Americans Like Their Cowboys, Even When They Live In The White House

Toogood Reports ^ | May 13, 2003 | Lowell Phillips

[Stand Watch Listen]

Not long ago I turned down an invitation to have my work posted on a website named in president Bush's honor. It's not a bad site and seems to be doing well, but I respectfully declined, largely due to my loyalty to this publication. I also had a problem with that name, because it, at least to me, implies a degree of loyalty to Mr. Bush and I am loyal to no politician. While I am certainly a conservative and find that my views are better represented in the Republican Party, I'm less than impressed by the GOP's lack of will in protecting the Constitution in the ongoing gentleman's "filibuster" of judicial nominees, their tepid support for meaningful tax cuts, and a few other things.

I have problems here and there with the Bush administration as well on issues such as the imposition of steel tariffs, the abandonment of school vouchers, and the proposed "road map" to Middle East peace that seeks to somehow marginalize Yasser Arafat by embracing his handpicked puppet, Mahmoud Abbas. Providing content to a website named after the president might require my granting deference, and I refuse to do that. But I understand that holding my breath and waiting for someone to come to power that is an uncompromising ideologue in my own image would be fatal. In a system such as ours we are unelectable and, if it were somehow to happen, doomed to failure in enacting absolutist policies.

Having said all that, I am comfortable admitting that I like George W. Bush. I paid little attention to him as governor of Texas, and was unsure of him as a presidential candidate through the early primaries, largely based my impression of his father. During his stint in the Oval Office I found the conservative convictions of the first President Bush to be shallow, although I saw him as an honorable and sincere man. As the nomination process went forward, I perceived a distinct difference between the philosophies of father and son, but saw the same sincerity.

My first concrete "I like this guy" moment came during one of the presidential debates. Amidst all the talk of Al Gore being advised to wear "earth tones" and tutored on how to be an "alpha male", George W. showed me that he needed no instruction. In a sappy townhall debate setting, Gore, no doubt acting on his How-To-Be-A-Tough-Guy lessons, approached his opponent. Bush felt the intrusion on his space and gave Mr. Gore a good once-over before continuing. You just can't fake that.

There have been other moments of that type, like candidate Bush apologizing for being overheard, but not for referring to New York Times reporter Adam Clymer as a "major-league asshole". President Bush spoke of good guys & bad guys in "dead or alive" terms following 9/11, and provided a long overdue manhandling to the United Nations leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. All of these reinforced the "cowboy" image that the left finds so abhorrent. But while this label might be insulting within their cocktail party, neo-socialist, inside the Beltway world, to most of real America it's a compliment.

Let's face it; American's love their cowboys. Decades after his death we idolize John Wayne and revel in films where Stallone/Schwarzenegger-type characters arrogantly ruffle feathers and kick butts defending clear standards of right and wrong, that others parse and rationalize away. Can we ever get enough of Bruce Willis in "Diehard" running around that building, barefoot and greasy, picking off uppity European thugs one-by-one? Seeing it recently in a late-night rerun, it amazed me how much they resembled French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin.

Nothing better represented what real Americans like in a leader and what liberals despise than the images of President Bush landing in a S-3B Viking on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and looking as natural as could be in a flight suit, embracing enthusiastic sailors. The reason it went off so well is simple. It isn't difficult for someone who used to be a fighter pilot to look like a fighter pilot. It isn't difficult for a president who has heartfelt respect for the military, and appreciation for their sacrifice to appear heartfelt and appreciative. And it is because it looked so natural, and was so appealing to the American people that critics refuse to let it stand untarnished.

Not long after, the New York Times' official Bush-hater, Maureen Dowd, drooled,

"Out bounded the cocky, rule-breaking, daredevil flyboy, a man navigating the Highway to the Danger Zone, out along the edges where he was born to be, the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity... he swaggered around the deck ... Maverick was back, cooler and hotter than ever, throttling to the max with joystick politics."

