Reply #7: He was a government employee

[hendo]

He may not have agreed with Helms (and who can blame him) but he has to follow the rules of his position. Government position means that you do what the government wants. You are constrained by your position just like any other bureaucrat. part of being in a government building is that you honor the death of a politician by flying the flag at half staff.

To not fly the flag at half staff, rather than just a protest of the individual would have been a lack of recognition for the office that individual held. Whether the man was a racist bastard or not he was still a senator.