Reply #204: Misplaced Priorities

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The latest controversy to surface -- according to Green Bay TV station WLUK -- is that the Green Bay Packers organization is insisting flags around Lambeau Field be flown at half mast to honor Reggie White's passing. Veterans are taking great offense, since this type of display is usually reserved for honoring government figures or people lost to war. In the least, they say, flying flags at half mast is usually suggested by governmental order -- but no one, including Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle -- thinks it's appropriate for White.

I have to say -- it does trivialize the symbolism of the gesture if we start using it when athletes pass away. Even some of you "Reggie Is God" folks would have to agree.

Why would we offer so much pomp and circumstance to a football player -- yet continue to live unphased by the soldiers who die everyday in service of our country?

(It should be added that Lambeau Field is directly adjacent to a veteran's monument in Green Bay.)