(CA) Press Enterprise: Flags half-staff too often, some say

[question everything]

Flags half-staff too often, some say

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

By ADAM C. HARTMANN / The Press-Enterprise

Flying the flag at half-staff is meant to be a cherished gesture honoring the dead. Now it's also becoming a source of debate. With the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of California's soldiers in Iraq, flags are frequently flying at half-staff.

(snip)

Since the governor took office not quite two years ago, Capitol flags have been lowered to half-staff more than 300 times. Schwarzenegger has ordered Capitol flags flown at half-staff for 72 hours for each soldier killed in the Iraq war who hailed from California or was trained here.

(snip)

Across the Inland area and beyond, half-staff flags have honored less-traditional events. The board at Eastlake Mobile Home Park in Hemet continues to lower its flag to half-staff for three days when park residents die. Though that doesn't happen often, the decision sparked controversy a couple of years ago between incoming and outgoing board members, former board president Bill Herzog said by phone... Still, some flag experts lamented what the National Flag Foundation called the "growing trivialization" of lowering flags to half-staff.

(snip)

In Corona, flags may be lowered for events such as the death of a former elected city official, an employee or a prominent community leader, City Manager Beth Groves wrote in an e-mail. Police and fire chiefs in Corona also may fly their flags at half-staff to honor an officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty. In all of these cases, the flag is raised again after the funeral, Groves wrote. Groves cited little controversy over Corona's approach, calling it "pretty common sense."

Staff writers Jim Miller, Joe Vargo, Imran Vittachi, Melanie C. Johnson and Dan Lee contributed to this report.

Reach Adam C. Hartmann at [phone] or [e-mail]

Online at: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_flag11.e354cd1.html

[purduejake]

1. Interesting article...

With all of the BIG stuff going on, we have people bitching about the way the flag is flown. lol :shrug:

[question everything]

2. Or.... concentrating on the flag can divert attention

from the real big stuff going on.

It was clear that many places were not sure for how long to keep the flag lowered after Rehnquist death.. so you drive around and you see a mixed bag of flags some are at half staff some are not.

I saw a business that usually flies several flags, the U.S. and that of other countries - an international operation, perhaps, plus its own. So when Rehnquist died, someone smart just decided to remove all until it was "safe" to fly them up again.

As someone last year, when Reagan died commented - why should a MacDonald flag by flying at half staff, or why should it not, if the U.S. one is?

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. they could have checked their handy copy of the US Constituition

or any flag store will have copies of relevant material

the honors for a Chief Justice are actually spelled out, people used to know, another sign that people don't give a shit

[purduejake]

5. or googled it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. So they don't want to see the flag lowered for it may

reamnd them there is a war going on? This is my personal take on it

We don't want to see it, don't remind us, Me, I and myself don't care for the troops