Taking Back Coward

Semantics, 'n Terr'rists, 'n Bears -- Oh My!

***If you haven’t noticed, I won’t be sticking entirely with the latin theme. If there’s something I fancy the world needs to be lurned on, then god damnit, I’m gonna lurn y’all.***



Last Thursday was the seven-year anniversary of 9/11.

I spent that morning before my print journalism class perusing the news online. I read some first-person reflections reliving the day, watched Obama and McCain together at the Ground Zero ceremony, and tried, for the umpteenth time, to see the alleged link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

And then I came across this CNN blog entry by Gary Tuchman on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog.

--Now, there’s not too much to say about 9/11 that hasn’t been said. And, I’m sure, there’s nothing I’ll say on here that hasn’t been said before. That said, I’m just proud of the picture at the top of this post.--

‘9/11: Cowards and courage’ is the title of Tuchman’s entry. It begins:

“For seven years, I have marveled at the utter cowardice of the 9/11 hijackers. Could there be anything lower than knowing you’re going to die, and deciding that you want to take as many innocent human beings who have families, hopes and dreams with you?”

Okay. First, I’ll answer your question, Gar-bear: no, there is nothing lower than that.

Second, and I say this with all due respect, buy a dictionary.

Cowardice? What about that description or about anything the hijackers did that day implies cowardice? Have I gone insane? Have we all forgotten the meaning of the word coward?

What the 9/11 hijackers did that day was a number of things: appalling, horrifying, inhumane, self-righteous, unforgivable, unfathomable.

None of these words, in my estimation, is vaguely synonymous with ‘coward’ or ‘cowardice.’

And I get it. People do bad (or, in this case, horrendous) things, other people get angry. People are called names, sometimes inaccurately, by these ‘other people.’ It happens every day. Ask any of my recent two-faced, conniving ex-girlfriends.

Maybe it’s my English degree coming to surface. I just don’t like words being used improperly.

That said, tell me if the hijackers’ actions that day would label them as follows:

-Webster.com -- coward (n) - “one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity”
-Dictionary.com -- coward (n) - “a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.”

In my estimation, they don’t. I could be wrong, I guess. If you can find an entry in a respected dictionary somewhere with a definition correlating with the hijackers' actions that day, please show me. Until then, however, have some respect for the English language.



And, oh, I don’t know.

All I’m saying is use words correctly. Know what they mean.

I won’t call a dog a marmot. Don’t you call the 9/11 hijackers cowards.


Oh, and bin Laden?


Well, yeah.

He’s a big ol’ coward.




If this post offended you at all… well, at least I didn’t say this:

“We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly.”
- Bill Maher








Kempar -- out.