Flag at Half-Assed
Either the staff at the Route 1 Mcdonald’s entering Old Town are lazy or I am totally out of the loop because I am at a loss as to why their flag has been at half-mast for the last several days. Has their been any major tragic event in the last few days to warrant the flag being lowered that I haven’t been made aware of?
I get the impression that they lowered it back when Coretta Scott King passed and have failed to restore it to its postion ever since. I found this interesting discussion of the flag’s pole position which explains that half-mast is regulated by law and I don’t see any justification in this thread for that McDonald’s flag’s status other than laziness.
If anyone knows otherwise, please correct my ignorance.
I could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure the statute in question only applies to flags flown by government agencies or on government property. I’m fairly confident that private businesses and individuals can do as they please. It may be a first amendment issue, but I don’t know that anyone has ever tried to govern that.
Private firms and individuals may not be governed by these flag laws, but generally they do use the announcements as a guide as to when their flags should be lowered.
Maybe they’re mourning Dick Cheney’s last shred of dignity.