Flags at Half-Mast

We're about to cross the line between 2012 and 2013. Lately I can't remember a time when I rode by the Post Office or the schools and didn't see flags at half-mast.

I'm tired of this, ladies and gentlemen. More than I've ever been, I'm ready to hear good answers. I haven't heard any lately, so I'm working on my own. Do you have any?

15 comments:

E Hines said...

Not a fun answer, but the drum I've been beating for a few months.

This struggle isn't going to be won or lost in a few easy, or cataclysmic, battles. It's a long struggle; the 30 Years War was only a generation or two. We've been four or five generations in this downward slide, reversing it will take at least a couple of generations, and then climbing back up out of our hole will take generations more.

If we have the stomach for it. If not, well, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

If we do have the stomach for it, though, the outcome is a foregone conclusion: the entitlement givers and getters have no tools for staying the course.

Eric Hines

Grim said...

Well, I'm a killer. If it came down to killing the right people, I'd be on board. The problem I've got is watching the wrong people die. That's what I'm tired of.

I know that I'm not a good man. But I want to see the weak protected. That's what we're for; it's why God endures my kind. We're failing our duty, and I'm not sure why. I just know I don't want to see any more flags at half-mast, not for children, and not for firemen.

My father was a fireman. It shouldn't be like this.

Anonymous said...

My first reaction: stop lowering the flag for things like the school and movie theater shooting. It strikes me as maudlin and inappropriate.

Second reaction: I'm with Eric. We need to work with patience and quiet effort, rebuilding our culture and country (or countries) one day at a time, one student, child, or friend at a time. I think things like the Human Wave in fiction books is a start - tell stories and live lives that encourage and uplift, that inspire and strengthen the spirit, rather than the "grey goo" so popular among the self-proclaimed arbiters of culture and manners (or lack thereof).

Disclaimer: My fiction collection "A Cat Among Dragons" is Human Wave, as is my history work, so I do have an interest in encouraging similar efforts.

LittleRed1

E Hines said...

And this excerpt from a speech that General George S Patton, Jr, used to give on occasion:

Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.

You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.

When you, here, every one of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players.

Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser.


Eric Hines

E Hines said...

I know that I'm not a good man.

None of us are good men. It's why we have God. You describe one direction of the relationship. It's a two-way street.

Eric Hines

Grim said...

I wouldn't be too confident about that proposition, not as you have expressed it. What is owed from On High?

Not much. From on low, though, much is asked and unproduced.

Russ said...

"What is owed from On High?"

Nothing, it was given as a free gift.

I think that you would have felt right at home with the biblical David. He too knew war, the desire for justice, and the realization that he did not live up to God's vision for him.

God called him friend.

Grim said...

Brother, you do me too much honor. I am not fit for it.

Russ said...

"I am not fit for it."
That was my point. None of us are. Grace was freely given.
David was a flawed man and God called him friend.
We, being under Grace, have the opportunity to be even more than David. See Matthew 11:11

Tom said...

These are my answers:

First, get rid of federal legislation that keeps CCL holders from carrying in schools and other places.

Second, reform the way we handle the mentally ill.

Third, have patience and change the culture.

Tom said...

LR1: What is this 'Human Wave' you speak of? I don't recall hearing of it before, but it sounds interesting.

Eric Blair said...

Turn off the news. The half-mast thing is a sorry fad, a gesture made empty by the constant recourse to it by mindless politicians.

Anonymous said...

Tom, the call for Human Wave fiction emerged at Sarah Hoyt's blog in March, got picked up by Glen Reynolds and is spreading quietly through a set of fiction authors. It all started with the posts "Bring Back that Wonder Fiction" and "What is Human Wave Science Fiction" over at accordingtohoyt.com and snowballed. It is a rebellion against the "grey goo" science fiction, fantasy, and literature that the experts and cognoscenti publishers keep pushing. Instead Human Wave looks back to the so-called Golden Age of sci-fi. It is supposed to be encouraging, inspiring, pro-science, pro-human, pro-individual. You can look at Amazon's categories and tags for Human Wave to get an idea of what sort of newer books are included.

LittleRed1

Tom said...

Thanks! It sounds cool; I'll check it out.

douglas said...

Grim, you say "I wouldn't be too confident about that proposition, not as you have expressed it. What is owed from On High?

Not much. From on low, though, much is asked and unproduced."


Should a child say as much about a parent? Is that not a fit analogy- we call him 'our Father', after all.
I understand your questioning and doubt, but I suppose our journey is to see what we can do that is positive- it's a miracle we do anything positive at all, really. Glory in the goods of men, and accept that there will always be the dark side too- it is as it is.