She then went into another of her infantile narratives, which long ago plummeted passed petty, and juvenile, and is rapidly descending towards contemptible. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. Should Bush get a second term, the removal of all sharp objects from the vicinity of Ms. Dowd would be in order, along with a few restraints.

The same day a Toledo Blade editorial added,

"Aboard the Lincoln, Mr. Bush, clad in full flight suit with 'George W. Bush, Commander in Chief' emblazoned on the chest, swaggered around the deck... produced no legitimate news...[in] an unnecessary stunt for the benefit of politics..."

And there were more, many, many more. Strange how walking becomes a swagger depending on how much hate is felt by the viewers. I would love to have a swagger demonstrated by one of the president's detractors. A liberal swagger! I'd pay good money to see it.

Adding paranoia to the mix, Dowd's colleague, Paul Krugman, fretted "Mr. Bush was breaking an important tradition", that his "Top Gun act" had the aura of a military junta and was "scary." Someone should remind Mr. Krugman that the president is the commander-in-chief, is constantly shadowed my military officers and is ferried about in a plane called "Air force One" and a helicopter dubbed "Marine One." They have those names for a reason.

Foretelling the angle that would carry the issue, such as it is, Krugman relayed the take of a "U.S.-based British journalist",

"If Tony Blair had tried such a stunt, he said, the press would have demanded to know how many hospital beds could have been provided for the cost of the jet fuel."

Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman of California condemned an event that had "clear political overtones'' and requested an investigation from the General Accounting Office. And West Virginia Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd railed,

"I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan..."

With all due respect to Congressman Waxman, I would like an investigation into the costs of the endless and frivolous investigations demanded by he and his colleagues. And I would like an answer to the question asked of him by MSNBC's Chris Matthews,

"Do you think the president used up more gas on that plane than the 20 or 30 members of Congress who annually go to the Paris air show?"

After months of opposition leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Democrats seemed more like European socialists than an American political party. In a laughable effort to undo some of the damage, Congressional Democrats sponsored a resolution expressing "support for the troops". I'd be very interested in knowing how much legislative time and money it took to draft, debate and ratify that little political stunt.

I would have liked a meaningful investigation into the travel expenses of former President Clinton, who spent more than twice the time abroad in his eight years in office as Ronald Reagan did during his two terms. I would love to know how the $72 million spent on three trips during 1998 alone might have been rationalized. Nearly all the funding was sucked from the then-shrinking Defense Department budget and required almost 300 military missions and 2,400 personnel. The African expedition in March of that year needed three months of advance preparations, 110 aerial refueling missions and 1,300 personnel, over 900 of them military. $37.7 million of the $42.8 million price tag was taken from the DOD.

It might also be fascinating to know how much it cost the American people to transport about and protect former First Lady Hillary Clinton during her 2000 Senate campaign. We know what she got out of it. What did the rest of us get?

If we're going to investigate presidential use of naval vessels for political events, we will have to go back and examine nearly every chief executive in memory, including Bill Clinton, JFK and Lyndon Johnson, who is rumored to have ordered the USS Constellation out to sea specifically for his visit. As for there being added costs for Bush's speech on the Lincoln, I doubt it. Any speech by the president, away from Washington, requires extensive security and preparation. A U.S. aircraft carrier, out at sea is as secure an environment as you're likely to find. Odds are there was a net savings.

As for Sen. Byrd being "loath to think of" Bush using an aircraft carrier as a backdrop, well, I'm loath to think of a former Klansman and notorious pork barrel politician moralizing about anything. The uncomfortable reality for Democrats is that Bush is loved and admired in the military, and the president appreciates those who serve. This is in stark contrast to the recent past when former antiwar protesters occupied the White House and Democrat operatives in Florida attempted to give Al Gore the presidency by throwing out military ballots. According to a former Marine acquaintance of mine, who occasionally provided security for President Clinton, he resented doing so while funding was so low that to remain sharp on the rifle range, he had to buy his own ammunition.

