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+--- Thread: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? (/showthread.php?tid=132184)
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - $tevie - 02-19-2012
Evidently NJ governors are very much into flying the flag at half mast:
http://nj.gov/infobank/circular/eoindex.htmhttp://nj.gov/infobank/circular/eoindex.htm
I didn't hear all this fussing when Jindal lowered the flags for an Archbishop:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/gov_jindal_orders_flag_flown_a.html
or when Corbet lowered the flags for a football coach:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57363896/paterno-honored-with-pa-flags-at-half-staff/
There do seem to be very specific people for whom the President - or a governor - are meant to honor this way. http://www.usflag.org/nffhalfstaff.html It also appears to be quite a common error and I'm not comfortable with everyone raising Cain about Houston practically on the heels of an equally inappropriate use for Dead White Guy.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - Grace62 - 02-19-2012
Stevie,
That first link goes nowhere. What is it you wanted to share with us?
Read the first comment at the CBS article about Paterno. A lot of people were very unhappy about that. Just because there was not thread on it here doesn't mean it didn't happen.
As for the archbishop, he was honored with the flag because of his military service.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - OWC Jamie - 02-19-2012
(10) by striking out section 3(m) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
‘‘(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 thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten 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. As used in this subsection—
‘‘(1) the term `half-staff´ means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
‘‘(2) the term `executive or military department´ means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and
‘‘(3) the term `Member of Congress´ means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.’’;
I don't see anything in the Flag Code as made public law by Congress that requires a State Governor to order Old Glory flown half staff for a private citizen.
Flag Code made Public Law by Congressional Act ( as amended 1976 )
However, the Supreme Court would defend the action in defense of Free Speech.
It is quite interesting to witness as many convenient advocates of the Flag Code demean a Republican Governor for not upholding the rules of same TO THE LETTER and then turn around and hypocritically ignore that same flag code as it applies to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - Grace62 - 02-19-2012
For those tuning in late - a brief update.
The flag code of the US grants US governors the authority to order US flags over public buildings in their state lowered in certain specific circumstances, as mentioned above.
As far as I can tell, the authority stops there. Do some Governors sometimes step outside those rules? Yes, they do. Not many, but it happens. Wikipedia claims that governors can order the flag to half-staff for anyone they want, but we've yet to see that pulled from US code. It could be there, but nobody has come up with it yet.
My state has the rules very clearly in writing, so that people don't write to the governor and ask her to do this when she's not going to:
http://www.governor.wa.gov/flag/default.asp
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - $tevie - 02-19-2012
The first link is to a list of executive orders for years and years with mucho flag lowering going on, perhaps appropriate, but certainly lots of it.
As for Paterno, no, there was not the chatter chatter chatter that I'm stumbling over ALL ACROSS the internet, not just here.
Big deal. Christie will not be governor forever and the next guy can maybe do a better job. I just can't see this warranting all this excitement.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - Grace62 - 02-19-2012
billb wrote:
It is quite interesting to witness as many convenient advocates of the Flag Code demean a Republican Governor for not upholding the rules of same TO THE LETTER and then turn around and hypocritically ignore that same flag code as it applies to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Who did this? Got any specifics, or just pulled that out of your hat?
Oh, and thanks for the back-up on the flag code.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - Ted King - 02-19-2012
Black wrote:
[quote=Ted King]
I think if the head of a federal agency has that discretion then I don't see a reason to get hung-up on a technical formalism that doesn't happen to also include state governors.
On the other hand, it would be kind of comforting in a way to see government officials in important positions making some effort to understand and follow the laws that bind them.
(Call me old fashioned!)
The flag code does not have the force of law - the Supreme Court has ruled so because of freedom of expression rights (you know, those pesky freedoms the flag is supposed to symbolize) - it is merely advisory.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - OWC Jamie - 02-19-2012
Grace62 wrote:
[quote=billb]
It is quite interesting to witness as many convenient advocates of the Flag Code demean a Republican Governor for not upholding the rules of same TO THE LETTER and then turn around and hypocritically ignore that same flag code as it applies to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Who did this? Got any specifics, or just pulled that out of your hat?
. No names or targets. The whole "under God" should/shouldn't be part of the Pledge has been a bit of a meme in quite a few forums for the last several weeks.
Seems rather ludicrous as the Supreme Court hasn't given respect for Old Glory much support for the last 4 decades.
It was and is a nice gesture afforded the citizens of New Jersey by the State of New Jersey regardless who made it so and who recommended it. Nice thing about New Jersey : It's not too hard to drive around it if you really don't like it that much.
A Republican did something nice.
It happens every now and then.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - $tevie - 02-19-2012
billb wrote: The whole "under God" should/shouldn't be part of the Pledge has been a bit of a meme in quite a few forums for the last several weeks.
Not on this one. And as I am sure you are well aware, "under God" isn't original to the Pledge so it can in theory leave as quickly as it entered.
Re: Are you down with NJ flying the flag at half-mast for Whitney Houston? - Dennis S - 02-19-2012
billb,
I didn't start the post because Christie is a Republican. He was not a factor is my question, except as "Governor."
And if you want to whine about the flag, start another post. It'll probably be a good one.