Americans like sybolism. The flag fying at half staff is a form of recognition. It was the right thing to do.Comparing deaths at VT with our military dying in Iraq is a mistake. The fact is that 32 at VT vs. 3300+ in Iraq attracts a bigger audience. That is tragic. I can’t blame the military families for being offended.

Lowering the flag for our dead soldiers is clearly appropriate, but let’s not forget that there are several VTU-like events in Iraq every day!  Get a grip, America, the VTU massacre pales next to what we have perpetrated in Iraq.  Instead of dealing with our country’s biggest and most immediate failure, we prefer to go through elaborate mourning rituals in which we get to enjoy the emotional high of victimhood while we all naively ask “why?”  Yet, every day we observe the consequences of our vengeful and irresponsible war on Iraq, but we continue to deny the obvious fact that we are the cause of it.  It is hard to say whether we are the most ignorant or the most arrogant of people.  We only deny the whole mess we have caused by engaging in mass mournings for the victims of the awfaul VTU massacre.  And now we are being asked to lower the flag for our soldiers killed in Iraq, which still avoids the real issue of our international aggression.  Wouldn’t it be more useful to lower the flag for the true victimes of the daily VTU-like massacres we have brought to Iraq?  Of course, we would have to admit our guilt and change the way we bahave as a country.  I am not sure we are capable of that; we seem to prefer rituals like lowering flags and cluelessly sitting around asking how it is possible that such bad things happen to us!

A little late to ask this question. From the very beginning of the Bush/Cheney lies, part of the scam was to sneak the dead US soldiers back into the country with as little acknowledgement as they could.

When an administration is run solely on PR, negative facts and visions are not allowed, even for view by our supposed President “Frat Brat”. The visions might actually touch any humanity his arrogance hasn’t removed from his heart. President “I won’t go to Vietnam, but now that I am too old to be asked, I will send thousands to an un-necessary War, ruin their lives and create chaos because Jesus told me so”.

The latest example of Hokie Journalism is one of avoidance of uncomfortable news regarding events in which the media has been complicit. Better to focus incessantly on the tragedy at Virginai Tech than the much larger and more criminal tragedy in Iraq.

We should keep our flags at half staff until this administration is removed and the troops return.

Americans should take the initiative and lower the flag to half-mast every time it is reported one of our military has given their life in support of our country. Sgt. Wilt is totally correct when he states that our troops who died should be given the same respect as others who gave their life. Afterall, is it not our troops who put their lives on the line in support of this same flag?

In early March I began asking Jim Webb and John Warner to ask that our flags be lowered to half-mast until all our service men and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan.  I’ve written to each of them 3 times, once by snail mail.  Know what?  I’ve never gotten any response or even an acknowledgement from either of these elected officials.  And I sent the same email to Pelosi on March 1…nothing from her either.

CNN ran a headline that read something like “Promising Young Lives Cut Short Too Soon”.

I too wondered why they don’t apply that same standard to those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

How many exceptional young men and women have died for Bush’s ego and US oil interests? And how many more will have to, before this madness is over?

Rosie O’Donnell also observed this mourning oddity on her “View” program last week. This administration doesn’t want any more reminders about the absurdity of this war, and the unnecessary sacrifices of our courageous troops. They don’t want coffins to be shown coming off aircraft, and they tightly “manage” the news coming out of Iraq. Nine more soldiers died today and more will die as we extend tours of duty to 15 months, and cut short the time away from the front lines. So much for supporting the troops. We just have to wonder how much more damage this administration will cause in their time left in office.

good point, Sgt. Witt.

I think the Commander in Chief was AWOL many years ago and the more that his conscience bothers him - lamenting his own cowardice and not living up to his old man - the more he talks toughs and hangs out with the troops.  He’s all title and brass. But no guts. And he knows it.

So….when in doubt, talk tough and send other to die.