Honor
Hello America,
I was walking in front of a federal building today and saw the United States flag at half mast which caused me to ponder the implication. Granted, there are rules of when the flag is to be displayed at half mast. Still, it is a sign of honor and respect when it is done.
I wonder if Ted Kennedy is deserving of such an honor. Yes, he was a member of Congress, so that qualifies him. But, was he deserving? Did he earn the right to be honored?
I am not taking away the respect that a human being deserves when they die. However, the flag is not put at half mast when a member of the armed forces dies in combat. They may not qualify under the rules in which the flag should be lowered to half mast, but aren’t they moreso deserving of the honor than that of the death of a member of Congress?
You can rant, rave, and scream about how we should uphold the traditions of our forefathers, which is a valid point, but the Constitution is pillaged on a regular basis; so I think the tradition argument is a mute point.
Besides being a member of Congress, what has Ted Kennedy accomplished? He held a job for 47 years. I am certain that we could find a person who has worked in factory for the same length of time that has died that was not honored by lowering the flag to half mast. I can say with great certainty that the factory worker held a more labor intensive position than any member of Congress.
I am not suggesting that I am personally knowledgeable about Ted Kennedy’s life. I am suggesting that he hasn’t done a hard days work in his life just based on his lineage. If there is an argument that being a politician is hard work, then the argument can also be made that shopping with someone else’s money is hard work. Ted Kennedy has been shopping with taxpayers’ money for 47 years. Sounds like a tough job.
It would seem to me that there are people who are more deserving of the honor of having our flag lowered to half mast than Ted Kennedy. We should be honoring our armed forces members who has given the ultimate sacrifice or the police officer, who has served the people faithfully, only to be killed in the line of duty.
Ted Kennedy qualifies for the tradition, but does he deserve the honor? I think that most would say “no”.
on August 28th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Our condolence’s to his family at this hard time. Senator Ted Kennedy was a remarkable man who spent his life fighting for what he believed in. This is a great loss to our nation.
on September 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Of course there are people more deserving. That’s not really the point, for both traditional and practical reasons.
Is it merely politicians on the left that you object to being honored in this way? How about politicians on the right? Did Ronald Reagan deserve such an honor? I’m not saying yes or no, just asking that you consider the question?
Either we have rules and traditions, or we don’t. From a practical perspective, a member of the armed forces who gives his/her life in the course of service certainly is more deserving than any politician, but if they were afforded such treatment, the flag would be flown at half-mast almost every day and the symbolism would cease to have any impact.
Should we conduct a nation-wide poll, every time someome dies, to determine whether or not that person should be given this treatment?
on April 1st, 2010 at 7:39 am
I am not going to be original this time, so all I am going to say that your blog rocks, sad that I don’t have suck a writing skills
on April 16th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Not bad article, but I really miss that you didn’t express your opinion, but ok you just have different approach