The N&O ran a story today about a man named L.F. Eason, a 29-year veteran of the NC Department of Agriculture that lost his job for refusing to lower the flag to half-staff to honor Jesse Helms’ passing.

Said Eason: “This is in no way a political decision. I simply do not feel it is appropriate to honor a person whose epitaph of government service was to have voted against or blocked every civil rights issue that came before the US Congress. His doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice cost North Carolina and our Nation much that we may never regain.”

I’ve gotten pretty sick of the trite coverage of Helms’ passing. I’ve decided that I’m going to consistently and repeatedly make an effort to tell people that I think they’re idiots. That way, when my friends, colleagues, etc. get interviewed on the occasion of my death, they can wholeheartedly state “I may not always have agreed with his opinions, but you always knew where he stood!”