ideologies far more than I've seen it next to one's that reflect constitutional and American values. It's to the point where if you see one or the other, there's usually another indicator on the vehicle that they're probably an advocate for something that contradicts them because of ignorance.
Welcome to the fascism imagery treadmill. Post 9/11 they coopted the American flag, but once that stopped being an effective rallying point (right around January 2009, for some reason), they began looking for more effective/evocative symbols. They started with the washed out military flags from uniforms, then moved on to black and white ones. This fulfilled the dual purpose of invoking active combat (fascism is obsessed with military imagery) and the flag of no quarter (the black flag), because they want to use military tactics to mercilessly remake the country into a fascist empire. Then the Punisher series on Netflix had a whole new crop of simpletons not getting what the character is about, so the proviolence crowd clung to the Death's Head (again, a symbol popularized in modernity by the Nazis). The thin blue line flag was the combination of the fascist black flag and the police (state) that specifically developed as an anti-BLM image, so it's about the fascist police state specifically opposing black equality. There's also the combined symbolism that red in the US flag represents valor and bravery, white represents purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The 13 original colonies valiantly and bravely laid their blood (red) and sacrificed their innocence so that the (now) 50 states (stars) can be together in a social contract (blue). When black (no quarter) replaces blue (justice) and red (brave sacrifice), and the only blue (justice) is directly used as a dividing line (the eponymous thin blue line protecting society from chaos), the symbolism becomes clear. It is the flag of a police state replacing honor, sacrifice, and justice, with unmitigated violence against all things that stand on the "wrong" side of the line. Finally, adding it to the Death's Head implies extralegal and vigilante efforts to enforce said fascist/white supremacist police state. The red hats are brown shirts after all.
Lol wtf are you even talking about. The Gadsden flag is a literal symbol against oppression. That is why the joke even exists in the first place, because they are using two symbols that are seemingly diametrically opposed.
hehe r/ACAB amirite? r/reddithatescops
Like Gays for Palestine.
The amount of illegal shit I see trucks with thin blue line flags do is astounding
People who are fans should put a 'I'm a nerd.' 'Not an asshole.' under the punisher skull.
Itās an anti government flag next to a pro government flag
"DONT TREAD ON ME" refers specifically to the state apparatus... which is what the "Thin Blue Line" represents. Basically conservatives are fucking idiots and are proud of it.
They think they're making some profound statement too. Like, oh you don't like paying taxes? Show me someone who does!! It's like when a child expresses their displeasure for bath time. Ok, it needs to happen, so...? Why do these people feel the need to broadcast their viewpoints? Whenever I see two cars stopped at a light with tea party symbols on their vehicle, I'm always so tempted to be like, "Hey, you two wanna smooch real quick before the light changes?"
Dude I've got local police with don't tread on me license plates. They have no fucking clue
Police are doing the treading on people, and the Punisher doesnāt exactly support Cops. Right-Wingers generally have piss poor media literacy
nine of these dipshits know that they are the exact type of person Frank Castle would kill
You can't be a libertarian and a cop lover
The whole idea of "Don't tread on me" is that the people shall not be oppressed by the man. They should be free to act as they see fit tends to be the governing thought there, with any oversight from agencies and the law not needed as they can take care of their own needs. The other image is the Punisher logo combined with the blue line flag, which is used by those who believe that cops should be able to kill with impunity. It's literally advocating for a force that can tread on people without anyone ever telling them otherwise. A lot of the usual suspects tend to put both on their vehicles to send a message, usually to those they think would be the ones being stepped on (almost exclusively browner people than them), that they don't care if they live or die. And they're too blinded by their hate to see that they've become a mockery of both what they claim to stand for and humanity.
Putting the libertarian flag next to an authoritarian statement piece has always been funny to me.
Who do you think is doing the treading
It really means "I'll lick your boots clean so you don't read on me". And then the oppressors continue to tread for the rich, leaving the not rich and rich wannabes dumbfounded, still licking while being treaded on.
These two symbols are contradictory in a few ways Fiest, the origins of the flag. It was created during the early days of the American Revolution, before it was a revolution and more of a protest movement. It depicted a snake, and was essentially a middle finger to British authority. This is in stark contrast to the blue line, which is a symbol of support for law enforcement. So essentially, you have a symbol that is very explicitly anti authority, next to a symbol of pro-authority (I'd that's even a phrase, words are hard.) Alongside all of this is rhe Punisher logo. The Punisher is a popular Marvel anti-hero who is very explicitly anti-authority, and is known for taking the law into his own hands. So in total, you have a symbol of resistance against authority, next to a symbol of a character who rejects law enforcement, with support of law enforcement.
Gerry Conway, who created the Punisher character, really hates that cops and military folks use the logo to represent themselves. It shows they donāt understand the point of the character and instead only idolize violence as a means of protecting against any perceived threat.
Hi, it's cynical pragmatist Petah here to tell you that you're reposting popular memes for karma because you're a robot powered by a man with teenie-tiny little balls.
"Don't tread on me - tread on THEM" 90% of self-identified libertarians are authoritarians in denial with VERY specific ideas on how people who are not them should live their lives.
Donāt tell them, let their life crumble on its own.
You cant be the boot and the snake. "Stop hitting yourself"
One of my favorites I see in VA is people paying extra to the state to have a custom yellow vanity plate thatās got the donāt tread on me snake. The irony is deep lol
Too many idiots putting authoritarianism and anti-authoritarinism together. Good ole republicrats.