Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

[Medusa]

SAUCE

What do you think? Should it have been lowered?

*I'm bored and need debatees!

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

Nope. She's an entertainer but I don't think she deserves to have the flag half-staffed for her death.

If that's the case, then where the Hell was the half-staff for when George Carlin died? The man was one of the greatest modern philosophers of all time.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

Yeah, forget the fact that she became a tweaker. Nevermind her substance abuse. Skip past all those undesirable, unflattering and unacceptable behaviors. Okay.

WHY lower the flags for her? What is it that the fame or celebrity status, that she had, provides to claim such a reverence, such an honor as flying a flag at half mast?

And, as Gabriel said, regarding the death of George Carlin, is this a standard for ALL famous people, to lower the state flags to half-staff, after their death?

Nope. In the end, I see no REAL reason, whatsoever, to lower the flags to half-staff for the woman. BUT (and it's a large but... prolly a three-seater) it's not my call. I might be missing some legal loophole that indicates just anyone, that a governor feels an appreciation for, can have their death marked by the lowering of flags.

To that end, I don't know the truth of it, but I heard a story many years ago about one state flying their flag at half staff after the death of a famous animal. So, not only is it, "What do I know?" It's also, "what do I care?" Other people, politicians especially, have a motivation to express some melodramatic over-zealous involvement in certain peoples' lives. Or deaths. In this guy's case, it's a make or break for his political career - he's throwing all his chips in on 'he CARES'.

Pfft.

[habbalah]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

I heard about this on the radio. Like Chain said, let's ignore the fact that she fell from grace; even if you just take her as a cultural icon, I don't think she deserves to have the flag lowered for her. Unless you lost your life in service to this country, or you served in a public office and passed away, I don't believe you deserve it (and I might even debate the latter).

[MaskedOne]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

She did not to my knowledge ever willingly place her life in extreme jeopardy for the sake of her home state or the United States. She also to my knowledge never held one of the handful of public offices that get flags lowered as a matter of policy. Once those two criteria are checked 'NO', I become profoundly skeptical of seeing a state lowering its flags to half staff. I won't say that I'm dead-set against all other reasons but I want to hear about something damned impressive that she did for her state to earn this honor and I haven't heard of anything that qualifies. I'm not overly concerned about the drug issues at the moment, either the woman has performed an exceptional service to her state that might merit an exception to normal protocols or Christie should never have even considered this. After someone provides evidence that she personally did something profound for her state, I'll worry about the drug issues. Till then, she's done nothing to earn the honor so she can't really lose something she never had to start with.

[anunitu]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

Hey MaskedOne,as Gov. Chris Christie just said on the news. "Just write a check,and shut up!!" That guy is kinda a loose cannon in my opinion anyway. And I live in NJ.

[Amelia-Mary]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

She wasn't that important, the world can live without her, and are continuing to do so. The most she warrants is a televised funeral so her family which weren't able to get in because of the large amounts of celebrities there.

[thalassa]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

If that is the trend in his state--to honor those that have made their home there, made their mark in the world and done some good in their community, then I don't see what the big deal is. Its not like she died with a needle in her arm and a underage hooker in her lap... The fact that she struggled with addiction and with some shitty choice in men just makes her more of a person, not less.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

That's kind of why I say I have to ignore the drugs aspect, Thal. My OWN history of battling addictions makes it a bit insensitive and hypocritical of me to begrudge HER for it. So I have to look at it in the sense of "what does it take to be honored in such a way?" And balance that with the political-social obsession with someone else's life (and reality). I mean, are our lives so bankrupt that we have to live vicariously through politicians and celebrities? Is that the "freedom" that our armed forces defend?? Like: Ignorant zombies with absolutely no involvement in their OWN lives.

That's the point that I start turning a little green around the gills.

[thalassa]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

I don't think its so much a need to live vicariously via a celebrity...although I'm sure that is the motivation for some people, but that this person's gift (whatever they might have done in their private life) touched so many people in their lives and made it better somehow. Whitney Houston might have just been an 80's singer to me, but for a good number of people, she was a substantial part of their lives, the same way an influential teacher or a beloved minister or the cool aunt might have been---just for millions instead of a dozen or so.

[anunitu]

Re: Whitney Houston gets state flag lowered for her

She wasn't that important, the world can live without her, and are continuing to do so. The most she warrants is a televised funeral so her family which weren't able to get in because of the large amounts of celebrities there.

If I remember the Family wanted a small funeral,with just Family.