Pickens County sheriff refuses to fly flag at half-staff for Mandela. South Carolina. Duh!

[Lint Head]

An Upstate sheriff said in a Facebook post on Friday that he would not lower his flag for Nelson Mandela, even after an executive order from the president.

Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said in the post that he refused to lower the flag to half-staff after the death of the former South African president, who died on Thursday. Clark continued to say in the Facebook post that it should be lowered at the United States embassy in South Africa.

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/24158363/pickens-sheriff-refuses-fly-flag-at-half-staff-for-mandela

https://www.facebook.com/rick.clark.33046?fref=ts

[Ranchemp.]

1. Executive orders only apply at the federal level.

the President cannot order state/county/local entities to lower the flag in honor of a foreign dignitary.

[Lint Head]

2. Of course he can't. But it demonstrates the outright bigotry and racism that South Carolina exudes.

It was the first State to secede from the Union. Why would this jerk point out that he refused to fly the flag at half mast? He doesn't have to in the first place but he points it out that he 'will not' to make a statement of hate. Is he begging for attention or is he just an asshole. I think it is the latter.

I was born and raised in South Carolina and very aware of the caring facade the powerful portray in public and the bigoted racism they use to manipulate people behind the scenes. There are a lot of great progressive people who come 'from' S.C. But that's the point. They don't stay there, because the bigotry can smother a person.

I am not bashing the State just the strangle hold the inbred right wing bigoted ideology has on it.

[razorman]

5. My understanding is that lowering a flag is voluntary, even at the federal level.

Although, it would be rather foolish for a federal installation to refuse such a "recommendation" from the president. I do not think that the president declaring an official 'day of mourning' has the power of an executive order. I could be mistaken, though.

[catbyte]

3. Bigots are so freaking kkklassy, aren't they? Federal orders are for federal areas. Gratuitous

racism. Awesome. At least these shitheads are too stupid to hide & only manage to out themselves.

[UTUSN]

4. R#1 & K for, he's ready with his excuse ("OBAMA not 'murican") not lowering flag

in case he's around when OBAMA shuffles off this mortal coil. Rethugs just cannot help self-disclosing themselves over and over. And they wonder why they're called racists, uh, because they ARE--- COULD that be the answer, ding ding ding!1

And we veterans and basically educated types know that Federal orders apply to Federal facilities, but the local yokel could have just raised his county flag without comment and nobody would have noticed. By commenting, he showed his ignorance of Fed/local jurisdictions and exposed his racism into the bargain.