Comments on: North Carolina Man Quits Rather than Lower Flag for Helms

By: edith englund

edith englund — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:30:52 +0000

Mr. Eason III displayed 'civil disobedience'...and there is nothing wrong with that. Perhaps living in a state that elects a bigot to represent them in the United States Senate was something a democrat there couldn't stomach any longer. Who ever wrote that the state gives you a cushy retirement knows nothing about the poor retirement programs of state employees... Kudos to Mr. Eason ... Hitler hated the Jews...should the Germans have flown their flags at half mast when he died? If the governor tells you to go jump off a bridge...would you do it? I think many of the bloggers on this forum would...so much for good sense.

By: Tlaloc

Tlaloc — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:28:58 +0000

Wow, he really showed 'em. As a result of his making a point that no one will notice he is now over 50, out of work and the two newest bullets on his resume are "exceeds expectations in the area of inflexibility" and "really, really bad at cost / benefit analysis."

I guess you didn't read down to the part that said:

Amusingly, it turns out that Eason was spared having to quit before being eligible for a retirement pension

i.e. he *is* eligible for a retirement pension this time around. I can't count the number of "career limiting statements" I'd make if I knew I had a cushy pension waiting for me on the other side of the exit interview. Seriously.

By: Eric Edwards

Eric Edwards — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:00:16 +0000

Good for the state that this clown is gone! He learned the hard way that his personal politics do not trump the dictates of his bosses; if the governor tells you to fly the flags at half mast, do it. You don't get to create your own rules for your own ends. And North Carolina was called "The Old North State" for much longer than "The Tar Heel State", and we have obviously heard of all weather flags. Don't throw stones at us because of the actions of this pompous, self serving hack!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:42:49 +0000

Wow, he really showed 'em. As a result of his making a point that no one will notice he is now over 50, out of work and the two newest bullets on his resume are "exceeds expectations in the area of inflexibility" and "really, really bad at cost / benefit analysis." My question is: Do all supervisors in NC State Govt visit all of their subordinate facilities to check the flags, or did someone in his department rat him out?

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:22:25 +0000

The Palmetto State is South Carolina. North Carolina is the Tar Heel State or the Old North State.

I knew that! Well, at least the Tar Heel part; never heard the "Old North State" moniker before.

By: Tlaloc

Tlaloc — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:20:00 +0000

I have no love for Helms but he wasn't pure evil. He was wrong, very wrong, a lot. He was also right sometimes. Steve Aftergood of the FAS's Secrecy project (which looks at government secrecy issues) pointed out that Helms had actually done a fair amount to fight government secrecy. Now some of that was probably partisan, but it was still right.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:21:54 +0000

I held Jesse in disdain, not only for his politics, but also the fact that he a) forced me to pay DC income tax when it took Foreign Service Officers outside the exemption offered other commissioned officers of the USG (i.e., military) when domiciled in DC concomitant to being assigned to headquarters, and b) killed off the US Information Agency (aided and abetted by Warren Christopher).

But he was still worthy of professional respect as a US Senator and, for a time, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

I had a hard time convincing co-workers at State (where USIA ended up) that they needed to cover his statements, even if they were dumb, even if they didn't agree, simply because he was Chairman of the Committee. Like his politics or not, he is/was owed a certain level of respect. He was elected to his position; Civil Service employees are not.

By: Triumph

Triumph — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:20:06 +0000

This guy is a typical no-good liberal. If it hadn't been for Helms, the crappy NC Standards Lab wouldn't even be in business.

Scum.

By: DA

DA — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:45:41 +0000

Lucky for him they apparently haven’t heard of all-weather flags in the Palmetto State.

The Palmetto State is South Carolina. North Carolina is the Tar Heel State or the Old North State.