Contibutor Mike Wingeier
The Leftist Loonies went crazy when the President had the flag at half-staff for two days and then raised it again. He is right but had to bend to the rabid Loonies. Here’s what the Federal Law says . . . by the way, this is (was) Boy Scouts 101.
THE PRESIDENT FLEW THE FLAG AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO DAYS AT FIRST
The President did exactly what was appropriate and prescribed according to tradition and to code. The White House’s decision to raise the flag on Monday morning was in exact accordance to the country’s official guidelines for flying the flag at half-staff.
The nonbinding U.S. Flag Code, adopted in 1942, dictates that when a member of Congress dies, the flag should be lowered “on the day of death and the following day.”
A similar proclamation about flag display made by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954 and amended in 1969 to include members of Congress recommends the same duration. McCain died on Saturday, and the White House flag was lowered through the end of Sunday.
4 U.S. Code § 7 – Position and manner of display
The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the 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, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.
