Many American conservatives – authentic conservatives at any rate – are familiar with this creative adaptation for the samizdat spread of information – i.e., putting up signs on overpass fences along main arteries in order to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise know the sentiments on display. In this case, despite the consensus among the talking heads in government, media, and academe the subject of Benghazi is still very much alive.
In a ‘free’ country this wily work-around shouldn’t be necessary, but such methods are increasingly crucial as the normal means of public communication become unavailable to dissidents on the right.
For Europeans who may find this medium a bit strange, bear in mind the effects of geography on politics. This ploy- and others like it – is definitely a geopolitical necessity in a huge country like the continental United States. While one man with a megaphone quoting Churchill can make a difference in a small island country like England, his voice would be lost in the rush of traffic here.
Those being silenced seek ways around the gatekeepers who control the portals to media and academia. The overpasses, being ubiquitous crossing points along our massive interlocking roadways, present endless possibilities for speaking out against the endless corruption. Thus, this recent display on Route 50 in Kent, Maryland:
[Read the comments, too]
The “overpass media” will no doubt be able sometimes to procure official permits from one part of local government to display their signage (for a fee) only to be closed down by some other arm with their own set of regulations.
That’s why this emerging medium probably won’t last long. If those displaying the signs in the video got permission from the county, that doesn’t mean DoT – the Department of Transportation – can’t rescind the permit. And vice versa. So for a while it will be hit-and-run messaging until the courts get involved, either as a criminal case or a civil rights issue or both. Given that our courts love to be the final arbiters of what is allowed, the lawyers will be busy for a long time. In other words, anyone devoted to the Overpass Media will have to possess deep pockets to keep it alive.
“Free” speech may be dead, but the impulse is still lively and spirited. Those who cherish its ideal will keep on finding new ways to get their message out to their fellow citizens.
Hat Tip: The Blue Ridge Forum
That highway inspector had more excuses for his ‘official’ stance than an honest person would care to admit to. Anyone driving into any town of note or city today along the motorways, expressways and freeways, are bound to be visually assaulted by the multitude of signs that are in place and in my opinion, are a huge distraction to the driver. Where simple and more scarce signage used to suffice in directing the motorist or advising them on problems ahead, there is now so many signs on roads leading into high population areas that it is not possible to take them all in while travelling at 110 kph or higher.
Many of them therefore can be considered a dangerous distraction that takes the concentration away from the driver who needs to be concentrating on driving a fast moving vehicle.
Also, of all the vehicles travelling under that overpass I wonder how many drivers actually noticed the banner let alone bothered to read it?
Nemesis–
That’s an infamous road and a darned good choice for the signs.
If you look east, you’ll see Rt 301 combine with Route 50 to cross through Chester on Kent Island. From there they both become the Bay Bridge:
http://www.baybridge.maryland.gov/News_Center/Bay_Bridge_Traffic_Advisories
It’s infamous because of the traffic slowdowns, gridlock, etc. People would welcome a sign during those moments…give them something to talk about besides the fact that they’re stuck, trying to get home.
The fellow in the video said he was getting good feedback…in one case, from a relative of one of the men killed at Benghazi who feels the tragedy is being ignored.
Finally, something that you can see for a very long way off before you get to it – because that countryside is so very very flat – is hardly a “dangerous distraction”. The fellow in the video pointed to some signage off camera that the fellow from the government didn’t find offensive.
I would never willingly ride through there again, though I understand why others do so with great enthusiasm. To each her own.
I know one thing for sure: if there is a hell, it will look a lot like Route 50 in Kent on a broilingly humid July Sunday afternoon when there’s been an accident ahead on the Bay Bridge and my car’s air-conditioning just conked out while the right front tire is making whacka-whacka noises and the kids in the back seat are sunburned & hungry & regressing…Nor will there be any signs to distract me. Not even one. I will be praying to move forward just enough to reach the “shade” of that overpass.
I assure you: signs on overpasses aren’t a distraction/danger to the drivers below or to the drivers on the overpass itself. Signs proclaiming “JESUS SAVES” can cause a momentarily unhealthy rise in drivers’ blood pressure, though.
