A Nice Political Thread: Gov. Bentley Denies Soldier's Request for a Flag

DiamondDust · Aug 31, 2011

I know Alabama is basically broke and everyone and their brother apparently wants a flag, but someone in the Governor's office needs to teach him a thing or two about prioritizing and public relations.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/08...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

But I'll go ahead and get this out there:

Bentley is getting raked over the coals, but don't think for a second it wouldn't be worse if this was a Democrat in office. He'd already have been branded a Sharia loving godless communist. I'm waiting for Bentley to get that designation or for someone to ask why he doesn't support the troops.

cbi1972 · Aug 31, 2011

It is the people of Alabama that make it great, not the government. The soldier should know this. I know I would pay for some Alabama flags to be sent over there if someone else organized the effort.

rizolltizide · Aug 31, 2011

I'll go see if my neighbors have a spare rainbow to give. They're usually looking to do some recruiting.

DiamondDust · Aug 31, 2011

A marine friend of mine did bring up a good point: They aren't allowed to fly national or state flags in those countries because of the symbolism of occupation, but even he was like, "Still... the Governor could have sent him a blasted flag."

jthomas666 · Aug 31, 2011

DiamondDust said:
A marine friend of mine did bring up a good point: They aren't allowed to fly national or state flags in those countries because of the symbolism of occupation, but even he was like, "Still... the Governor could have sent him a blasted flag."

Yeah, I suppose he could have, but wouldn't that then obligate him to send flags to every other AL serviceman/woman who asked? We all saw what happened after Mila Kunis accepted the invite to the Marine Ball.

DiamondDust · Aug 31, 2011

And here's the about face from Governor Bentley:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/08/alabama_governors_office_does.html

formersoldier71 · Aug 31, 2011

DiamondDust said:
They aren't allowed to fly national or state flags in those countries because of the symbolism of occupation...

Incorrect.

BTW, your PM box is full.

DiamondDust · Aug 31, 2011

formersoldier71 said:
Incorrect.

BTW, your PM box is full.

Misquoted him... he said "technically not allowed".

And I just cleared it out, but it was far from being full.

Bama Torch in Pcola · Aug 31, 2011

Bentley is a sharia loving godless communist.

crimsonaudio · Aug 31, 2011

Bama Torch in Pcola said:
Bentley is a sharia loving godless communist.

Hahaha, nice.

Bama Reb · Sep 1, 2011

UPDATE:

Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday said he changed a "stupid" and "terrible" policy under which his office had refused to send a state flag requested by a soldier from Alabama who is stationed in Afghanistan.

"It's a stupid policy. It's a terrible policy. And we changed it today," Bentley told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Many dozens of people emailed and phoned The News after reading that Bentley's staff had refused to send Blake a flag. Many people said they intended to send him a flag, and several people, including Democratic and Republican legislators, said they already had mailed him flags.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/09/alabama_gov_robert_bentley_cha.html

Looks like SFC Blake is going to have not just one Alabama flag, but enough to surround his entire compound with them. :biggrin:

bamacon · Sep 1, 2011

I bet Dr. Bentley didn't even know about this when the initial denial went out. Sounds like a staffer was simply following very clear guidelines. I'll cut the gov some slack and give kudos for making the change.

willie52 · Sep 1, 2011

I'm don't beat the drum for Bentley (still reminds me of the preacher or whatever in Poltergeist) but I don't think it was him but a policy. He immediately reversed it and saw this morning where he is going to write a personal apology to the soldier. I'll give him a hand for that!

Tidewater · Sep 1, 2011

jthomas666 said:
Yeah, I suppose he could have, but wouldn't that then obligate him to send flags to every other AL serviceman/woman who asked? We all saw what happened after Mila Kunis accepted the invite to the Marine Ball.

Another sign of the impending apocalypse, I agree with jt here.
Here is the way I would recommend this be handled. It is bad form for any service member to solicit any gift based on his status as a serving member of the military. It is bad form and may be a violation of regs.
The best way to accomplish the same end would be to contact a local Alabama VFW post or American Legion Post, and get the Alabama flag through a generous VFW/AmLegion donor.
Heck last year, a Mississippi National Guard soldier in Iraq (Bama fan) asked me for a University of Alabama script A flag, and I went out and bought one and mailed it to him. I supported the troops, supported Bama fans serving overseas, and never stepped across an ethical line.

GreatMarch · Sep 1, 2011

Tidewater said:
Another sign of the impending apocalypse, I agree with jt here.
Here is the way I would recommend this be handled. It is bad form for any service member to solicit any gift based on his status as a serving member of the military. It is bad form and may be a violation of regs.
The best way to accomplish the same end would be to contact a local Alabama VFW post or American Legion Post, and get the Alabama flag through a generous VFW/AmLegion donor.
Heck last year, a Mississippi National Guard soldier in Iraq (Bama fan) asked me for a University of Alabama script A flag, and I went out and bought one and mailed it to him. I supported the troops, supported Bama fans serving overseas, and never stepped across an ethical line.

