Thursday, January 04, 2007

flag etiquette

The flags are still at half-mast here. More than likely, I thought to myself, it was due to the municipal workers were mowing one of the parks or something. So I looked it up. we're supposed to have that up for thirty days:
(m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this subsection— (3) the term “Member of Congress” means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.

That's pretty fucking long, no? I mean, how long do you think Albert Einstein got the half-mast treatment? He was perhaps the most revered thinker or his time. He advanced our thinking so much, and still had the same guilt of diplomacy as one whose creation was used to kill hundreds of thousands. I bet he got nothing. Maybe in Princeton for a day. Yet we're gonna have our flags like tht for 30 days for Ford? That is balls, my friends.
and it's not that I'm opposed to the idea of the tradition. In fact, I think it's pretty cool. I mean, by the standard above, we'd probably only have a few days where it'd be at the peak. I think it's safe to say that politicians are the most despised people in this country at the moment. All of them. and when they die, we're gonna go out and lower our flag to half mast? Our towns and post offices and police stations are going to be asked to lower our flags when Dick Cheney dies and the giant barrier of iridescent goo that has encased this planet is shattered and he ages 700 years like that guy at the end of The Last Crusade and.... Its gonna go that way. When Howard Zinn or Bill Russell or Mel Brooks or Angela Davis or Paul Newman or shit, even Dick Winters should have more of our respect than Ted Stevens or Trent Lott's retarded ass? I want to salute people that made me proud to be an American. Oh hell no. And the President gets the final say in who we mourn for? Eff that he's already allowed to read our mail. I think we should decide as a nation who to salute with our flag placement.

"The Funeral" - Band of Horses
Buy it

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