I sure wish the Burma Shave signs would return.
Gee! That’s a lot of maintenance/routine inspection downtime on that bridge! What gives with that one? Oh, and not forgetting it is your Toll/Tax dollars at work as well. Gotta hand it to ’em, they know how to rub it in.
Dymphna, that was a great retort to my less than encouraging view on road signs. Grin.
As far as I can determine the grip of the statist establishment (both Democrats and Republicans and possibly even more smothering, Academia, Hollywood and the Main Stream Media) is so tight and so everywhere-all-the-time that resistance is futile. I know this is defeatist and I apologize. But I have become convinced that only a massive economic implosion, horrible as that will be, stands a chance of creating conditions of such severe societal stress that the United States as presently constituted will fracture and fall. Possibly, not a sure thing by a long shot, just possibly one of the inheritor states that emerge from the ashes will be a republic. Barring such an implosion I see nothing ahead but the walls closing in on those of us, overwhelmingly white, who hold liberty dear.
While there is life there is hope. Don’t throw in the towel just yet ricip. Try to ride out what is inevitably coming by knowing what you do will also give you an advantage in planning ahead where others are still oblivious.
Forewarned is forearmed!
The sign impedes traffic! If it were an ad for sex or against Russia, it would not impede the traffic. NATO on behalf of The “free world” is creating a bone of contention to 1. Forget about Benghazi 2. Distract the people from focusing on the immediate, deadly danger of EU being invaded by the descendants of those who besieged Vienna. Except this time every EU capital and big city is under semi-siege for now.
“Remember Benghazi” sign was torn down by the same government who claims that it loves freedom for its citizens and also for other “oppressed” countries. Are American people not oppressed. If people are allowed to commit every vice and break the Ten Commandments, that ‘s no freedom. And if an 8 year old insults his/her teacher gratuitously, that ‘s no freedom. Freedom is to bring down the hammer of justice on any official who betrays his/ own citizens and does not care about their lives but goes and sits in a courtroom in Egypt to make sure that Muslim Brotherhood members are not treated harshly. Unconscionable liars. Passionately Perverted minds. Inanimate Words of the constitution are not enough to protect us. Somebody has to translate them to action against the perpetrator.
Off topic BUT I think that the media is ignoring so much of what is really going on that I think they got beyonce’s sister to kick JZ to get attention off anything important because we just cannot have the low info voters ever getting “wind” of ANYTHING really important about this criminal regime in DC.
ON that note about the MSM NOT covering IMPORTANT INFO about AMERICA’s criminal class which is the obummer administration, let me add that Joe Biden’s son has just gotten a spot of the
board of Ukraine’s biggest gas company along with a fellow named Devon who has VERY close ties to John Kerry’s wife’s family.
That gas company has extensive holding in the region of Donetsk which is rebelling against the “new” Kiev govt…and therefore Joe Biden and his pals in DC.
Committing every vice and breaking the Ten Commandments is freedom, Murad, which is why we need secular laws to protect the innocent.
Why would God have given us (at least the illusion of) free will if we were not to be free to exercise it? There is no virtue in being “good” if one has no alternative, as in a theocracy such as the Islamic Caliphate, which we should all agree is a bad idea.
In 1776, our revolution was started by our forefathers while many were still loyal to the King of England. They repeatedly expressed disdain for the bureaucrats who wielded their powers without any understanding of the consequences to the people. We just saw an example of some self-important official undermining an expressed constitutional right. The irony is that we are paying his salary. All these bureaucrats need to understand that pay-backs are hell. There is very little in the Constitution supporting their worthless jobs.
Hit and run baby…hit and run!!
PUT on your gloves and Put them on at night and run like crazy…make out of cheap muslin … and NO matter if they day or 2 hours or even days…. JUST DO IT and be like the little “guy ” in the old wizard of Id…. he would yell, ” THE KING IS A FINK” and run and hide!
The king, the govt will be incensed!! GOOD!
This should be the start of the revolution… signs that can come down…NOT graffiti( they will get ya on that UNLESS you are a Mexican tagger painting on PUBLIC or private buildings.
Hey, I think I will make a sign and get my friends to put it on an over pass here….