Was Bush's landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln political theater? Of course it was. What is it that presidents do outside of their own bathrooms that isn't? It was a cool thing to see, and President Bush looked damn good doing it. The reality is that presidents get to do neat things and taxpayers foot the bill. Bush climbed aboard a military jet and relived his youth for an hour or so. Bill Clinton climbed aboard a White House intern and G-d only knows how many others, and trekked around the globe with an entourage that would make a sultan envious.

I'd rather see the jet thing again. How about you?

RECENT COLUMNS: Archives are shown, going back nine months, from the date of this article. To see articles older than that, consult the archive listings accompanying earlier articles.

04/07/05:The Media's Double Standard: Loathing Bill Bennett While Feigning Their Concern For His Hypocrisy
04/29/04: Rick Santorum Owes No Apology For Saying The Grass Is Green
04/20/04: A "Road Map" To Middle East Appeasement
04/13/04: Pondering The Losers In A War Not Yet Over
04/08/04: Serving Up The Lives Of Soldiers, All For A Jessica Lynch Photo Op
03/30/03: Whose Side Is The Press On?
03/23/03: Democrats Position Themselves To Exploit America's War Dead
03/16/03: Democrat Vultures, Feasting On The Flesh Of Their Kin
03/10/03: Jimmy Carter's Bloody Dementia
03/02/03: Equal Time For A Monster! Congratulations Mr. Rather. You Won.
02/23/03: French Virtue? Don't Make Me Laugh!
02/19/03: They're Here! They're Loud!They're Ignorant And They're Proud!
02/17/03: 9/11 Didn't Change The World. What Will?
02/09/03: Appeasers In The U.N, And Here At Home Be Damned!
02/03/03: Making The Case For Surrender In The War On Terror
01/26/03: Roe Vs. Wade Killed The Constitution Too!
01/20/03: When Did Martin Luther King Become the Most Important Person in American History?
01/19/03: Discriminatory Diversity
01/12/03: Pickering Should Not Be Cannon Fodder
01/07/03: Who Can Say "Commander-In-Chief" In Klingon?
12/30/02: Bush Knows Evil When He Sees It
12/22/02: Sympathy For Lott That He Might Not Deserve
12/16/02: Trent Lott For Robert Byrd, Fritz Hollings, Bill And Hillary, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton …
12/01/02: The Saudis Are Financing Terrorists? Then Take Out Saddam!
11/24/02: Just A Foot Soldier In The Limbaugh Jihad
11/18/02: Yasser Arafat: Continuing In His Role As The Godfather Of Modern Terrorism
11/11/02: Just Another Post-Election Analysis
11/03/02: The Clinton Shadow Looms
10/27/02: No, No, No. Bush Is The Sniper!
10/23/02: Maureen Dowd: Shooting Pulitzer Spitballs
10/20/02: Debating War In Iraq, Long Distance
10/15/02: Marxist-Inspired Cuban-Venezuelan-Brazilian Axis Could Create Massive Problems For U.S.
10/06/02: 9/11 Closure And The Reemergence Of The Left
09/29/02: Daschle & Company Are Outraged — Again!
09/22/02: Dancing Around A Mushroom Cloud
09/15/02: Mandela Speaks, But Why Should We Listen?
09/10/02: 9/11, The Day That Changed — Not Much After All
09/02/02: The Iraq Debate Gets Stranger By The Moment
08/26/02: Iraq: The Comfort In Doing Nothing Is Long Gone
08/21/02: My Humble Response To A Venerated Fool!
08/18/02: Nice Debate, But Saddam Must Go
08/11/02: Another Word On Time Magazine
08/04/02: Republicans: The Elite Media's Redheaded Stepchildren
07/28/02: The Moral Superiority Of Hamas
07/21/02: What Makes A White House Crook — This Year?
07/14/02: Bush Did It!
07/07/02: What Constitution?

