When Courage Starts to Slip Away

He once stood up to Trump when it mattered most. What I saw on CNN yesterday felt like something very different.

Author’s note: This week I will be rolling out the official paid subscription offering, which includes additional work. One of those, is personal reflections…this is the first of such articles. Free subscribers will not lose anything at all.

There are moments in politics that feel less like disagreement and more like watching someone slowly drift away from the person they once were. Yesterday I had one of those moments.

I was watching Peter Meijer on CNN in a segment with Paul Rieckhoff discussing the war with Iran and the decision by Donald Trump to strike Iranian targets. As the segment unfolded, I found myself feeling something close to disbelief. Not because Peter was defending the strike itself — foreign policy debates are complicated and serious people can come to different conclusions about the use of force. What struck me was the broader transformation I felt like I was watching in real time.

The Peter Meijer I served with was one of the most courageous young members of Congress I had ever met.

What happened after that is a story that still genuinely saddens me. And I have a deep respect for him still.