To the author of the following Facebook post:

Whitney Houston had a drug problem, went to rehab, died in her bathtub and got recognized on the news and internet. NJ governor ordered the flags half mast on Saturday as a tribute to Whitney. 24 year old Army Pfc. Cesar Cortez, assigned to 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Fort Bliss, Texas, died the exact same day serving during Operation Enduring Freedom and I, personally, haven’t heard his name until now. If you believe that the people who are dying daily for your and my freedom are the true American heroes and deserve more respect than any celebrity, then copy and post.

I am declining to repost this on my Facebook page.  It is a mean and faulty argument that unnecessarily brings two very different issues into competition.  But before I explain that, let me point out that it makes an absolute and prejudicial statement that you cannot possibly know is true, and that I wouldn’t repost without changing that anyway.  It’s the concluding statement that’s the problem.  As a teacher of writing I tell my students to try and avoid absolute statements unless they are sure they are true.

I’m not sure this is, and you cannot be either.  The problem is the phrase “more respect than any celebrity.”  Isn’t it just possible that there are some celebrities who have done great thing and deserve at least equal respect to a mediocre soldier?  There are celebrities who are known for good works.  Bob Geldof, Bono.  There are even celebrities who have served in the armed forces.  Conversely, we  know that soldiers sometimes receive dishonorable charges, and some are even courtmartialed for treason and war crimes.  So I can’t support your statement.  But that’s just an insistence on precision in language, something I get rather fussy about.  Still, let’s assume I modified it to say “at least as much respect as the vast majority of celebrities.” That would be arguable, so let me do so.
I’m not a big Whitney Houston fan, and don’t know that I would have ordered the flags at half staff where I governor of NJ, but your characterization of her is just mean and one dimensional!  You have reduced her to a dope fiend.  By your standards we would not be able to celebrate the accomplishments of Billie Holliday, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Richard Burton, Heath Ledger, Tommy Dorsey, Kurt Cobain, and too many others.   She was not being recognized for being an addict, nor for getting clean, certainly not for relapsing. She was being recognized for her role as an artist and cultural icon. She meant a lot to a lot of people.  She also gave back as a supporter of many charities, including the USO, A nonprofit, congressionally chartered, private organization, that lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families.  She also supported The Children’s Defense Fund, The United Negro College Fund, the Red Cross, and several other important charities in this country, as well as international struggles for justice such as the effort to overthrow Apartheid in South Africa. With all due respect to our nation’s military, they are not the only people who make America great. Whitney Houston was known and loved all over the world! Her career did this country great honor, even if her personal life does point to something very wrong.
Cesar Cortez of Oceanside California was a young man, only ½ Whitney Houston’s age.  Yet he was decorated, and you are right, he does deserve to be honored for his sacrifice.  He is survived by his parents and brother, and I can’t help but wonder how they feel about his name being used in this post.  I wonder if they support it.
But you are incorrect to say he hasn’t been honored.  He has been, and he will be again, and it is fitting that it is so.   This country often fails to properly take care of its living veterans and their families, sometimes even its active duty soldiers and theirs, but it seldom fails render them proper honors.  After all, it costs little to nothing to shower praise and bestow honors.  Cesar Cortez was 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command soldier who died in a vehicle accident Saturday, Feb. 11 while serving in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  His remains were flown to the United States and, as this image shows, on February 14 transferred from a plane at Dover Air Force Base in a flag draped coffin.  I can find no funeral plans, but on February 16

In memorial, Governor Brown ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol today. Pfc. Cortez’s family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor.

