Self-described "blue dot" Robyn Ball sends this pic from Texas A&M last week, near Academic Plaza. Either the Texas Aggie Conservatives are all for gun control, or they're helping define "ironic." (We love seeing politics where you live. Now you can send us stuff through MSNBC or our Facebook page.)
Adding: Commenter @nmcvaugh points out that "Come and take it" is an old slogan, used among other times in the Texas Revolution against Mexico, when the Texans refused to give back a cannon they'd gotten from Mexico.
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Laura,
Neither actually, it's a play on a bit of Texas history. See this for details about "come and take it":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_take_it
That's a great addition, @nmcvaugh. I knew the sign was popular, but I didn't know the slogan's history.
I didn't either until I moved here. I haven't seen the assault rifle version before, but the cannon design and slogan are very popular with the Tea Party crowd in the state.
I think it was addressed to the Mexican government under Santa Ana. You know: remember the Alamo.
The Texans revolted against Mexico, and after a short stretch as an independent Republic, I think it was ten years, they joined the U.S. It was better for business and more protections for civil liberties under the Constitution.
Common aggie joke in Texas: How many aggies does it take to change a light bulb? Two, one to hold the bulb and one to turn the ladder.
(I was born and raised in Texas and lived there for most of my life. I now live in Colorado and do not miss Texas a bit.)
Those in the Gun Cult probably don't realize it, but when the do this sort of thing they are working on a self-fulfilling prophecy.
C'mon, they're Aggies, f'r chrissake! What do you expect? They've been putting the "stupid" in Texas since they were founded.
As somebody who moved to Texas and didn't go to school here, I fully expected that all the Aggie jokes were just the usual school rivalry. Then I actually took a trip to A&M. And discovered that the jokes were funny because they're true.
Did you hear about the Aggie who backed off the bus when he heard that someone was going to take his seat when he got off?
Why don't Aggies use 911 in an emergency? Because they can't find "eleven" on the phone dial.
Did you hear about the Aggie who was tap dancing? He broke his ankle when he fell into the sink.
Why did the Aggie stay up all night studying? He had a urine test the next day.
How do you know the person who invented the toothbrush must have been an Aggie? Because anyone else would have named it TEETHbrush.
How can you tell when an Aggie sends you a fax? It has a stamp on it.
Why did the Aggie get so excited after he finished his jigsaw puzzle in only 6 months? Because on the box it said From 2-4 years.
What is the Aggie doing when he holds his hands tightly over his ears? Trying to hold on to a thought.
Did you hear about the Aggie who robbed a bank? He tied up the safe and blew up the guard.
Why did the Aggie stare at a frozen orange juice can for over an hour? Because it said 'concentrate'.
Why was the Aggie two hours late getting home? The escalator got stuck.
How many Aggies does it take to make chocolate chip cookies? 100 - one to stir and 99 to peel the M&M's.
How do you keep an Aggie busy? Write 'Please turn over' on both sides of a piece of paper.
How many Aggies does it take to eat an armadillo? Three. One to do the eating, and two to watch for cars.
How can you tell an Aggie is on location at a drilling rig? He's the one throwing bread to the helicopters.
How do you confuse an Aggie? Give him a pack of M&M's and tell him to put them in alphabetical order.
An Aggie ordered a pizza and the clerk asked if he should cut it in six or twelve pieces. "Six, please," said the Aggie. "I could never eat twelve pieces."
How can you tell when an Aggie has used your computer? There's "White-Out" all over the screen.
Ba-da-BOOM! We're here all week, folks - try the veal.
At least they're not Longhorns! Gig 'em Aggies!!!! WooHoo!!!
The above message was brought to you by the Texas State Intra-mural Friendly Competition Society, Northern Nevada chapter.
Yep, that's some responsible gun ownership right there, by gum.
When I see that gun, the picture that comes to mind is that of Sadam Hussein in the street surrounded by thousands holding up those guns and jumping for joy. Men, women, children... very scary.
What? Hey, that can't be right! Don't tyrants take away guns?
