Is a South Carolina Sheriff Defying President Obama?

The Pickens County Sheriff has decided his police department won't be lowering their flag to half-staff in honor of Nelson Mandela. 

I'm kind of surprised that this story made CNN, but it did. It's seems like a nothing of a story, really. Some guy isn't going to lower his flag for Nelson Mandela. Ok. So what?

And this angle of this county sheriff "defying President Obama's order" is ridiculous. The President can order the military to lower their flags. The President can order the FBI lower their flags. He can even order US embassies and the Agriculture Department to lower their flags.

But Pickens County? They don't take orders from the President of the United States. The President can't order the Pickens County Sheriff to do squat. Seriously. Where does a journalist get off saying crap like this?

You can debate whether or not it's proper to lower the flag for Mandela, but ultimately it's a judgment call, and it doesn't really mean anything. It's a symbolic thing. But I'm sure that this won't stop everyone from saying the guy's a racist or something.