My Thoughts on the Flag Question
I am not making a Liberal/Conservative argument
I am not purposefully continuing this debate but only to get my two cents out there as the news continues to talk about nothing but the topic.
The government's decision to reinstate proper flag protocol and to only lower the flag on November 11 to honour all fallen soldiers is not disrespectful. It is honouring Canadian soldiers in the manner they want and the tradition they respect. It is not a plot to erase all knowledge of the war from the minds of Canadians. I would hope it helps to avoid the current desensitization brought on by the media circus and dramatization. It wouldn't even be a question if it weren't for the last government having changed the protocol for intentions I think are at least as questionable as the current issue.
As for the media ban on the funerals I think it is an over reaction to say that the government is trying to supress coverage of the effects of the war. The media can still report on the deaths of soldiers and their funerals and all the morbid and dramatized details they want. They just can't attend the funeral to have video to show their audience. But I don't tend to be the type of person who needs to see a picture to be convinced of the tragedy of a situation.
Would you feel it would be appropriate for you to attend someone's funeral when you have no relation to them? Then do you feel it appropriate to have the media do it for you?
I appreciate the freedom to information and being an informed citizen but I think the "news" (for the most part) is just dramatized gossip and manipulative opinions disguised as objective reporting and it is scary to think of how many people rely on the news to tell them what they should think.
From today's Calgary Sun:
But perhaps the best argument of all belongs to Canada's valiant war past.
Exactly 60,661 Canadian soldiers died in the First World War, at a time when the entire population of Canada was barely eight million. Almost 43,000 Canadians perished in the Second World War in a country of 11.5 million.
If we lowered the flag one day for everyone of those who gave all in those two great wars the flag atop the Peace Tower would have to have been lowered starting in 1914 and we'd have more than 190 years to go.
That would render the lowering of the flag to utter meaninglessness and morbidity.
That would be very bad manners indeed and ought to end this debate now.