Yup, thanks for the info on the slogan. I'm taking a break from writing and had these thoughts on the Texas history of taking: The way I remember it, the Spanish took it from the Native Americans, then the Mexicans took it from the Spanish, (around the time they'd taken Mexico back from the French?), then the Texans/Texicans took it from Mexico, wanted to keep it to themselves, but went into the Union grudgingly, and so their independence wasn't completely taken, their state laws were written in Texas-speak, which means it was close to making sense, but not quite ... or something like that. They took a lot of liberties. Whew, now I can go back to the screenplay.
I do not think they entered the Union grudgingly; I think the Union accepted them grudgingly. It has been a good 60 years since I studied Texas history. I think they applied several times before Pres. Polk persuaded the Congress to admit them.
Ah, thanks for the correction. I enjoy history, but knew I had some facts issues.
I am a proud graduate from A&M.
It is an excellent university and sits near the top of the Washington Monthly's College Guide rankings.
Is it conservative: Yes!
Are there uninformed, reactionary conservatives on campus: Sure!
Are there many smart, thoughtful people (liberal, conservative and everything in between) on campus and in the community? Very much so.
I spent 20 years in this community (I don't live there anymore) and as an outspoken liberal, vegan, hippie, marriage equality advocate, etc., etc., I was never met without a derisive word (outside of a well-meaning joke now and then).
There is really no need for commenters to disparage an entire university (and again, all-in-all it's a good one), because one group on campus put up a sign they don't like.
Gig 'em!
Umm... If what you say is literally true, then you were CONSTANTLY derided... "never met without" being a double-negative, it means the same as "always met with"...
What was that about Aggies, again?...
What? English is not a negative concord language? All of those Aggie English classes seem so useless now...
I'm sure I missed a comma too. To be fair, I would ascribe this to my failure to proofread, rather than to my Aggie education. (Besides, I'd blame my non-Aggie post-graduate schooling for such deficiencies.)
For now though, I'll say touche David... touche.
(What's up with your comma splicing though?)
There were "good people" in Germany and Japan in the 1930s and 1940s. A lot of good they did.
Luke,
As I said, I figured it was all the usual school rivalry. Then we took a bunch of grad students over to College Station for a research get-together with our Aggie equivalents. They were great. The town and undergrads were truly scary - I had culture shock:
No indoor smoking ban? I don't know if this is for all buildings in College Station, but smoking indoors was definitely normal.
Everyone at your table must present ID each time you buy a beer? And you can only buy one at a time? And you have to leave the table to buy one and return empty handed to buy another one? I've lived in Utah and seen plenty of strange liquor laws, but this was a new one. Dixie Chicken is where I'm talking about, BTW.
Only place I've been publicly flipped off because I was visiting a school and didn't go there. Not exactly hospitable, those Aggies I ran into. Definitely left me not wanting to have anything to do with A&M ever again.
All that said, the A&M veterinarians are top-notch. None better that I've ever worked with.
Nate
Nate,
There's been a smoking ban in restaurants and bars for several years now (though there is not one in Bryan, the "sister city"). There are still quite a few towns around Texas that don't have full smoking bans. From what I remember, there were only a few years that Austin had bans in bars/restaurants that College Station didn't.
Most outdoor areas on campus are now smoke-free as well.
As far as the stringent beer regulations, this was due to some bars (like the Chicken) cracking down due to fines and problems they had with underage drinking. In other words, not long before you came it was easy for someone underage to drink in that very place.
It's pretty normal and moderated now.
Sorry that you didn't have a good experience (I won't defend someone flipping you off for no good reason), but I wouldn't expect you'd be treated badly again if you returned.
Thanks for a thoughtful response.
In nearly every state the has more than one Major College university, there is an "Agricultural & Mechanical" school which generally started out teaching the more vocational sciences. There is definitely a place for that type of higher learning. We can't all be edumacated lawyers, bankers and politicians...Look where those dumb-asses have gotten us.
Thanks Luke - sounds like I was just in the wrong places at the wrong times. It might have been Bryan - I'm not very familiar with the area outside the Hill Country. The grad students we went to work with were top-notch. And I'm very serious about the vets. Ya'll put out some damn fine doctors who can handle multiple species (including wildlife). Now the maroon Bluebonnet? There's something to argue about. ;-)
"What?Me crazy?"
