Flying the Flag

There are times when it's appropriate to fly the flag halfway down the flagpole. In the Army, Air Force, Marines and civilian world, this is called flying the flag at half-staff; in the navy it is half-mast. These times are times of national tragedy. An attack on our homeland, such as 9/11. The death of a statesman or nationally revered figure.

To my way of thinking, the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 weren't a cause to fly the flag at half-staff, although many did.

Neither, in my opinion, are the shootings at Fort Hood. The army… maybe the entire military should fly their flags at half-staff… it is an institutional tragedy. The people who lost loved ones, or who were personally effected by the shootings should… it is a personal tragedy.

It is NOT a national tragedy, and should not be a national day of mourning. Should we start flying the flag at half-staff every time some nutjob goes berzerk and shoots a bunch of people? I rather think not.

So why then are so many flags flying at half-staff? I think that I know. I think that it is people who want their piece of the pity pie. It's like when a cop was shot in Washington state several years ago and more than 300 cars joined his funeral procession. Most of these people had never heard of this cop before he got shot. When a news reporter asked one of these people why they joined, she put a simpering look on her face and tone in her voice and said "I just felt like I should… it was so sad." Bullshit. You just wanted your piece of that pity pie. And you got to be ON TV! SCORE! Leave these people to their private mourning, would you please, you inconsiderate pricks?

On a related note, I'm not sure why we're surprised when a soldier kills someone. Isn't that what they're trained to do? Like John Rambo said in First Blood (the only one of the series worth watching), "They taught us how to kill and put a rifle in our hands. No one ever taught us how to stop."

We no longer train warriors… we now train soldiers. For instance, for the current engagement in Iraq, soldiers are being taught to run kids over with tanks using paper cut-outs. Why? Because you never know when a kid is carrying an IED. I read a heart-breaking letter from the sister of a soldier who had a nervous breakdown during this particular training. See that little old lady over there who looks like your gramma? KILL HER! SHE MIGHT BE CARRYING A BOMB! Don't think, just SHOOT!

No, I am not raving against our men and women in uniform here. Anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows that I come from a military family, and have four years of ROTC (medical stuff kept me out of the military myself). To me, this is just another indicator that we shouldn't be involved in this mess in Iraq. It is a dishonorable, pointless war.

And our national hysteria over terrorism has led us to question whether or not the soldier, a Muslim named Nidal Malik Hasan is actually a TERRORIST! Come on, people. A question like that is a very short walk from imprisoning American Muslims just like the hysteria following the Pearl Harbor attacks led us to unjustly imprison countless Japanese-Americans in WWII.

We can't let that happen again.

Peace.

Rev. Randal