Flags half staff

I normally try to keep things pretty positive, but I have to be completely honest...  I'm tired of hearing about Whitney Houston.  I appreciate the fact that she had a beautiful voice, etc, etc...  But come on - flying the flags at half staff was going over the top.

Everyday, there are veterans that are buried and although their coffin is draped with the flag, unless they were killed in action, generally flags aren't flown at half staff.  I just think that those who have served our country deserve more than what someone who was famous and drank and 'drugged' their life away. 

This is the same thought process I tend to have when I comes to the President.  I strongly believe that in order to be elected to the role of "Commander-in-Chief' you should have wore a uniform at some point in time.  For someone to be in command of our military and not have any direct military understanding is a disaster waiting to happen. 

This all makes me think of two things I have come across over the years:

IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
-Charles Province

Anyway, that's enough for my tangent.