Horror, the government has failed to act as the NRA claimed they would...again.
As this shows us,it ain't guns that are the problem it is the nutcases that own them that are the real problem.
I guess that when the President was informed about this sign, he rapidly changed his mind about confiscation. Whew, saved by a Texican!
How ironic: an "informational meeting" about something that doesn't exist.
But I digress, maybe that was the point. They were going to get a room full of paranoid idiots and explain to them that no one is coming for their guns.
"Come, Take!" is the "Molon Labe" of the Battle of Thermopylae, 300 B.C., and is a very respectable motto for very brave people, but any idiot can use it too unfortunately!
Obama won't "come and take it" because he doesn't have the kahoonahs to do such a thing.
But I do.
FuturePrisoner: Just a couple of threads ago you were harping about the bully Obama. Which one is it? You can't be a fraidy cat bully...
Dontcha know? ALL bullies are fraidycats with persecution complexes who think everyone else is the bully.
And are Ten Feet Tall and Bullet-proof on the internet!!
No need to be bulletproof when you're invisible without a specific physical location. Bullets cannot harm virtual people.
All you need to know about the Texas Aggie Conservatives is this: Louie Gohmert and Rick Perry are Texas Aggies.
Texas, go ahead a secede already. Keep your little guns.
Oy. Idiots. Armed resistance against what? Background checks? If the federal government decided to "come and take it" they would leave this idiot and companions nothing but a greasy spot on the sidewalk and then go eat their lunch at the nearest Subway.
Peace through superior firepower ooh!! rah!!!.
I don't know? If they've been ineffective in Vietnam, Iraq and Afganistan...Why would it work here?
If the Government refuses to persecute you, well, then you have to pretend that they do.
Otherwise, you will lose your base or something.
Just a sec. Be right there. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=331236660318675&set=a.110887119020298.17173.109161759192834&type=1&theater
no matter the reasons texans are mostly dicks. and i should know because i'm from houston.
To the almighty Texas Aggie Conservatives:
NOBODY'S TRYING TO TAKE YOUR STUPID GUNS!
Ya know what is funny ? Not one politician, the Pres, VP, or senators or governors have mentioned personal responsibility and accountability on the issue of "gun violence". Senator Feinsteins "new" rules even fail to mention this. Why not have harsher "gun violence" laws such as - you committ a crime with a firearm(and are convicted) minimum mandatory 10 year sentence in a FEDERAL prison, no plea bargins, no pleas of "temporary insanity" or insanity or mentally unstable. You commit murder with a firearm and you will be executed, again no plea bargins.
I'm with you Wyatt-Erp. That alone will create more gun control than any law the overlords could write.
Own a gun and use it in a Fit-of-Passion or anger -- Too bad for you
Own a gun and a kid accidentally hurts someone with it -- Too bad for you
Own a gun and it gets stolen and recovered at a crime-scene -- Too bad
Might think twice about buying a gun...
I'm all for harsh penalties. You have made no mention about the people that are on a suicide mission and have no thought of prison time.
Akin to bush's "Bring em on"
Several U.S. gun smugglers arrested coming into Windsor across the border!
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/01/28/several-gun-smugglers-arrested-on-their-way-into-windsor/?fb_comment_id=fbc_131222050377625_173228_131370683696095#f1d597e6bc
It's just more proof of how Republicans are such dinosaurs. Even their irony is outdated. Back when they used this slogan, Mexicans actually had to come over and physically try to take it--as in invade, infiltrate, and take.
Someone needs to tell them that policy is what's actually going to be used for gun control, and that gun control doesn't actually mean the taking of guns. Obama isn't coming for anything, actually or figuratively.
The following is compiled from history books listed at the end of this article. If you research the matter yourself, keep in mind that various sources conflict in several details. In this compilation, I try to include information from each source to form an account that is both detailed and interesting.
