Lowering the flag has lost all its meaning if we don't do it for real heroes

I have not blogged about Whitney Houston's dead because most people that I know have saturated their blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook Walls talking about her dead as it's the end of the world. Well, I am sorry, I liked her a lot, but it's not the end of the world.

But when you elevate Whitney, or any other celebrity to the level of a soldier, who fights for the freedom of a country, and sacrifices his life for it, that's disgusting. I would do have great respect for fire fighters, cops, and even some doctors, but not Whitney Houston. She died, as Jim West  has already said,

It cheapens the meaning of the respect duly shown to those who have died in service to others.  Whitney Houston died, and it's a tragedy, but she didn't die on some field of battle or fighting some horrible blaze: she died from excessive self indulgence.  That hardly merits the same respect soldiers and patriots are shown.

But read at what a parent of a fallen soldier did upon hearing what the Governor of New Jersey ordered to remember the death of Whitney Houston:

When John Burri heard that New Jersey ordered flags flown at half-staff to honor Whitney Houston, he drove to his local Flags Unlimited store, bought a New Jersey state flag, brought it to his Michigan home, and burned it on his outdoor grill. "It was $12.95 and it was the best money I ever spent," says the father of Army Spc. Eric Burri, who was killed in Iraq in 2005. Michigan's governor ordered that state's flags flown at half-staff for one day to honor Burri's son, and it's an honor that should be reserved for those who died in the line of service, Burri says.

This type of events should be guarded, so they don't lose their cultural meaning. If we start to lower the flag for someone who dies of a drug overdose, or too much drinking, or indulging themselves, we are cheapening the act. What did Whitney fight for? I liked her music, but I don't think she deserves to be put on par with those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

For New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to order the same honor for Houston is "a slap in the face," Burri tells the Detroit News. "It cheapens the meaning of lowering that flag. They're watering down the meaning of a hero." His action was a legal one, a law professor notes, since the Supreme Court has ruled that the burning of a US flag is constitutionally protected speech—and those decisions would also apply to state flags. Christie was criticized by others for his decision, but he defended it last week, calling Houston a "cultural icon" of whom New Jersey residents are proud.

So "cultural icons" get the same honour as those who put their lives on the line? Despicable way of thinking, and Gov. Christie should apologize to those he has offended. 

Whitney, I liked you, but you have no place among the real heroes of this world.