Flags at half-mast in DC today...why

[headscratcher4]

I probably should know this, and when I find out I'll probably feel stupid for not recalling...but why are flags on federal buildings here in DC at half mast today?

I didn't hear of anyone important dying...and their not just on the Capitol but at the Supreme Court, Federal Courts building and the Smithsonian...

Anyone know?

[willhaven]

http://wireupdate.com/wires/3361/obama-orders-flags-half-staff-for-dorothy-heights-funeral-2/
President Barack Obama on Monday ordered the flags of the United States to be flown at half-staff on Thursday, the day of Dorothy Height's funeral.

Height was the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women and the leading female voice of the 1960s civil rights movement. She died last Tuesday at the age of 98.

[headscratcher4]

Ah, yes, now I get it. Thanks!

[Spindrift]

It's a signal that the progression to communism is under way. The next step will be to replace the stars on the flag with a hammer and sickle.

:rolleyes:

[The Central Scrutinizer]

The flags are flying at half Height.

[Brown]

This reminds me of a joke that was popular among boys when I was going to second grade.

"Did somebody die?"
"No, why?'
"'Cause your zipper's at half-mast."

Because of this bit o' wit, discussions of anyone dying would reflexively cause us to check our flies.

[Vorticity]

It's a signal that the progression to communism is under way. The next step will be to replace the stars on the flag with a hammer and sickle.

:rolleyes:

Political meaning aside, if each individual star were replaced with a tiny hammer and sickle... that would look kind of awesome.

[Thunder]

when is the last time Obama put flags at half mast....for a white man???

[headscratcher4]

when is the last time Obama put flags at half mast....for a white man???

IS there a recently passed white man you have in mind who may have been deserving of the flags at half staff?

Oh, yes, and than there was Ted Kennedy...last time I looked, he qualified as a "white man"...

[Darth Rotor]

President Barack Obama on Monday ordered the flags of the United States to be flown at half-staff on Thursday, the day of Dorothy Height's funeral.
The flags are flying at half Height.
Nommed for pith.

DR

[Skeptic]

It's not that I have anything against this woman or her legacy, of course, but shouldn't flying flags at half-mast be reserved for the deaths of presidents, national memorial days, etc.? Same with Ted Kennedy. The problem is there's the risk of this becoming a "fashionable" thing.

[Freddy]

IS there a recently passed white man you have in mind who may have been deserving of the flags at half staff?

Oh, yes, and than there was Ted Kennedy...last time I looked, he qualified as a "white man"...

You may need to check the batteries on your joke detector. :)

[The Fallen Serpent]

Kennedy was Irish, not white ;)

Flying a flag at half mast is a very simple act that carries great emotion. I went to a school that flew the flags at half mast when a group of teenagers were killed in a car accident. It may be fashionable to do so but I see it as a reasonable executive perk to fly the flag at half mast out of respect to non-service individuals who have passed away. If he mandated that everyone do it, not just the local federal offices than it would seem overreaching.

[willhaven]

It's not that I have anything against this woman or her legacy, of course, but shouldn't flying flags at half-mast be reserved for the deaths of presidents, national memorial days, etc.? Same with Ted Kennedy. The problem is there's the risk of this becoming a "fashionable" thing.

Recent half-mast events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-staff#United_States
Upon presidential proclamation, which has recently included: the death of Senator Ted Kennedy; the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks the death of Pope John Paul II, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the deaths of Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks, Virginia Tech massacre, and the Fort Hood massacre.

[PbFoot]

We flew our flags at half mast all across the country yesterday. It was in memory of those killed on the job. (Industrial accidents etc.)

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Workers+killed+mourned/2964184/story.html

[MattusMaximus]

This explains why my local post office flag was at half-mast. Thanks.

[GreNME]

It's not that I have anything against this woman or her legacy, of course, but shouldn't flying flags at half-mast be reserved for the deaths of presidents, national memorial days, etc.? Same with Ted Kennedy. The problem is there's the risk of this becoming a "fashionable" thing.

No, it's just you.

Here in the US, gestures like this are made for people of note regardless of whether they've held political office. It happens more often the closer down to the local level you get, in remembrance of those connected to the local communities.

[Skeptic]

Recent half-mast events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-staff#United_States

Fair enough! Perhaps I am wrong. This is certainly something the president should have a right to decide.

[The Fallen Serpent]

Fair enough! Perhaps I am wrong. This is certainly something the president should have a right to decide.

Plus we already have a reserved act of for Heads of State and days of National importance, the 21-gun and 50-gun salute. They are not only done in memorial but they are done differently as funerary practice than as an arrival/departure practice.

[MaGZ]

Political meaning aside, if each individual star were replaced with a tiny hammer and sickle... that would look kind of awesome.

Would little swastikas also be awesome?

[MaGZ]

Anyone here ever hear of Dorothy Height before her death?

Anyone?

[MaGZ]

Ah, yes, now I get it. Thanks!

What do you mean you "get it"?

You "get it" because it is so obvious she deserves such an honor?

[MaGZ]

It's not that I have anything against this woman or her legacy, of course, but shouldn't flying flags at half-mast be reserved for the deaths of presidents, national memorial days, etc.? Same with Ted Kennedy. The problem is there's the risk of this becoming a "fashionable" thing.

Some may have missed it, but a few weeks ago the flag was half-mast for the deaths of the coal miners.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2491549/posts

[The Fallen Serpent]

Would little swastikas also be awesome?
Fascist chic is always boss. ;)
Anyone here ever hear of Dorothy Height before her death?

Anyone?
Not I. Hence I did not fly my flag at half mast. I think it is fair for the government to honor those even the public is not personally aware of.
What do you mean you "get it"?

You "get it" because it is so obvious she deserves such an honor?
I cannot speak for headscratcher4 but I had assumed the "get it" was understand the reason why, not necessarily agreeing. That is the usual colliquial usage of "getting" a concept.

[MaGZ]

Dorthy Height

I can't see where she did anything significant on her own. She was just a member of different organizations. Am I missing something here?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Height

[dudalb]

It's not that I have anything against this woman or her legacy, of course, but shouldn't flying flags at half-mast be reserved for the deaths of presidents, national memorial days, etc.? Same with Ted Kennedy. The problem is there's the risk of this becoming a "fashionable" thing.

Actually, flags can be flown at half staff for a variety of reasons.
When a number of Wild Fire fighters for the Federal Agency I work for were killed in the line of duty a number of years ago all flags at the offices of that Agency or Building in which they had offices were flown at half staff for a day.

[The Fallen Serpent]

Dorthy Height

I can't see where she did anything significant on her own. She was just a member of different organizations. Am I missing something here?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Height

Dorothy_Height
and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.[1]

President Clinton and the 2004 Congress seem to think her work in those organizations was of national interest. It appears she was an important activist and advisor in the issue of school desegregation.

Also, one does not need to be especially important to receive a half-mast flag honor.

[cwalner]

Would little swastikas also be awesome?

yes and no, for the same reasons as the hammer & sickle. The design, divorced from its history, would actually be quite aesthetically pleasing to me. Unfortunately, the history does get in the way.

[Wildy]

It's a signal that the progression to communism is under way. The next step will be to replace the stars on the flag with a hammer and sickle.

:rolleyes:

Given some of the complaints towards Obama shouldn't they be replacing the stars with both little hammers and sickles and little swastikas?

[Accidental Martyr]

You may need to check the batteries on your joke detector. :)

Yes, I believe that Thunder+italics=sarcasm. ;)