THE GROWING TYRANNY
Under the leadership of General Santa Anna, the government of Mexico was transformed into a military dictatorship (see the letter by S.F. Austin, p. 85, Texas and the Texans), ignoring the Constitution of 1824, which had cost many lives and had secured liberties not previously enjoyed by the people. The state of Coahuila did not cooperate with Santa Anna's plans, and the state of Zacatecas rebelled, but was brutally crushed by the military. One of Santa Anna's "reforms" was to reduce the number of the militia to one soldier for every five-hundred inhabitants, and to disarm the remainder. This arbitrary decree was a sufficient justification of Texas for her subsequent acts. Every one who knows the Texans, or who has heard of them, would naturally conclude that they never would submit to be disarmed. Any government that would attempt to disarm its people is despotic; and any people that would submit to it deserves to be slaves!
Stephen F. Austin was jailed in Mexico City, accused of fomenting revolution. In early 1835 Santa Anna reopened the Customs House at Anahuac. He again slapped duties on the colonists. He sent a new man, Captain Antonio Tenorio, to Anahuac to see that the Texans paid up.
The local legislature at Monclova was gone--closed down by Santa Anna after it tried to raise money by selling four hundred leagues of Texas land to hungry U.S. speculators. Most Texans were opposed to this step too--and no one liked being governed from Monclova--but Santa Anna's solution left them even worse off. They now had no government at all, and their representatives were under arrest.
Along the coast Mexican garrisons stepped up their campaign to stop smuggling and collect customs duties. At Galveston they seized the Texas schooner Martha, loaded with supplies for the colonists. A message taken from a careless Mexican courier hinted that even more troops were on the way. Angrily the settlers burned some lumber ordered by Captain Tenorio at Anahuac.
SOME TAKE ACTION, BUT THE PEOPLE AREN'T READY AND REMAIN CONCILIATORY
William B. Travis had a better idea. Late in June he raised a company of twenty-five men and marched on Tenorio's headquarters. He dramatically gave the Mexicans fifteen minutes to surrender or be 'put to the sword.' Tenorio quickly capitulated.
The colonists couldn't adjust that easily. They were shocked at Travis' audacity. This wasn't merely a case of smuggling, dodging customs collectors, or playing a practical joke on Colonel Bradburn. This was throwing out the garrison commander. Practically open rebellion. Few were ready to go that far.
Apologies...regrets...stern words for Travis. Repudiated, he lapsed into one of his moody spells. He published a note in the Texas Republican asking people to 'reserve judgment.' He morosely wrote a friend that he felt ashamed.
SANTA ANNA MOVES TO DESTROY THOSE WHO TOOK ACTION
At this point, Santa Anna overplayed his hand. Deeming Travis' setback a sign of weakness, he decided that this was the time to finish off his enemies. During August he poured more troops into Texas and told his brother-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, to take personal command. Cos ordered the arrest of Travis and several other Texas troublemakers.
TEXANS RALLY ON THE SIDE OF THEIR BRETHREN,NO LONGER CONCILIATORY
The Mexican leaders completely misinterpreted the situation. The Texans' real goal was to build a secure future without outside interference. They rebuked Travis because he seemed to be inviting a fight. Now they saw an infinitely greater threat--martial law, military occupation, the arrest of good friends. Almost overnight the pendulum swung the other way, and the people of Texas turned violently against Santa Anna.
Committees of Safety sprang up in every town. The highly influential Telegraph and Texas Register hammered away for liberty and freedom. Travis discarded his moody gloom; his letters now sang of 'the hour that will try men's souls.' Then on September 1 came an electrifying development--Stephen F. Austin suddenly reappeared from Mexico.
Next week a thousand people jammed the banquet given in his honor in Brazoria. The Room fell silent as the trusted leader rose to speak. He had always preached moderation; after a year in Mexican jails, how did he feel?
He left little doubt. Santa Anna was destroying the people's rights.... And on the question of Mexican troops in Texas, Austin was even more specific. The people had a strong moral sense that 'would not unite with any armed force sent against this country; on the contrary, it would resist and repel it, and ought to do so....'