[Numbers Guy]

Bush felt the intrusion on his space and gave Mr. Gore a good once-over before continuing. You just can't fake that.

That debate incident was the best moment of the campaign. You could tell that Gore clearly had been coached to try to intimidate Bush by walking up to him with head upright, trying to look like a macho man.

Then Bush just glances at Gore like Gore's an insect, doesn't even bother to say a word, just a glance as if to say "just a moment, bud, I'm talking here" and went on with his statement.

[Stand Watch Listen]

You forgot that president Bush looked over his shoulder, gave Gore a 'nod' turned away and continued speaking. A great debate moment.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Thought for a minute there that Gore was going to sucker-punch Bush or something.

That moment had my heart racing....you think the Lincoln-Douglas debates were baad....

[Jack of all Trades]

I received this via email last month.

They call my President a "Cowboy"

It used to tick me off when the Muslim detractors in the Middle East, or the socialist detractors in Europe, Hollywood and others called our President a cowboy, but the more I think about it, the more glad I am that he is.

When I was a kid, cowboys were my heroes. There was Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Johnny Mack Brown, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, then later Marshall Matt Dillon, and others. Personally, I think Hoppy could beat 'em all up. He was my favorite.

What were common attributes of these legendary cowboys? Here are a few:

1. They were never looking for trouble.
2. But when it came, they faced it with courage.
3. They were always on the side of right.
4. They defended good people against bad people.
5. They had high morals.
6. They had good manners.
7. They were honest.
8. They spoke their minds and they spoke the truth, regardless of what people thought or "political correctness," which no one had ever heard of back then.
9. They were a beacon of integrity in the wild West.
10. They were respected. When they walked into a saloon (where they usually drank only sarsaparilla), the place became quiet, and the bad guys kept their distance.
11. If in a gunfight, they could outdraw anyone. If in a fist fight, they could beat up anyone.
12. They always won. They always got their man. In victory, they rode off into the sunset.

Those were the days when there was such a thing as right and wrong, something blurred in our modern world, and denied by many. Those were the days when women were respected and treated as ladies, because they acted like ladies.

Now as a senior citizen, I still like cowboys. They represent something good -- something pure that America has been missing. Ronald Reagan was a cowboy. I like Ronald Reagan, who was brave, positive, and who gave us hope. He wore a white hat. To the consternation of his liberal critics, he had the courage to call a spade a spade and call the former Soviet Union what it was -- the evil empire. Liberals hated Ronald Reagan.

They also hate President Bush because he distinguishes between good and evil. He calls a spade a spade, and after 9-11 called evil "evil," without mincing any words, to the shock of the liberal establishment. That's what cowboys do, you know. He also told the French to "put their cards on the table" (old West talk), which they did, exposing their cowardice and greed..

The Iraqi government is wrong. In the old West, might did not make right. Right made right. Cowboys in white hats were always on the side of right, and that was their might.

I am glad my President is a cowboy. He will get his man.

Cowboys do, you know.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Gore clearly had been coached to try to intimidate Bush by walking up to him with head upright, trying to look like a macho man

. . . in a replay of the creepy way that Clinton shadowed Dole during the TV "town hall" thing . . .

I'm still trying to get over the way that played in Peoria.
WHAT could people have been thinking??

[PetroniDE]

HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS !!

[Cicero]

Excellent piece. Excellently written. Why is it that infantile leftists seem to lose all grasp of writing style as well as common sense, whereas your typical conservative simply writes better?

That said, I can't refrain from pointing out a small booboo: "frivolous investigations demanded by he and his colleagues." It should be "by him and his colleagues." If you say "by he" and "by him" the error becomes obvious.

These days the front page of the New York Times is usually riddled with usage errors, something you never saw in the old days. I mention this error only because it stands out in a piece of otherwise fine writing.

