Should NJ lower it's flags to half mast for Whitney Houston?

[Synthaholic]

Whitney Houston was knocking back straight whiskeys at 8AM the day she died AFTER a night of heavy partying. It takes real committment to the lifestyle to find this honorable. Jim Beam might want to lower their company flag to half mast. That I can see. Mexico might want to lower it's flag to half mast. That I can see. There might have been a time when Whitney Houston was a worthy person and could sing. That hasn't been for 15 years at least. At the time of her death she was reprehensible.

Link?

 

[Synthaholic]

Whitney Houston was knocking back straight whiskeys at 8AM the day she died AFTER a night of heavy partying. It takes real committment to the lifestyle to find this honorable. Jim Beam might want to lower their company flag to half mast. That I can see. Mexico might want to lower it's flag to half mast. That I can see. There might have been a time when Whitney Houston was a worthy person and could sing. That hasn't been for 15 years at least. At the time of her death she was reprehensible.

Let's not go overboard here...

Reprehensible? She had a substance abuse problem and was unable to gain control over it. Addiction has been a problem for a thousand years. Most are able to avoid it, but those who can't, suffer for the rest of their lives

I prefer to reserve the term reprehensible for people who hurt others

Again, my only objection is that I think the flag should be used to honor heroes and a pop singer is not a hero

I think there are different definitions of hero.

 

[Synthaholic]

Whitney Houston was knocking back straight whiskeys at 8AM the day she died AFTER a night of heavy partying. It takes real committment to the lifestyle to find this honorable. Jim Beam might want to lower their company flag to half mast. That I can see. Mexico might want to lower it's flag to half mast. That I can see. There might have been a time when Whitney Houston was a worthy person and could sing. That hasn't been for 15 years at least. At the time of her death she was reprehensible.

Let's not go overboard here...

Reprehensible? She had a substance abuse problem and was unable to gain control over it. Addiction has been a problem for a thousand years. Most are able to avoid it, but those who can't, suffer for the rest of their lives

Again, my only objection is that I think the flag should be used to honor heroes and a pop singer is not a hero

The day before Houston died, her daughter was found in the bathtub unconscious from her own drug use. She went to the hospital and released the same day, only to be readmitted the next day. That night Houston was partying it up and the next morning was in the restaurant knocking back straights as fast as poor Emilio could bring them.

Yes this is reprehensible. Beyond reprehensible.

You're full of shit.

 

[Inthemiddle]

Yes, those people are aka weak minded.

This reply not only demonstrates your complete ignorance on the matter, it actually contradicts your position. Being "weak minded" cannot possibly apply to someone who develops an addiction from marginal use. Either, there is no substantial urge to use the substance (thus negating the "weak minded" allegation), or they are routinely suppressing a strong urge (thus negating the "weak minded" allegation).

I'd be willing to bet that you would have similar things to say about people with other mental health issues, such as bi-polar disorder, anti-social personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, or others.

Giving bad behavior an excusable label is just so neat huh.

See, this is your problem. You assume that addiction arises and persists from nothing more than bad behavior. And that is completely untrue. You haven't the slightest bit of knowledge or understanding of addiction. It is a disease. It follows a disease process just like any other.

Backbone, will power, strength. We all have it, some are unwilling to use it. That is their choice.

Those things have nothing to do with addiction or overcoming it, anymore than will power will cure Muscular Dystrophy. That kind of mentality has lead more people into addiction, and left them there. There's a reason why the American Medical Association now recommends that smokers seek medical help if they wish to quit. Because will power is a very poor cure for addiction. It's never been effective. But continuing developments in medical treatment for addictions continues to produce more and more success stories.

 

[Inthemiddle]

I honestly don't know. But what I do know is for a generation now we have tried to label bad behavior as a medical condition. That removes any element of personal responsibility and as such we've had a generation of youth drugged by doctors diagnosis's of this ailment or that. It's sad

That's completely untrue. Diabetes is a medical condition. That doesn't remove the patient's responsibility to take their medicine. People need to be held accountable for their recoveries, not their addictions.

 

[freedombecki]

If some of you could see Whitney's Charity Work page, you'd lower the flag to the ground. She helped many