[strela]

Finally - the arguments against this man that refer to the cost of the lighter (e.g. my cheap Bic works just fine) are simply classist and envious, and certainly not the viewpoint of a true conservative.

It is considered to be cowardly behavior here to discuss a poster's opinion or viewpoint without listing the poster in question in the reply line. And cowardice is most definitely NOT a conservative trait.

A "true conservative" is generally an intelligent person and recognizes reality. Anyone foolish enough to transport expensive items via a non-secure mode (such as checked baggage on an airline) without first checking with the carrier providing said transportation exhibits non-conservative traits as well. The author was the one who brought up the subject of the price of his expensive lighters, not me.

As for my cheap Bic, I don't drop a bill and a half on a freaking cigar lighter because I risk part of my disposable income to attempt to become wealthy to the point where I can afford things like $150 lighters without blinking an eye. If you're trying to make the point that anyone who uses a disposable lighter is a liberal, it is laughable at best.

[BlazingArizona]

As for my cheap Bic, I don't drop a bill and a half on a freaking cigar lighter because I risk part of my disposable income to attempt to become wealthy to the point where I can afford things like $150 lighters without blinking an eye. If you're trying to make the point that anyone who uses a disposable lighter is a liberal, it is laughable at best.

Of course using a cheap Bic lighter doesn't make you a liberal. It's using the victim's possession of an expensive lighter to make a cheesy class-warfare argument that makes you a liberal. As an example of this, go to Salon.com and look up Arianna Huffington's archived rants on SUV owners.

[GilesB]

Don't get all your fuzz in the air. You will notice I said nothing about anybody buying a Bic - only about those who presume to condemn this guy for buying his $150 lighter - a true conservative believes in the concept of letting people make their own choices.

That you somehow construe what I said as an attack on somebody who buys a Bic AND make the point that conservatives are intelligent - is hysterical!

The cost of the lighter was material to the article - one doesn't get excited about a $1.99 lighter. Your expectation that he, or anybody, would check with the airlines before every trip is ludicrous. The rules change daily, and the airport in question is particularly heavy-handed. Rules change from airport to airport, from day to day. Anybody who travels, as I do, 8 or 10 times a month is not going to make those calls. Reasonable people can reasonably expect the rules to be consistent and reasonable - in this case they were neither.

What comes out from your diatribes is your resentment of the fact that the guy spent that much money on a lighter - that kind of logic also wants to dictate that nobody should earn more than $X/year. Taking another's belongings for no good reason is wrong, regardless of the cost. To take expensive belongings without offering reasonable options to confiscation is wrong, needlessly punitive and horrible business - points that you are unable to grasp because of your fury at someone daring to own a $150 lighter.

I figured you would find yourself in my post without putting your name in the reply line - like a true conservative, I was right.