Cowardice once had something to do with the obligations of community. We used the word when courage faltered and duties were left undone. But now we rarely use or hear it outside of the politics of national security. It is the term of choice for political responses to acts of violence. Consider the diction of President Obama when he called the Boston Marathon bombing a heinous and cowardly act. Joining him were the governor of Massachusetts and the Boston Red Sox, among others. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 sponsored a billboard that simply read #COWARDS, which overlooked an expressway leading into the city. By that time, commuters had no need of further context. We all understood: terrorists are cowards.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 23:57:09 +0000