A few days ago, February 11, 2012, the night before the 2012 Grammy Awards, Grammy winning singer Whitney Houston was found dead. As Whitney was a native of Newark, NJ, Governor Chris Christie decreed the day of her funeral, flags were to be flown at half-staff.
So, let me enlighten everyone to why Christie
was justified in doing so:
- Only the President of the United States or the Governor of the State, or the Mayor of the District of Columbia may order the flag to be flown at half-staff to honor the death of a national or state figure. In addition to the traditional half-staff salutes, the Flag Code mentions the use of our Flag for honoring leading citizens such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Private citizens and non-government buildings may choose to fly their flags at half-staff to honor more local leaders. The Flag Code does not exclude any citizen, whether they belong to an organization or not, whether they are recognized locally or regionally. Examples of deceased citizens that might be honored with the lowering of the Flag to half-staff include: local religious leaders, youth leaders, honored teachers or sports coaches, local politicians, or a local hero. There need be no authorization from the government for the private sector (non-government) to use the Flag to honor any citizen.
*Please NOTE: that the Flag Code does not mention that ONLY government officials or war heroes should be given a half-staff salute. In fact, it reads in another passage that the half-staff salute for EVERY fallen soldier can be construed as anti-war! IMHO, a half-staff salute should be given for every fallen soldier, then we wouldn't have distraught parents burning flags on the grill because the flag was lowered for Whitney Houston! Putting Old Glory on the barby is definitely and absolutely disrespectful, and certainly doesn't HONOR the fallen soldier son of the griller that fought and died for his country & flag!
Now, I have alluded to the reason for this blog, everyone and his brother has come out of the woodwork to decry Governor Christie for his decision, and I'm not talking about just in New Jersey, it's a national outcry, you KNOW it's bad when Rush Limbaugh decided to defend your decision. Even across the world some of our soldiers have used social media to call Ms. Houston a "crack ho" among many other colorfully degrading insults.
I'm going to list a few celebrities that have been honored by having a half-staff salute, you decide if they were worthy based on their bad habits, like the drinking and drug use that seems to have made her unworthy in the eyes of many.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett authorized a half-staff salute for Hall-Of-Fame Penn State football coach for January 23, 2012. The 85 year old known affectionately as JoePa, who had been coach at Penn State for 61 years, was shockingly FIRED in November 2011. He was fired because he did not report (or chose to overlook) an incident of child abuse allegedly perpetrated by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. If you were a parent of the boys, many now men, that were abused by Sandusky, you would be very angry with Paterno for not reporting the incidents up the chain of command to prevent more.
Did the college football head coach with the most
longevity deserve the half-mast salute?
 |
| Clarence Clemons (L) and Bruce Springsteen (R) |
The Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, once again called for the flag at half-staff for acclaimed saxophonist Clarence Clemons who passed away after a stroke at age 69. He was born in Virginia though. Clarence had been an integral part of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band since 1972, Springsteen hails from Long Branch, New Jersey, but made it big in Asbury Park. If Christie is still around when Springsteen passes away, it's a sure bet Bruce will have flags at half staff. I cannot say anything derogatory about Clarence, as he seems to have been quite philanthropic with his E-Street earnings. And while Bruce's records wouldn't be what they are without Clarence's soulful sax, he was just part of the back-up band that got to come forward for the expected sax solo of each tune.
So...should an awesome sax player that was born
in another state have a half-mast flag honor given to him?
Steve Jobs, Businessman & Inventor, Co-Founder & CEO of both Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios, and on the Board of Directors for Walt Disney Studios was honored with a half-staff flag at the Apple corporate headquarters in the US and UK, as well as a few local government offices (which was the one place it was wrong). Despite his bad temper and ruthless business decisions, this man (along with Bill Gates) is responsible for the world as we know it. Almost everything we do in daily life now involves interaction with a computer, whether we actually use one ourselves or not.
Was the man that created the age of computers
worthy of a half-staff honor?
February 2001, the Governor of North Carolina authorized a half-staff Flag honor for R. Dale Earnhardt Sr. after he died of a basilar skull fracture in a spectacular crash during the Daytona 500. Beloved of his NASCAR fans, #3 was known as "The Intimidator" for his uncanny ability of making other drivers back off or he spun them out. It was get out of his way, or take your choice of kissing the wall or eating the grass. He also had an unruly temper that discriminated against no one. He was married to three women, two he divorced leaving estranged children that struggled to get close to him as they grew older, Dale Jr. especially. Now, this winningly aggressive race car driver and mostly ill-tempered man entertained millions of people over his career, some even called him their hero.
