Texas Ranger captain Bill McDonald reputedly stated: "No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that is in the right and keep on a-comin'."
o Pelopponesian Wars, 433-403 BC. Athens v. Sparta. Sparta, the bad guys, win.
o Wars of empire, 233 BC - 9 AD. Rome v. Everybody. Rome, the bad guys, win, except at Teutobuerger Wald, where the Germans, the bad guys, win.
o Battle of Nis, Serbia, 387 AD. Rome v. the Goths. The Goths, the bad guys, win.
o Invasion of Anglo-Saxony, 1066. Normandy v. Saxon England. The Norman bastard, the bad guy, wins.
o Manzikert, Asia Minor, 1088. Byzantium v. the Turks. The Turks, the bad guys, win.
o Battle of Kosovo, 1389, Serbia v. the Turks. The Turks, the bad guys, win. (Whatever was made of this battle in later years, the Turks brought an era of terrible darkness to the Balkans when they took over Serbia.)
o Battle of Agincourt, 1415, English Empire v. the French. The English, the bad guys win (Shakespeare was a liar; Henry V was a thug and a war criminal).
o Fall of Constantinople, 1453, Byzantium v. the Turks. The Turks, the bad guys, win.
o Fall of Tenochtitlan, 1521. Spaniards v. the Aztecs. The Spaniards, the bad guys, win (although it's a REAL HARD CALL here, as the Aztecs were ALSO the bad guys).
o Fall of Incan Empire, 1532. Spaniards v. the Incans. The Spaniards, the bad guys, win again (but see above about the Aztecs; double ditto).
o Fall of Charles I; Cavaliers v. the Roundheads, 1649. The Roundheads, the bad guys, eventually win. (More specifically, The King, a bad guy, loses to Parliament, made up of slightly less bad guys, who then loses to the Roundheads, REAL bad guys, that is, religious bigots extraordinaire who execute the King and chase all the men of good sense out of government for eleven years as Cromwell rules by decree.)
I supposed I made my point. History is replete with bad guys who win. The Cowboy Code ain't entirely accurate.
Great post. I've wondered the same thing as the author. One attribute of cowboys that I find sadly missing in many Americans is their willingness and ability to, "stomp their own snakes and saddle their own broncs." Oh, if only we still possessed as a nation the cowboy's independence of action and thought . . .
Thanks for posting this! I have often said that having an unpredictable, unfettered (free) cowboy in charge is a wonderful thing. It took President Bush less than 60 days after 9/11 to liberate Afghanistan and break up the Taliban, just fourteen months after that to get a unanimous UN resolution to disarm Iraq, and less than six months after that to actually get Iraq to start to come clean and start destroying weapons that they claimed not to have. Hooray for cowboys who get things done! And I must note that in the Iraq situation, all of this was accomplished without a shot being fired.
The cowboy is a symbol of the crucial virtues of courage and independence.The American “cowboy” is today, still a mannerly, almost courtly gentleman of strength, honor, and integrity. He is a man capable of accomplishing the most menial tasks to the most laborious and difficult tasks with patience, cleverness, and sometimes with stealth. He is a veterinarian, a lawyer, a doctor, a diplomat, a leader, a teacher, a poet and sometimes an artist. He loves the land and husbands it for the benefit of all flora and fauna on it. He knows and accepts responsibility and performs accordingly; He is an American and proud of it. In short his characteristics are enviable. They are labeling President Bush correctly
It's High Noon. The train has arrived. The town's people have abandoned the sheriff. Even his new bride is ready to desert him. But he resolves to stand alone against the evil men who are coming to kill him.
If you picture G.W. Bush (or the U.S.) as Gary Cooper in High Noon, there are certainly appropriate analogies with the cowboy image. And there is nothing to be ashamed of in this. A principled stand against evil will always have detractors, and the only thing to do in the face of such opposition is to stick to your convictions. God bless George W. Bush, and grant him the wisdom and courage to bring this to a successful conclusion.
You can hear "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" playing in the background as the hero rides off into the sunset after taking care of the bad guys.
More Euroignorance.
Cowboys are clear-thinking realists. They have to be living on the edge.
Selected questions and comments by supposedly brilliant highly educated European money managers to me:
1. What will America do to replace the population lost as a result of the AIDS epidemic?
2. I'm thinking of going sightseeing. Can I drive from New York City to the Grand Canyon and back over the weekend?
3. Yes, Idaho: That's next to Iowa.
4. I'm thinking of taking a driving trip. Will I need to show my passport at the New York-Connecticut border?
5. I would never visit the South. They still beat negroes there.
6. Is it safe to bring my wife to Chicago because of all the gangsters there?
