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Cowboy Values


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Interesting op ed piece on Fox...

 

Patrick Dorison, reacting to folks in the media calling some recent political types "cowboys" without understanding the full meaning:

 

 

"Once Rick Perry made his announcement last week, I am quite sure that the commentators and pundits have been chomping at the bit to use the term “cowboy” in a pejorative sense.

 

The thing that makes my blood boil is that this misinformed and cavalier description demonstrates a complete lack of understanding or knowledge of who cowboys really are and what it means to be a cowboy.

 

In fact it is a dad-blasted insult to those who good folks who still, to this day, rise with the sun, ride the range, tend their herds and work the land.—through droughts and blizzards, good times and bad.

 

I don’t make my living as a cowboy. But I have had the honor and privilege to ride and work alongside real cowboys and if I could find an outfit to hire me I would love to make my living from the back of a horse.

 

Those experiences have taught me a lot about who they really are. I am proud to call them friends and a finer bunch of folks you’ll never meet.

 

Unlike politicians, a cowboy still makes a deal with a handshake and his word is his bond.

 

A cowboy does not make rash decisions because the wrong decision can be the difference between life and death for him, his horse and those he works with.

 

A cowboy lives by a set of unwritten principles hard wired into his DNA. It is instinctive because it is the example set by those that surround him.

 

Cowboys don't whine and stomp their feet like spoiled children and politicians often do when things don't go their way. They know that whining and wringing your hands don't get the job done.

 

In my interaction with cowboy and ranching community up in Idaho, I have learned it is very close knit and neighbors and families work together. If a neighbor gets hurt and can’t work, everyone pitches in to help.

 

At gathering time in the fall they take turns helping each other bring their cows down off the summer range in preparation for the long winter ahead. And in the spring at branding time families get together to share in this important ritual of ranch life.

 

They lend a hand when needed, mind each other’s kids as if they were their own, and share hardships and special occasions equally.

 

Those values still exist in thousands of communities all across this country.

 

I don’t know much about Rick Perry, but from what I have learned so far that sounds a lot like his early life in Paint Creek, Texas. He comes from the same background and has the same values as my cowboy and cowgirl friends up in Blackfoot, Idaho.

 

Like most voters I want to learn more about him before I decide if he is the right man for the job.

 

But from George Bush the Elder to Bill Clinton to George Bush the Younger to Barack Obama, the last four presidents were all Ivy League educated and certified members of the establishment that has gotten America into the bipartisan mess we find ourselves.

 

Maybe it’s time for a graduate of a land grant university like Texas A&M and a real son of the soil to get us out of this mess.

 

And someone who knows what it means to be a real cowboy.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/08/19/give-me-cowboy-values-over-washington-values-any-day/#ixzz1VWTRE7Xu

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Interesting op ed piece on Fox...

 

Patrick Dorison, reacting to folks in the media calling some recent political types "cowboys" without understanding the full meaning:

 

 

"Once Rick Perry made his announcement last week, I am quite sure that the commentators and pundits have been chomping at the bit to use the term "cowboy" in a pejorative sense.

 

The thing that makes my blood boil is that this misinformed and cavalier description demonstrates a complete lack of understanding or knowledge of who cowboys really are and what it means to be a cowboy.

 

In fact it is a dad-blasted insult to those who good folks who still, to this day, rise with the sun, ride the range, tend their herds and work the land.—through droughts and blizzards, good times and bad.

 

I don't make my living as a cowboy. But I have had the honor and privilege to ride and work alongside real cowboys and if I could find an outfit to hire me I would love to make my living from the back of a horse.

 

Those experiences have taught me a lot about who they really are. I am proud to call them friends and a finer bunch of folks you'll never meet.

 

Unlike politicians, a cowboy still makes a deal with a handshake and his word is his bond.

 

A cowboy does not make rash decisions because the wrong decision can be the difference between life and death for him, his horse and those he works with.

 

A cowboy lives by a set of unwritten principles hard wired into his DNA. It is instinctive because it is the example set by those that surround him.

 

Cowboys don't whine and stomp their feet like spoiled children and politicians often do when things don't go their way. They know that whining and wringing your hands don't get the job done.

 

In my interaction with cowboy and ranching community up in Idaho, I have learned it is very close knit and neighbors and families work together. If a neighbor gets hurt and can't work, everyone pitches in to help.

 

At gathering time in the fall they take turns helping each other bring their cows down off the summer range in preparation for the long winter ahead. And in the spring at branding time families get together to share in this important ritual of ranch life.

 

They lend a hand when needed, mind each other's kids as if they were their own, and share hardships and special occasions equally.

 

Those values still exist in thousands of communities all across this country.

 

I don't know much about Rick Perry, but from what I have learned so far that sounds a lot like his early life in Paint Creek, Texas. He comes from the same background and has the same values as my cowboy and cowgirl friends up in Blackfoot, Idaho.

 

Like most voters I want to learn more about him before I decide if he is the right man for the job.

 

But from George Bush the Elder to Bill Clinton to George Bush the Younger to Barack Obama, the last four presidents were all Ivy League educated and certified members of the establishment that has gotten America into the bipartisan mess we find ourselves.

 

Maybe it's time for a graduate of a land grant university like Texas A&M and a real son of the soil to get us out of this mess.

 

And someone who knows what it means to be a real cowboy.

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.c.../#ixzz1VWTRE7Xu

 

I agree- But Rick sure aint it!

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Lets try not to turn this into a political discussion fellers.

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Nothing political if I simply say I like Perry the more I learn about him. Course I like Bachmann too. Nope...nothing wrong with sayin' who ya like. I can definitely tell ya who I don't like...LOL, go figure!

 

GG

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Just 'cause you're a good "cowboy" doesn't mean you'd be worth a bucket of warm spit running a country. Indeed the very qualities that are praised in the "cowboy" can make him a national liability on a broader stage.

 

I know little about Perry except he's been elected governor three times (IIRC). That says that a majority of the folks who voted in the last election liked him better than his opponent. He has some executive experience. I'm not all that fond of the recent religious mania but that seems to be par for the course for conservative Republican candidates of late.

 

Bachmann is a real "baker's dozen." I'd not vote for her for dog catcher. I don't think she could figure out what a "dog" was. Or where to put it if she caught it. Maybe after she gets some executive experience I might think differently.

 

That "executive experience" thing is important with me. ;)

 

G.

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