CAN ONE BEHAVE HEROICALLY WITHOUT BEING A HERO?
Even for "F&B" Fox News this was too hot. I'm pretty sure it was Linda used-to-work-for-NBC-used-to-have-cancer was on and declaring the female civilian police officer at Ft. Hood was not a hero because it appears her shots did not bring psych-psycho down. Even Fox had to flash a label Editorial Opinion.
The requirements for first-officer-on-the-scene in an active shooter scenario are a definition of heroic and this officer appears to have carried them out to as conceived. So she acted heroically.
If her shots were not center mass hits, is she not a heroine nonetheless? How many people did he not shoot because he turned around to engage her?
In this commentator's mind, this is all the Army's giant plot to show how qualified women are for combat and the officer was just doing her job, therefore no hero.
The firefighters who went up the stairs in the WTC did not carry anybody out. In fact the firefighters themselves died. No "direct hits." They are not heroes? Or maybe the Ft. Hood officer was not a heroine because she didn't die. Her bad. I guess she didn't get the "hero punchlist" memo.
posted by UMRBlog @ 14:57
7 comments
7 Comments:
Of course she acted heroically. It was her job and duty, but that doesn't disqualify her.
But maybe that leaves room for debate as to whether crab fishermen are heroes, since their jobs are more dangerous/risky than policemen's, though hers was more risky at that particular point in time.
But saving lives is generally deemed more heroic than catching king crab.
I can see where someone's view of that might vary depending upon how crabby they might be.
TYFCB
Friday evening there was a panel discussion on NPR discussing that possibility and one of the panelists remarked the initial news out about her heroism was due to the military putting a certain spin on the story "as happens so frequently". I changed stations on my car radio at that point.
It sounds like she was doing the contrarian opinion for the sake of being controversial bit. There is no other rational explanation. Although it's Fox so rational doesn't really enter the equation.
I was in a conversation this weekend where the person I spoke with tossed out a delightful bon mot about how the young woman wasn't really a "hero". I replied "And where were you when all this was going down? Were you standing in the front lines, exposed to gunfire, or were you safely in your car listening to the radio?"
After a few moments of sputtering, he conceded that she had done something--while "her duty"--still was more than most people could have done.
Sometimes I have to beat things into his head, but he's a pretty good friend.
I think the folks on FoxNews could stand to hop the train down to Arlington and take a walk, find all those headstones that say Medal of Honor, note how many died "in the line of duty" and then ask themselves if the fact they died while doing their duty disqualifies them from being a hero.
1318,
To be fair, Fox News Anchor did argue the point with her. She probably doesn't have much a future with Fox as a regular. She is neither young nor blond.
TYFCB.
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