Maybe his name will be inscribed on a war memorial in his hometown, state or even Washington, DC.  The President sends a condolence letter to the family of every service member killed in active duty, and we, as a nation remember them all every year on Memorial Day.  Oh sure, many of us who are hypocritically posting something now about how we don’t do enough to honor those killed in the service of their country usually just travel, go on a picnic, catch up on chores, take advantage of sales, or whatever, without ever really giving a thought to those who gave their lives in war, but that’s what the day is for, anyway.  We probably should take it more seriously.
If you want to argue it is not enough for those who willingly put themselves in harms way to protect our country and our way of life, I’ll not argue with you.  How do you properly honor such a thing?  Maybe we need to remember and honor each and every one of them every day someone is killed in action.  But spare me your moral hypocrisy!  Do you honor the fallen on a daily basis?  I’m betting that you chose Pfc. Cortez because you searched a database and found he was the only one killed that day.  Each day the Department of Defense releases the names of people in the Armed Forces who die on active duty. Do you read them every day?  I don’t.  I’m ashamed to say that my heart couldn’t take it.
How does failing to honor one person or group imply you can’t honor another, anyway? Answer, it doesn’t. It makes no sense at all.  It’s not an either or proposition.  We don’t have to be a society that honors musicians or soldiers; we can be a society that honors both.  If I forgot my best friends birthday this year, does that mean I shouldn’t get cards or presents for anyone?  Or are you saying it’s a merit thing?  I need to judge the people in my life and not get anything for anyone who is less worthy than him?  But that makes it really hard, because people in my life can be measured as worthy by different standards.  Do I measure the bonds with family different than the bonds of friendship?  Are longer standing relationships worth more, because they show loyalty?  For example, let’s say I forgot my best friend since 2^nd grade’s birthday, so surely the birthday of my new friend that I really like but have only known 5-6 months has to be “forgotten” too.  But what about my brother who I am not close to at all, and who just moved way out to Minnesota, but who always remembers my birthday (even if he always gets me something inappropriate) and who would sell his home and life in the street if I needed money, because that’s what family does.
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So if you don’t think flags should be flown at half-staff in honor of Whitney Houston, have the guts to make that argument.  Don’t bring a poor dead soldier into it. For all you know, he might have been a fan of hers and not appreciate it. I believe in honoring anyone who brings honor to the nation, no matter what field.  And surely you realize, despite how you phrase it, that Governor Christie issued the order to honor the artist, not the addict.  Cortez surely had faults, too.  Governor Brown did not order flags flown at half-staff because he was perfect man or even a perfect soldier, he ordered it to honor the noble sacrifice he made for his country. I hope no one subjects his memory to what you are doing with Whitney Houston’s!
Did you know that yet another person died on that day and didn’t get the honors she deserved? Patricia Stephens Due, a prominent civil rights activist who began fighting segregation by trying to use the “Whites Only” counter at Dairy Queen when she was just 13-years-old.  Her activism continued most of her life and she paid the price for standing up for what is right.  He eyesight was damaged by a tear-gas canister, she was repeatedly arrested and beaten, and once served 49 days in jail.  She was harassed and insulted, and that’s only part of the story. Read her obituary here  It’s women like her that make this nation stand up to the ideals stated in our founding documents.  Yet as far as I can find, the governor of Florida didn’t order any flags at half-staff for her.  That offends me!  Patricia Stephens Due is a great American who held our country up to the highest standards, one we had set for ourselves, even if the Founders who wrote them may not have fully realized it.
There are still others who died around that day that are worthy of honor. What about Dr. Stephen M. Levin, who founded a clinic for 9-11 first responders and, according to the New York Times,

played a leading role in bringing attention to the medical needs of thousands of firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers who breathed in the caustic dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

How about best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow, killed in an auto-accident on the 10^th. Doesn’t someone who inspires us to be at our best deserve honor? According to his obituary, he was

co-author of the million-selling inspirational book “The Last Lecture,” was also a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Zaslow, who had an affinity for stories of heroism and resilience, worked on memoirs of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt, and airline pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who was praised for his skill after safely ditching a plane in New York’s Hudson River in 2009.

What about Anthony Shadid, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who opened our eyes to what was going on in war zones all around the world, especially the Middle East?
I submit that those are all great Americans, who have rendered service to us and our nation in some way, and they all deserve to be honored. But if not actually celebrities, they are still prominent people whose deaths are “newsworthy.” They will all probably be honored in some way, regardless.  But America is the nation it is not only because of them, but also because of schoolteachers, court reporters, human resources workers, painters, construction managers, bankers and housewives, who live their lives as good citizens and participate in society.  Someone in or retired from all those positions can be found in the death notices of the Richmond Times-Dispatch for February 11, 2012.
What makes celebrities so special? Why do we lower flags to half-staff when a soldier is killed in the line of duty, and have commemorations for Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, but we do nothing for the people who do everything they can to try and keep our young people out of harm’s why by preventing war to begin with.  When is “Diplomat’s Day”? Why don’t we put the flag at half-staff if a Peace Corps volunteer or USAID worker dies in a car crash?
Why do you insist on being so negative?  The untimely death of Whitney Houston was a shock that cause many, many people to mourn and perhaps even feel guilty about the jokes, and voyeuristic manner in which they had watched her addiction and decline.  They want or need to mourn. What harm is done by one state flying flags at half-staff?  You do no credit to the memory of the soldiers by being so petty.  Have you no respect for the memories of the deceased.  It is wrong to embroil them in your petty squabbles.
There are many ways we can serve our country.  I confess, I don’t think I have the mental constitution to join the armed forces, to carry out orders to kill if I believe the cause is wrong, and I don’t know that I have the courage to give up my life for my beliefs, if It came to that.  But I think many of us can and should be proud of what we’ve done for our nation. Anything we do that makes our fellow citizens stronger, more productive members of society, benefits us all.  Anything you can do to that honestly enhances it stature and more standing abroad, is patriotic.  Saving and cultivating our natural resources is noble service.
If you need the adoration of millions, the adrenalin rush of putting your life on the line, or that is imply where your talents lie, go for it.  But don’t belittle those who choose a different route.  It’s just not very American of you.