Cowardice Under Fire

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Is heroism a job requirement? Maybe… but how can we know?

Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson waited outside

“Cowardice is “misbehavior motivated by fear,” according to Article 99 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs military conduct in the presence of the enemy. The article notes that fear is natural when going into battle, but it specifies that any member of the armed forces who becomes frightened and refuses to obey orders or abandons duties when foes lurk nearby can face death or other punishments.”

I am not sure what to make of the arrest of former Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson. From my very first observations of the nightmare at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School I knew — everyone knew — that this police officer had failed completely to do the right thing. And yet — doing the right thing in this situation required a massive amount of courage — and I have found courage in pretty short supply among Americans, who, of course, are led by a coward-in-chief. “President Trump asserted Monday that he would have rushed in to save the students and teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from a gunman with an assault weapon, even if he was unarmed at the time of the massacre.” But, in the only moment in his charmed life when he might have faced physical danger — his draft notice during the Vietnam War — young Donald ran, not to combat, but to a…