Cole County, Missouri Commission Votes Against Flying Flags At Half Mast
It was no surprise when President Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in a show of respect for the mostly LGBT victims in the Orlando mass shooting. As noted by Think Progress, President Bush had flags lowered after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 for five days, so it’s a fairly standard sign of honor when these types of tragedies happen. What may be surprising, however, is this: the commission of Cole County, Missouri took a vote and actually decided against lowering their flags. Why? Because the victims didn’t deserve it.
The three person commission initially voted 2-1 against lowering the flags before one commissioner changed his vote after taking heat for his disgraceful action. The flag was finally lowered Tuesday afternoon but the damage was done. When asked why he voted against the symbolic gesture, Kris Scheperle responded:
“I want to honor those who have served our country, but we can’t lower it for every event like this that occurs. I do feel for those who were gunned down, but I don’t think it warrants lowering the flag.”
He feels for the victims, just not enough to send someone outside and spend all of sixty seconds to show a symbolic sign of respect. Don’t strain yourself, Mr. Commissioner.
Scheperle eventually changed his vote and left a message on his Facebook page explaining the change. Left out, of course, was any mention of an actual apology or the LGBT community that was targeted in the attack, something a certain political party has been consistently doing since Sunday morning.
The other commissioner voting with Scheperle was Jeff Hoelscher. His response when asked to explain his vote was:
“Lowering it too much takes away from the honor. I feel for these victims and for their families, but I don’t feel this was a time for the flag to be lowered.”
Hoelscher said he stood by his decision even after his fellow commissioner changed his vote. Feel free to send him a note expressing any feelings you may have on his position at his Facebook page.
As most of the world wrapped its arms around Orlando and the victims of this awful hate crime and terrorist attack, some decided to shun and/or insult them. Cole County, Missouri became one of the latter with its despicable decision. Pressure forced a reversal, but not before these two commissioners showed their true colors. Shame on them.
Read more at ReverbPress.com.