It is practically the same here in the UK.
I use the words of a Scottish poet, the poem is called ‘Ode to a mouse being turned out of a field’, the last two verses reads:-
But mouse you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be in vain,
The best laid schemes of mice and men,
Go oft astray,
And leave us nought but grief and pain ,
For promised joy.
Still thou art blessed, compared with me,
The present only touches thee,
But oh I backward cast my eye,
On prospects drear,
And forward though I cannot see,
I guess and fear.
From ‘Ode to a mouse
by Robert Burns
Yes I do guess and fear not for myself I am too old but for my grandchildren.
Dymphna,
Dymphna, Please pardon my Burp!!
The Baron’s parting note about his provisions, followed by the discussion of the possible infringement of our Second Amendment rights, gave me an idea about what we might have to do to replace firearms. And that would be Haggis! When properly prepared haggis can be a very effective weapon of self-defense when consumed at least eight hours prior to an attack. While this is well known, how many of us have thought of haggis as a medium-range weapon when launched by a catapult or even a sling. Don’t be sucked into believing the namby-pampy recipes involving the boiling of the freshly stuffed sheep-gut followed immediately by its consumption! REAL haggis has to be buried two or three days and THEN boiled and consumed. And then delivered to the target…,say, the House of Representatives. But it can also be delivered by other methods, such as by hanging it from a highway overpass, such as the one shown in the US Route 50/301 video. The major limitation that I can see is the lack of sheep in the state of Virginia. (But I happen to know the whereabouts of a large flock of sheep just Northeast of here. Right around the intersection of Routes 29/I95/and 666.)
Rte 666? Very clever…Pour moi, a trip into the Belly of the Beast solely using Rt 29 (one of Virginia’s many ancient Indian trails) would be a nightmare.
Even after all these years, the fact that the iconic American road Route 66 has morphed into the nightmare freeway into Washington. When the Baron *has to* travel there, he makes his plans to avoid the commuter horror, even if it means going up there the night before to avoid the mess.
Not a U.S. citizen, but this is should be brought to the attention of the Fox News Network, especially Bill Oreilly He wants to know the truth about Benghazi and is a stalwart defender of your 2nd Amendment. Good luck and best wishes.
The guy is obviously a traffic engineer. Here in Virginia I had to battle his ilk to get Amber Alerts put of the variable message signs. I finally had to go directly to the Commissioner to overrule them They learn that stuff in Traffic Engineering schools. Don’t attribute to malice what is simply bureaucratic stupidity. Their work motto–as nearly as I could determine–was “Speed kills”.
I thought the official came over as way too aggressive. What was his problem? He could have said what he needed to say and taken whatever action he needed to take, by way of his legal responsibilities, but there really was no need for his in-your-face stance. The protester did well to keep his cool. Here in England that government man might very well have found himself with a swollen nose.
Overpass Media – sounds honest and upfront in comparison to alternative or underground media.
The Maryland State Highway Administration is so corrupt that they used public taxpayers to design, build, install and maintain a sign advertising a private casino. http://elkridge.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/state-highway-administration-nudges-casino-officials-01d9b51cb3
A private casino full of vice that financially and morally bankrupts the residents of the state, producing a dependency class for the state to “care” over, justifying new public programs and public employees (and thus forced public union dues and thus Democrat political cash) for the state. And to think they promised most of the profits would be reinvested in schools. They’ve missed their early wild revenue expectations and gave less than 25% to schools.
Proper link: http://elkridge.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/elkridge-casino-sign-sha
And this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/maryland-casino-vies-for-lighted-sign-visible-from-highway-to-attract-gamblers/2011/10/02/gIQAy04AGL_story.html
A municipality changing its public safety laws to promote the casino.
Although I will acknowledge that such signs may slow traffic. Consider a official state sign on 495 that was installed to alert drivers of serious, breaking traffic news. It’s now commonly used to display seatbelt reminders, cell phone reminders, smoke alarm reminders, amber alerts, silver alerts, blue alerts, etc. The traffic slows down 20mph through that zone causing a back-up. Speed picks up almost immediately after the sign.
No true Scotsman disagrees with any of this.