Christie Spars on Twitter Over Honor for Whitney Houston She was a great singer, a troubled soul, a local girl, a substance abuser. But was Whitney Houston a hero, deserving of the same tribute as fallen soldiers or police officers? Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has spent the last couple of days defending his plan to fly flags at half-staff on the day of her funeral, scheduled for Saturday. Mr. Christie, who does not mind mixing it up with constituents, took heat on Twitter and gave a little back after making the flag announcement and saying at a news conference on Tuesday that Ms. Houston "was an important part of the fabric, the cultural fabric of this state." Ms. Houston was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange. She died Saturday at age 48, after being found in her hotel room in Beverly Hills, Calif., hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammy Awards party. The Twitter traffic begged to differ with the governor. "@GovChristie are you serious?" asked a user named @steakprincess, who gives her name as Danielle Olivieri. Whitney is no hero, she was a crack head who killed herself. Our flag is not to be lowered for a junkie. The governor (or his proxies) shot back 65 minutes later: "Flag being lowered for her cultural contributions as an artist & New Jerseyan. Her struggles w/substance abuse r a diff topic. The exchanges were quick and sometimes personal. To a user named @joebell77, or Joe Bella, who accused the governor of "glorifying a drug user" over more deserving figures, closing with "Yo what a joke," Mr. Christie's Twitter feed responded: "@joebell77 You are a joke. We do lower the flag for fallen soldiers and police officers. Learn the facts before accusing. Lest there be any question about who was responding for the governor, the Twitter feed clarified: "I am responding, no one else." Eventually the critics outlasted the governor, gaining strength as the afternoon wore on, but the battle did not end without an exchange of apologies. To a user named @Uncle_Dame, or the Delivery Man, who questioned the governor's priorities, Mr. Christie clarified, "Not saying sacrifices were equivalent. Her cultural contributions 2 this state merit the honor, in my opinion. Sorry u disagree. @Uncle_Dame, for his part, apologized for having called Mr. Christie an expletive. Who says cooler heads can't prevail on social media? At least until the next round of exchanges about same-sex marriage.