[MJemison]

My heroes have always been cowboys.

[cubreporter]

Oh gosh, that is my very favorite part of the debates. Al Gore slipped off his stool and began to walk over to Dubya like he was some cool dude or something thinking all the while he could intimidate him.

Wow...Dubya as you said, looked him up and down and even said something like: "OK" or something like that then went on to respond to the question leaving Al standing there looking like a real twit. I was so proud of George W. Bush and I was ashamed of and embarassed FOR Al Gore. I don't know how Gore's family ever let him go out and act in the ways he did. There was NO contest....Dubya won hands down. It was a great moment and one I relish and look at every now and then.

[cubreporter]

I am glad my President is a cowboy. He will get his man.

Cowboys do, you know.


OH YEAHHHHHH!

[NCC-1701]

There's no mention of Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Darren Woodson, etc. Then again, these may not be the Cowboys that are intended in this article. Anyway, how 'bout them Cowboys!

[Marysecretary]

WOW. That was one great article. I love my cowboy President. You betcha.

[Marysecretary]

My childhood hero was Gene Autry. My sister loved Roy Rogers.

[CFW]

Bush climbed aboard a military jet and relived his youth for an hour or so. Bill Clinton climbed aboard a White House intern and G-d only knows how many others, and trekked around the globe with an entourage that would make a sultan envious.

I'd rather see the jet thing again. How about you?

Definitely the jet thing again.

[Richard Kimball]

Has anyone else noticed that the press has been doing backflips to avoid the obvious observation that Byrd, being a former Klansman, is complaining about a trip to the Abraham Lincoln? Does anybody have that photo of him in his Klan regalia? I need it for my files.

[Charlie OK]

bump!

[ohioWfan]

Not long after, the New York Times' official Bush-hater, Maureen Dowd, drooled,

"Out bounded the cocky, rule-breaking, daredevil flyboy, a man navigating the Highway to the Danger Zone, out along the edges where he was born to be, the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity... he swaggered around the deck ... Maverick was back, cooler and hotter than ever, throttling to the max with joystick politics."

Miss Marple.....had you read this?? Are you the one who's said that you think Maureen Dowd has a crush on the President? This paragraph sure backs that up!

She writes like a Jr. High girl who's in love with the star High School quarterback, and is mad at him for ignoring her! What a hoot!

btw, Stand Watch Listen......great article! Thanks!

[GailA]

Cowboy in the White House

By Claude King

Things don’t look so good on the world scene
With conflict going on through out the land
Some times it takes a cowboy, to know just what to do
With terrorist striking fear in the heart of man

Storms clouds a gathering, in the eastern sky
Some things coming down on you and me
I pray soldier boy, may have to save goodbye
And go fight for our land and liberty

But there’s a Cowboy in the White House
God is on his throne
Our Soldiers roam the battlefield
We pray He’ll bring them home.

We’ll follow him to victory
And when this war is won
We can live in peace again
And a cowboy’s work is done

When the terrorists are gone and we are safe and free
What a wonderful place our country will be
We thank you Lord for guiding him
And seeing us through
And we thank you for America and the old red, white and blue

So lets ride with our Cowboy, it’s round up time again
For Al Qaeda and the terrorist there’s got to be an end
All the evil deeds they’ve, done they’ll surely have to pay
And if you’re a real American, then let me hear you say

There’s a Cowboy in the White House
God is on his throne
Our Soldiers roam the battlefield
We pray He’ll bring them home.
We’ll follow him to victory

And when this war is won
We can live in peace again
And a cowboy’s work is done

For cowboys are hero that’s, how it’s always been
American made and faithful to the end
Through all the darkest nights
With Christ there by your side, we’re with you all the way, so let’s

Ride Cowboy ride, ride Cowboy ride,

Ride Cowboy ride, ride Cowboy ride
Ride Cowboy rid, ride Cowboy ride