May 9, 2009

Oh, for a Western

By Gary Horne

I don't see Westerns playing at the theaters these days. Of course, I don't watch movies much. I find most of today's films to be glorifications of extreme violence or of some degenerate lifestyle, if not outright statist propaganda. The last decent movie I saw was the beautifully done Gettysburg, which I think was made for TV. I do see animated movies with my daughter, but even those often have underlying radical messages. When I was a boy (a long time ago) many of the movies were Westerns as were many shows on early TV.

In those days, the most common boy's game was Cowboys and Indians. Now I have nothing against Indians. Unfortunately they lost, despite putting up a brave fight, a fight that was a lot more ruthless than waterboarding. No Geneva Convention in those days. Did they get a bad deal? Yes, but their bravery is remembered in the many school teams named after them. Were I of Indian heritage, I would be proud to be so honored.

In today's politically correct world, the honor has been turned into something else. The boyhood game of Cowboys and Indians is not about violence or racism, it is an allegory about good and evil. To play the cowboy was to be brave and triumph over evil. To me, this seems to be an essential lesson for a child to learn. I know of a mother in California who would not allow her son to play with any kind of toy weapon, much less a cowboy fighting Indians. I think her son will grow up to be a man incapable of standing up against evil, who will shrink at the approach of the next bully, and undoubtedly vote Democrat.

Today, we have a government filled with such grown up sons. Those setting policy seem to not believe in evil, having fully accepted the concept of moral relativism, for which Pol Pot, Stalin, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Charlie Manson are just people with other points of view. President Obama wants to have a dialogue with the mullahs of Iran. Good luck, sir; you'd better take your teleprompter. The mullahs have no respect for you; you are just another infidel.

To them the individual is just a cog in Allah's wheel. I know. I lived in the Middle East for eight years. (By the way, Israel is not on their maps) If Allah's wheel happens to crush a few million infidels, never mind. Those controlling Iran are not impressed by talk. They released the embassy hostages only when a cowboy (Ronald Reagan) was preparing to take office. No doubt the mullahs are grateful at the warnings to Israel and hints that it's OK for them to continue uranium enrichment. I'm sure they have had a few laughs in Tehran at the new non-cowboy.

Ask the Taliban about cowboys. They were safe in Afghanistan while Clinton was in office and had no reason, based on their experience, to expect anything else from an American President. George W. Bush surprised them. Thank you, Mr. President. If I were President Bush, I would consider it a compliment to have been accused of using "cowboy diplomacy." Whatever you think about GW, he was willing to call evil what it was. He has done the current President a favor by eliminating one of the "Axis of Evil." The question is, what will Obama do about the other two? Naturally, the grown up sons of the no-cowboy mothers bristled at calling something evil. Doesn't GW know that's not polite?

The North Koreans know there is no cowboy in the current administration. After Secretary of State Clinton's warning of "serious consequences," the North Koreans promptly launched their missile. Then following Obama's stern words in Europe, restarted their reactors. Obama turned Teddy Roosevelt's cowboy-like words upside down, "Speak loudly and carry a twig." No doubt worth a few good laughs in Pyongyang too.

Now, seeing no evil, the administration is preparing to release some of the Guantanamo Detainees onto American soil. I almost feel sorry for Robert Gibbs having to explain in a press briefing how this makes us all safer. One way to avoid confronting evil is renaming it, calling the war on terror the "Overseas Contingency Operation." Let's be frank here. Only an intellectual with zero common sense and no concept of what is in the real world could come up with such an absurdity. Would such a phrase ever escape the lips of John Wayne? What kind of President expects the American people to take such nonsense seriously? That one has been worth a lot of good laughs in every barber shop in the country!

So what are we missing from the movie cowboy? What values did he possess?

1. Integrity The cowboy is true to his values. Of course, one has to have values first.
2. Courage The cowboy is brave enough to stand up for his values in the face of danger. He is willing to confront evil and do battle with the guys in the black hats.
3. Straight Talk A cowboy is a man of few, but honest, words. He says little, but when he talks he says something worthwhile. A cowboy would never spend five minutes spouting lawyerese and convoluted language leaving you asking, "What did he say?" In other words, no BS.
4. Dependable He never lets his friends or his horse down.

In many Westerns the cowboy is contrasted by the townspeople who scatter whenever the bad guys roll into town (much like EU foreign policy?). Obama wants all of us to move into town and be like them. I would rather ride with the cowboy.

Cowboy values are the values I would like to see in my President! We need a few Westerns playing in the Saturday night White House screening room.