SANTA ANNA TRIES TO DISARM THE RESISTANCE
A week later General Cos landed at Copano with 400 men. 'WAR is our only recourse,' thundered a broadside from Austin. Unfazed, Cos headed for San Antonio. Here the garrison commander Colonel Ugartechea had his hands full, confiscating weapons...searching houses...disbanding suspicious groups that re-formed as fast as he broke them up. Mexican policy was to seize arms and military stores in Texan hands before real trouble started.
THE MILITARY MOVES IN TO CONFISCATE HEAVY WEAPONS, HELD OFF BY A FEW BRAVE MEN WHO STAND IN THE GAP
Word had just come of a serious problem at Gonzales. The colonists there were shining up a small cannon given them years ago to ward off Indians. Ugartechea, acting under the decree disarming citizens, sent a file of cavalrymen riding to Gonzales with an order for the surrender of the gun. Andrew Ponton, the Gonzales alcalde, received the order and stalled for time. He sent a message stating he was absent. He demanded an order from the political chief of the Department of the Brazos before releasing it. The noncommissioned officer in charge of the Mexican cavalry left his men camped at Gonzales and rode back to San Antonio de Bexar for further instructions from Colonel Ugartechea. Meanwhile, Ponton buried the cannon in a peach orchard and sent runners to the surrounding area for armed assistance.
Not long after, the Texans shed all pretense of ever surrendering the cannon. Joseph D. Clements delivered the message to the Mexican army: "I cannot, nor do I desire to deliver up the cannon...and only through force will we yield."
Meanwhile, word was spreading that the Texans at Gonzales needed help. Following is a letter written by Stephen F. Austin when he heard of the impending conflict:
The eighteen men in Gonzales, willing and able to conduct an organized fight, removed all boats from the Guadalupe River, and hid the ferry in a bayou north of town. Next they captured the handful of Mexican soldiers waiting near town--but one man escaped, and rode hallooing back to Bexar.
Meanwhile, volunteers responding to the call to arms rushed to the scene, and the little Texan force of 18 mushroomed to 150 on September 30...167 on October 1.
Also at this time, Sara Seely DeWitt and her daughter Evaline made the flag, back then referred to as the Old Cannon Flag, now called the Come and Take It flag. Depicted on a white cloth was a cannon with a lone star above it, and the words "come and take it" beneath the cannon. It was Texas' first battle flag, and first lone star flag. [To my knowledge, it is also the only flag that indirectly equates arms to liberty, and that openly defies a tyrant's attempts at gun control. Ed.]
On October 1, 1835, Captain Francisco Castaneda arrived from San Antonio with something less than two hundred men. Ugartechea intended a show of force. Castaneda, blocked by the Guadalupe, demanded the ferry be restored, and the cannon handed over. There was some parleying, a demonstration by the Mexican cavalry near the town, and considerable yelling and taunting by the Texans, who dared the Mexicans to "come and take it!" echoing the words emblazoned on their newly created flag flying in the breeze.
WITH THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS BEHIND THEM,THE MILITIA MOVES AGAINST THE ENEMY
That night the Texans silently slipped across the Guadalupe and formed a defensive square. Rev. William P. Smith rode into the square and addressed the Texans:
After Smith's address, the Texans resumed their advance toward the Mexican camp in the fog shrouded dawn of October 2. They were sure Castaneda planned to attack this day; they might as well hit him first. Quietly, very quietly, they edged through the fog. With them was the cannon, dug up from the peach orchard where Albert Martin had buried it. It was loaded with chains and scraps of iron.
The Texan militia blundered into the Mexican pickets, but in the dark and fog there could be no war. Everyone drew back and waited until daybreak.
The fog lifted suddenly as a curtain, showing both forces drawn up on an open prairie. With the Come and Take It flag flying, the Gonzales cannon fired, and Captain Castaneda immediately requested a parley, asking why he was being attacked.
Colonel Moore, commander of the Texans, explained that the Captain had demanded a cannon given to the Texans for 'the defense of themselves and the constitution and the laws of the country,' while he, Castaneda, 'was acting under orders of the tyrant Santa Anna, who had broken and trampled underfoot all the state and federal constitutions of Mexico, except that of Texas,' which last the Texans were prepared to defend.
