Courage of his convictions

From the N&O:

L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff.

. . .

He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his "doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice" and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

It's customary, and may even be part of the flag code, to fly the flag at half-staff in the state after the death of a Senator, regardless of how odious that Senator's career.

In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; . . . and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.

Seems like a curious thing to give up a career over, but there's no denying that Mr. Eason took the full consequences of his position. Gotta wonder why the state couldn't come up with some other discipline besides forcing him to retire, though. It's not as though good lab managers with 30 years experience grow on trees.