White house flags not flown at half staff after chatanooga shooting

Everything I've read in the flag code indicates that the flag has no mandatory directive to be flown at half mast for the death of Service Members, reason and type of killer doesn't matter.

We can whine and bash Obama and the WH administration all we want, but they're doing nothing wrong--according to the code--by not lowering the flag.

Of course, I think it'd be a wonderful reminder to the nation and to those visiting our capitol to lower the flags to half mast every time a Service Member is killed in the line of duty--we need to be reminded as to how many lives are being lost in service of the country at any given time. Maybe it would serve as a reminder to get our troops home and quite having them die for other countries.

My two cents--and yes, I'm a veteran.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Well said sir.

I laugh at these sorts of stories. They are so stuck on the symbology of the flag that they become outraged at stories like this, and yet fail to recognize that they are using the death of a fellow American and servicemen to grind a political ax.

Who is worse in this situation: A president that doesn't fly a flag at half staff, or the people that will use it to be politically partisan?

originally posted by: MoreBeer
All the shooting victims were white.

Just saying.

Ya just race baiting right?

a reply to: concerned190

Half-Mast United States Policy

Under 4 U.S.C. § 7(m) and established traditions by Presidential proclamations, the flag of the United States is to be flown at half-staff in following circumstances:[44]

-For thirty days after the death of a current or former president or president-elect, as occurred after the death of President Reagan and the death of President Ford.
-For ten days after the death of a current vice president, current or retired chief justice, or current 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, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate,[45] or the governor of a state, territory, or possession.
-On the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.
-On Memorial Day until noon.
-Every September 11 in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks[46]
-Upon presidential proclamation, such as for the death of Pope John Paul II,[47] the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,[48] the victims of Hurricane Katrina,[49] the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami,[50] the deaths of Coretta Scott King[51] and Rosa Parks,[52] the Virginia Tech massacre,[53] the Fort Hood massacre,[54] the 2011 Tucson shooting, the funeral of Neil Armstrong,[55] the death of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stephens, the 2012 shooting in Aurora Colorado, the 2012 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting, the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings,[56] the death of Nelson Mandela,[57] the 2013 Washington, D.C. Navy Yard shooting, and the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Nothing about there HAVING to be an order to fly the flags at half-staff with an event like this.

originally posted by: Sremmos80

originally posted by: MoreBeer
All the shooting victims were white.

Just saying.

Ya just race baiting right?

Not at all.

Tell me what the difference is between these murders and the Charleston murders besides these victims being white, government employees, and having a minority shooter?

Being government employees should give even more of a reason for lowering the flags.

BREAKING NEWS: WHITE HOUSE REVERSES AND ORDERS FLAGS FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF TO HONOR 5 VICTIMS OF CHATTANOOGA RAMPAGE!

It's about time!

a reply to: MoreBeer

And when ft hood happened and they lowered the flags? Or the shootings in Newtown?

You implied it was because the victims were all white that it took them this long, how is that not race baiting?

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: MoreBeer

And when ft hood happened and they lowered the flags? Or the shootings in Newtown?

You implied it was because the victims were all white that it took them this long, how is that not race baiting?

I simply pointed out facts.

You apply your own prejudices.

After the way they mishandled Benghazi, nothing this admin does or doesnt do surprises me any more.

originally posted by: queenofswords

BREAKING NEWS: WHITE HOUSE REVERSES AND ORDERS FLAGS FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF TO HONOR 5 VICTIMS OF CHATTANOOGA RAMPAGE!

It's about time!

I wonder how many hundreds of back-and-forth emails and phone calls it took to get to that major decision?

What is it with you guys and flags, I really don't understand. It's a piece of material.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
What is it with you guys and flags, I really don't understand. It's a piece of material.

It is called honor and loyalty and trying to explain something like that is impossible. Either you have it or you don't. I am very loyal to the constitution that this flag represents. The concept of individual rights resonates in my heart and soul.



Man people have sacrificed and or died to keep this symbol of liberty flying. It is not just fabric it is a symbol of liberty for many people.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
What is it with you guys and flags, I really don't understand. It's a piece of material.

The flag is a piece of material.
Like a dollar bill is a piece of paper.
The value is in what is represented.

a reply to: MoreBeer

Well your 'facts' were they didn't raise the flag because the the victims were white. Not sure how you can say that is a fact...

It was a race bait plain and simple.

Took long enough for that scum bag to do this... It should of been done, DAY ONE!!

Not after the fact everyone was wondering what the hell are they thinking in that office!!

a reply to: introvert

Ha...well, either way, I guess it doesn't matter, as Obama appears to have ordered flags to half mast today.

President Obama called for all flags at the White House and all federal buildings, including overseas embassies, to be lowered to half-staff to honor the five troops killed in a shooting rampage at a Chattanooga, Tenn., reserve center.

The move, which comes four days after the killings, follows growing calls and criticism from conservatives and some veterans groups calling on the president to honor the men. The White House issued the president's order a few minutes after Obama finished a speech at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

WaPo

a reply to: concerned190

The President was too busy letting criminals out of prison to fly the flag at half staff.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
What is it with you guys and flags, I really don't understand. It's a piece of material.

It's a symbol that represents ideals, goals, laws, a Constitution, freedom(ish), etc.

When people die wearing that flag on their shoulders or under the rules of the laws that it represents, the least they could do is pay homage to those people with that symbol.

Look into the history of wherever you're from--I'm sure waiving flags in battle, or hoisting them at national capitals, or using them to declare territory, or whatever. They symbolize something, and therefore should be used as a way to honor those who die for what they symbolize.

originally posted by: SubTruth

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
What is it with you guys and flags, I really don't understand. It's a piece of material.

It is called honor and loyalty and trying to explain something like that is impossible. Either you have it or you don't. I am very loyal to the constitution that this flag represents. The concept of individual rights resonates in my heart and soul.

Man people have sacrificed and or died to keep this symbol of liberty flying. It is not just fabric it is a symbol of liberty for many people.

It is, in fact, nothing more than a piece of fabric most likely made in China.

It's a symbol that people will look to and attach whatever meaning they so desire. You say it represents the constitution. Others may say it represents oppression and violence.

The good thing about liberty and individual rights is that we get to decide what the flag means to us and it would be nice if the non-PC view of the flag was respected as well.

There are many of us, including myself, that look at the flag and do not see anything more than just a fancy decoration. I show my respect and honor through my words and how I live my life.

I don't need a flag to remind me of anything whatsoever.

originally posted by: concerned190
So, the flags were not lowered to half staff following the recent shootings in Tennesse. They were lowered after all the other shootings. Heres is snopes explination. Conspiracy or no?
m.snopes.com...

None of the men who were shot were black. Plus the shooter was MUSLIM. Don't profile, don't you dare! Yeah, I'll say it. Even ATS is NOT above top secret. Sure I'll get 8' balled for my comment. Please quote and copy for proof. It would be a shame to fly that flag! I guess I'm not ATS after all. Nope, none of you are willing to spill the truth. That's the real truth. Not a damn one of you! Totally pathetic.