The guy has a wife here in Alabama, why can't she go and buy him a flag to hang in his compound. I did not think people had that much room in quarters to have things as large as flags. I have heard of people having school flags, wearing team hats in uniform and now this. The men whose command I served under back in the 90s were real hard "you know whats". The only time you ever saw a team hat or shirt was while dressed for PT or certain port visits and no one had any flags.

Tidewater · Sep 1, 2011

GreatMarch said:
The guy has a wife here in Alabama, why can't she go and buy him a flag to hang in his compound. I did not think people had that much room in quarters to have things as large as flags. I have heard of people having school flags, wearing team hats in uniform and now this. The men whose command I served under back in the 90s were real hard "you know whats". The only time you ever saw a team hat or shirt was while dressed for PT or certain port visits and no one had any flags.

You sound as if you were a Navy vet. (Thanks for your service, by the way. Navy life afloat is tough duty), but Army, Marine & USAF guys and gals ashore have a bit more space to hang things up in their hooch than sailors have in their sleeping spaces. I am not sure whether this soldier wanted to fly an Alabama flag form a flagpole somewhere, or on the wall in a mass hall or just in his hooch.
At any rate, writing to the Governor and using one's status as a serving soldier to pressure the governor to spend money on a flag is just opening up a whole can of worms. Is the Gov. now obligated to send an Alabama state flag to every National Guard soldier? Who pays for that? What other freebies is a NG solider entitled to ask for? etc. Going to the VFW/American Legion is much cleaner ethically, since any benny provided would be a free-will gift from a private citizen (VFW post) not based on any implied obligation by chain of command and not funded by the people of the state.
Of course, the Governor could simply say, "Hey, soldier, you are now under a Title X Federal status, not a Title 32 Alabama National Guard status. Call the President for a US flag." (Of course, that would be politically untenable, and, in fact, kind of what Gov. Bentley appears to have done).

BAMAFAN IN NY · Sep 1, 2011

I wanna know why these soldiers are always asking for free stuff?

I mean, they are always writing and asking for free stuff. They write companies all the time asking for free stuff. And then when the companies dont send it, they go on the interwebs and talk about how unamerican the companies are.. It just doesnt seem right to me. Im all for people, companies, politicians.. whatever.. sending stuff over there.. but the whole writing and asking for it.. I dont know.

Flame away.

Tidewater · Sep 1, 2011

I Support The Occupation Of Iraq, But I Don't Support Our Troops.

Bama Reb · Sep 1, 2011

Tidewater said:
Another sign of the impending apocalypse, I agree with jt here.
Here is the way I would recommend this be handled. It is bad form for any service member to solicit any gift based on his status as a serving member of the military. It is bad form and may be a violation of regs.
The best way to accomplish the same end would be to contact a local Alabama VFW post or American Legion Post, and get the Alabama flag through a generous VFW/AmLegion donor.
Heck last year, a Mississippi National Guard soldier in Iraq (Bama fan) asked me for a University of Alabama script A flag, and I went out and bought one and mailed it to him. I supported the troops, supported Bama fans serving overseas, and never stepped across an ethical line.

Oh, I don't know. I remember way back in 1969, when I was in Vietnam. The only beer we could get was (Carling) Black Label. Yuk! I and everyone else I know wanted Budweiser, but unfortunately Anheiser-Busch did not have a contract with the US Gov't to provide their products to GI's in Southeast Asia. A bunch of us guys got together and started a writing campaign - which turned out to be a writing onslaught to Anheiser-Busch requesting that they send us some Budweiser. It took months and months, and a lot or promotion up through the ranks, but we finally got it done. One day, we went out to the helicopter pad to receive our weekly rations, and there it was. A CH-47 helicopter had delivered pallets and pallets of Budweiser beer!
It was still 3.2 beer (3.2% alcohol), but we didn't care. The cans that it was in were readily distinguishable from regular stateside Bud because all the cans were labeled upside down.

So you'd be surprised at what can be accomplished just through simple requests from military personnel, especially those who are serving overseas and have limited or no access to most civilian products. Most of the large corporations in this great nation just absolutely love their GI's. :biggrin2:

cbi1972 · Sep 1, 2011

Bama Reb said:
So you'd be surprised at what can be accomplished just through simple requests from military personnel, especially those who are serving overseas and have limited or no access to most civilian products. Most of the large corporations in this great nation just absolutely love their GI's. :biggrin2:

Like Hormel?

A Nice Political Thread: Gov. Bentley Denies Soldier's Request for a Flag

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