INTRODUCTION: I wrote this essay in 2006 when George W. Bush detractors were worrying about his "cowboy" attitudes and antics. "W" is gone now, but perhaps we are really just beginning to discover the far-reaching effects his "legacy" will have on us. I don't think we should discontinue analyzing him and people like him.

In arguing that President Bush Junior is not a "cowboy," Andrew Bernstein ("An American Hero," Oregonian 2 March 2003) missed the mark in two very important ways. One, he only presented half a definition. Two, he used the wrong definition.

Actually, Bernstein didn't argue that Bush is not a "cowboy." The word picture he painted of the man leading our country at that time was a combination of the Lone Ranger, Shane, John Wayne, and the Texas Rangers. The only fault he found with the President was that "he's not true enough to the image of the Lone Star State." By this he meant that Bush occasionally made the mistake of consulting with somebody else before he did what in his heart he knew was right.

Of course, the true American Cowboy is not always right. The one who steals cattle is no less a Cowboy than the one who uses silver bullets to shoot guns out of the rustler's hand. The one who tries to run the "squatters" off the range is no less a Cowboy than the one who defends the helpless homesteader. The one who shoots Indians for the hell of it is a Cowboy as much as the one who recognizes that he is a part of stealing Indian lands and heritage, and tries to partially make up for it by being a friend to red and white man alike. The one who participates in a "necktie party," denying another the right to a fair trial, is as much a Cowboy as the one who is diligent in upholding the laws of the Nation and the community. We need to remember that even John Wayne occasionally played the liar, cheat, or boorish lout. In other words, a Cowboy is sometimes a hero and sometimes a villain. In other words, he is just a person. In other words, he is us.

Of course, none of that really matters to the discussion at hand. When folks in other countries (and many in our own) called Bush a "cowboy," they weren't referring to whether he is Shane or Billy the Kid. As I suspect Bernstein knew, the then current usage of "cowboy" had as much to do with the dictionary definition of those men and women who ride the American West as labeling a person a "weasel" has to do with him having a small hairy body and a long sleek tail. Similarly, we don't call a person a "loose cannon" because he is a large, metal, WMD (Weapon of Moderate Destruction). No, in modern, slangy, colloquial American, a Cowboy is someone who:

· Goes off half-cocked
· Shoots first, and (maybe) asks questions later
· Talks big and belligerently
· Picks fights, challenges others to shootouts
· Doesn't think about wife and kids when going out on the street for the big "High Noon" meet
· Doesn't think about how the town will fare with all the new gunfighters who will come to challenge, later
· Won't take any advice from anyone who thinks differently than he does
· Believes that anyone who disagrees with him is wrong, a crook, or a coward
· Won't back down, because reconsidering and changing one's mind is unmanly.

Does this sound like anybody we know?

Writing this reminded me of the story of the doting Mom who went to see her young son in his first appearance with the big regional marching band. As the band passed by, Mom turned to her neighbor and said, "Oh, look. Everybody's out of step except my Johnny."

Do you suppose W. was ever in a marching band?