You have to wonder sometimes what substances some Republicans are smoking these days.
It's fine to be frugal with tax dollars, but this is ridiculous.
A soldier from Alabama who is stationed in Afghanistan sent an email to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley with a simple request -- the kind of request that any sane public official would fall over himself to fulfill.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Howard J. Blake Jr. in an email to Bentley's office asked for a state flag so that he could "proudly display it" at his camp, which is near Kandahar.
"In return, I could send a photo of the Alabama soldiers here at the camp holding the flag," Blake wrote. "I understand that you have more important things to do than send things out to the other side of the planet, but this would surely make our stay here feel more like home, a home back in Bama that we all talk about almost daily."
The governor's reply? No.
The reason, according to the governor's press secretary? Costs too much.
"There are all kinds of requests we receive for flags every month," Ardis said. "We just can't afford it."
"I wish we could provide the flag. I wish we had the dollars to do it," she said. "We just don't."
An Alabama state flag, BTW, costs $30.95 at a local retail outlet. For those unfamiliar with the Alabama flag, it is a red St. Andrew's cross on a plain white field.
So, Alabama is apparently too poor to give state flags to its soldiers serving our country in war zones.
But wait!!!!! A miracle has happened!!!!
A spokeswoman for Gov. Robert Bentley today said the governor's office will start giving an Alabama state flag to any state member of the U.S. armed forces who is serving in a combat zone who requests one.
The statement came after The News published a story about the governor's office refusing the request of a soldier from Alabama, Army Sergeant First Class Howard J. Blake Jr, who asked the office for an Alabama flag to fly in Afghanistan, where he now is deployed.
That was quick.