Was one of the most famous race car drivers
worthy of a half-staff honor?
Last
but not least, another New Jersey native, Hoboken this time, Frank
Sinatra, Ol' Blue Eyes. Frank had a long career as an actor &
singer. Sinatra's career break came in 1935 and he went on to garner
many awards during it's span. As an actor, he won Best Supporting
Actor for his performance in From Here To Eternity. He was the
recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees
Award, Grammy Legend Award, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement
award. Sinatra was lauded at the 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985,
then in 1997 was given the Congressional Gold Medal.
Sinatra
was a serial womanizer, marrying four women, and divorcing three
despite being a “good Catholic”. He suffered from terrible moods
swings that his daughter Tina recalled “probably could have kept
his demons away with a Zoloft”, suggesting he was bi-polar.
Besides
his drinking, smoking, pill-popping, and womanizing, he garnered
considerable attention due to his alleged professional and personal
links with organized crime. The FBI gathered over 2,000 pages of
information starting in the 1940's and lasted for five decades.
Sinatra's left-leaning politics made him a savory target for J. Edgar
Hoover.
The
FBI linked him to several Mob figures such as Carlo Gambino, Sam
Giancana, Lucky Luciano, and Joseph Fischetti. When the Mob shifted
from the Atlantic City casinos to the Las Vegas strip, Sinatra moved
right with them.
So, did the man that did it his way (even if it could be misconstrued illegal or treasonous) deserve to have the honor of a flng at half-staff for him?
Whitney Houston was a gifted singer, one of a handful to have the voice. She was one of best-selling female artists of all time, with 170 million albums sold worldwide. She won 22 American Music Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, and an Emmy for her performance at the 28th Grammy Awards Show, Every one of her record albums made at least gold in status, In 1988 she was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana. In 1990 she was given the Points of Light Award by President George H. W. Bush. Plus she honored the whole country with her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at the XXV Super Bowl in 1991. Look it up on YouTube.
If her rendition doesn't give you chills,
then you are dead and have no soul.
(Or worse yet, you're someone who thinks
America is the land of the Infidels.)
So, once again I ask, can a Grammy award winning singer that achieved 7 consecutive number one hit records be worthy of a half-mast honor of the Flag of the United States of America lowered for ONE day in the state of New Jersey when the duly-elected Governor thought she should be? If the examples given above were honored that way despite all their public flaws, why can't a BLACK FEMALE that was trying to be a recovering substance abuser be given the same due deference after her sudden and untimely death?
There IS no reason why she shouldn't. PERIOD.
The Governor made a choice, and IT IS WHAT IT IS!
He should NOT have to defend his decision, and the posthumous defamation of Whitney in the form of egregiously INAPPROPRIATE comments and insults being tossed about carelessly in every headline and blog for her teenage daughter and mother and relatives and friends to read just needs to end!
For
those that think that this honor should ONLY be bestowed on heros,
military or civilian, I disagree. I truly wish that each and every
time one of our soldiers comes back in a body bag that flag and his entire community should be
in mourning just like the rest of his family and friends. But that is
considered to project feelings of anti-war, quite the conundrum,
isn't it?
Whitney
Houston and all the other examples I gave were considered “heroes”
by some portion of an adoring public. Whitney gave hope to all the African-American
little girls in dreary cities like Newark, New Jersey that they too
could be famous. She leaves behind a legacy of singers inspired by
her, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Brandy, Beyonce, Alicia Keys,
Celine Dion, and Lady Gaga,
just to name some of the most famous.
One
last note, the website I cited above also says: It is important to
note that the Flag Code is a code. It is intended to provide guidance
and is NOT obligatory. It carries no civil or criminal penalties for
'misuse' of the Flag. Individuals are NOT acting illegally when using
the Flag according to their OWN usage.
ONLY on Government or public
buildings is the Flag Code required to be followed. And with that
said...
R.I.P.
Nippy!
 |
| Whitney Elizabeth Houston, 1963-2012 |
