Half - Staff Recognition

So far this year, the President has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff 9 times.

Governor Walker has ordered it 10 times in Wisconsin so far in 2016.

The Associated Press  reports during 2015 the 50 governors and federal government ordered the flags lowered on 328 of 365 days.

Too much?

A number of years ago, if I saw a flag at half-staff it caught my attention.  If I didn't know why the special honor was done, I looked it up.

Now the flag seems to be virtually parked half way up the pole.

It's an extraordinary honor.  But I think the honor might be losing some of its special quality because the act of lowering isn't unusual anymore.

I won't argue over each individual order from the Governor or President - in today's social media world I can imagine a reason for some of the orders is political.  The leader, or their aides, don't want to be seen as callous for failing to lower the flag.

Instead, they run the risk of making it so common it is regarded mostly as a participation ribbon.