Castaneda answered that 'he was himself a republican, as were two-thirds of the Mexican nation, but he was a professional officer of the government,' and while that government had indeed undergone certain surprising changes, it was the government, and the people of Texas were bound to submit to it.
Moore then suggested to the Captain, if he were a republican, he should join the revolution against tyranny by surrendering his command, and join them in the fight. Captain Castaneda replied stiffly that he would obey his orders. At this, Moore returned to his own lines and ordered the Texans to open fire. There was a brief skirmish, and the Mexican force immediately abandoned the field and rode back toward San Antonio.
NO LONGER WILL TEXANS OR OTHER AMERICANS BE DISARMED BY TYRANTS!
Historian H. Yoakum's words in 1855 bear repeating: "Every one who knows the Texans, or who has heard of them, would naturally conclude that they never would submit to be disarmed. Any government that would attempt to disarm its people is despotic; and any people that would submit to it deserves to be slaves!"
SOME FINAL COMMENTS (NOT FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS)
We have had enough of tyrants seeking to disarm us so they can subjugate us to their evil schemes. History has shown us that those seeking to disarm us are indeed tyrants, and the enemies of liberty. History has given us the flag that represents our refusal to be disarmed, and it has given us examples of men and women who fought and died for liberty. All that is left for us in the present is to muster the courage, intelligence, craftiness, endurance, commitment, and knowledge of history to carry the fight through to the finish.
Epilogue: DO SECOND AMENDMENT "ARMS" INCLUDE CANNONS?
Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people. -Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788
The word 'arms' in the connection we find it in the Constitution of the United States, refers to the arms of a militiaman or soldier, and the word is used in its military sense. The arms of the infantry soldier are the musket and bayonet; of cavalry and dragoons, the saber, holster pistols and carbine; of the artillery, the field piece, siege gun, and mortar, with side arms. -English v State, Texas 473, 476 (1871-2).
SOURCES for "History of the 1835 Come And Take It Flag."
A Concise History of Texas, Mike Kingston, Gulf Publishing Co, Houston, Texas.
A Time to Stand, Walter Lord. Harper & Row, 1961.
Dr. William P. Smith 1795-1870: First Surgeon General & Chaplain, Texian Army; President First Texian Army Medical Board. Wallace L. McKeehan; Sons of DeWitt Colony, Texas. www-ibt.tamu.edu/ibt/ccbn/mckeehan/dewitt/drsmith.htm
Flags of Texas, Charles E. Gilbert, Jr. Illustrated by James Rice. Pelican Publishing Co, Gretna, 1989. (c) 1964 Charles W. Parsons.
"Gonzales Before and After the ALAMO," pamphlet from the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.
History of Texas From Its First Settlement in 1685 to Its Annexation to the United States in 1846. H. Yoakum, Esq. Vol. 1 of 2. Redfield 34 Beekman St., NY 1855. Facsimile by The Steck Company of Austin, Texas.
History of the Revolution in Texas, Particularly of the War of 1835 & 36, C. Hester Newell. Arno Press, 1973.
Lone Star, A History of Texas and the Texans, T.R. Fehrenbach
Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence. The Report of the Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, compiled by Harold Schoen, Austin, 1938.
The Papers of the Texas Revolution 1835-1836, John H. Jenkins, general editor, Vol. 1. Presidential Press, 1973.
The Romantic Flags of Texas, Mamie Wynne Cox. Dallas...1936. p. 156-157.
Texas History Carved in Stone, compiled by William Moses Jones. Monument Publishing Co, 1958.
Texas and the Texans; or, Advance of the Anglo-Americans to the South-West, Henry Stuart Foote, Vol. 2 of 2. Philadelphia; Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co, 1841.
Under Six Flags: The Story of Texas, M.E.M. Davis. Ginn and Company, 1897. p. 62
http://www.comeandtakeit.com/doofis.gif
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn4/sirdavidthedragonslayer/Guns%20Across%20America%20rally%20Austin%20Texas%20Jan%2019%202013/GunsAcrossAmericaAustinTexas19January2013capitol014_zps4e7f4a38.jpg
This was on the steps of the Texas Capitol during the Guns Across America rally. ;)