Allow me to interrupt your Memorial Day to pick a nit: I’m officially over the fake cowboy stuff in American politics:
The only thing getting grilled at John McCain’s Arizona ranch this weekend is the ribs, despite speculation that the McCain’s heavy-hitter guest list at the Memorial Day barbecue will be auditioning for the Republican vice presidential post.
…
“This was purely social. Anyone who know John knows he is like a kid at Christmas showing off his ranch…," [Lindsey] Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Blech.
For the record, everyone: a big fancy estate on hundreds of acres of private property, situated west of the Mississippi, is not, ipso facto, a "ranch." Wiki gets it right:
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool.
Unfortunately, LBJ probably started this increasingly annoying "the President has to be a rancher" tradition. Sure, it was a pose, but at least LBJ was a direct descendent of Texas cattlemen and he actually raised and sold cattle on his land, making his Johnson City ranch an actual ranch.
Then came Reagan, who dressed up as a cowboy for a living before he got into politics, and was right at home dressing up as a cowboy when he was President, riding horses around his tony, Santa Barbara property in the hills — within spitting distance of fancy California wineries and snobby fusion restaurants — while calling it his "ranch." And the media happily playing along.
But W. took Reagan’s pose to new heights when he wanted to cowboy-up for his run for preznit. So in 1999, he cynically bought 1600 acres of land in some godforsaken town near Waco, where he’s made a big show of periodically clearing brush for the cameras. And even though Bush admitted the grasses around his "ranch" aren’t suitable for cattle, the media still treat him like some big tough Texas rancher cowboy guy.
So now, based on the coverage of St. McCain’s veep sweepstakes over the weekend — he’s a big western rancher, too.
Make. It. Stop.
Another good reason to vote Obama: when he goes on vacation, you won’t catch him playing dress-up cowboy at a fake ranch.
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Thanks, BT. Just had a good laugh picturing Obama in a cowboy hat and chaps – sorta along the lines of Roy Rogers. What a bunch of idiots these Repubs are.
Indeed.
This is a Tejas thing I believe. When I lived there, guys with bucks all wanted to have a “ranch” that they invited people to in order to eat cows an get drunker than skunks.
It was best if the “Ranch” had actually been in your family for-say- fifteen minutes or more- but cows are not necessary or even desired..A swimmin pool is important though.
I doubt if Texans will get over their ranch thingee anytime soon- but america can.
“All Hat no cattle”
It wasn’t written for Shrub but it fits perfectly
Even Laura calls Shrub a “windshield cowboy.”
Also, it’s not HIS ranch, it’s CINDY’s.
Vincente Fox did too.
Texans like to “remember” the good old days (that most of em never experienced) when most Texans (and other americans) lived in rural settings. Eatin beans an shittin on the prarie is a lotta fun for a few hours.
That maverick.
That cowboy.
That straight-shooter.
It never frickin ends.
Clusterfuck bought hisself a failed pig farm and called it a “RANCH”.
Fucker can’t even do the fake ranch thing right.
Clusterfuck must’ve thought about gettin a few longhorns to prowl around the place- but one might have “GORED” him.
I remember Vicente Fox made nasty comments about Dubya when he chickened out on the offer to ride Fox’s big Chestnut down on Fox’s real ranch. If you can’t ride a horse, you ain’t no cowboy …
and this little oklahoma-born and nebraska raised girl knows how to sit a horse and teach a stubborn cow some manners….
Would serve Clusterfuck right if circumstances led to him livin the rest of his life on that hot, humid, boring piece of ground he calls a ranch.
The fact that W. is retiring to Dallas tells you everything you need to know about how much he loves ranchin’ on the Crawford.
Everyone you hate should have to live in Waco, believe me.
Never been, but I can’t imagine it’s too awesome.
Yeah- he’s a Dallas boy fer sure.
When I lived there he was runnin round town roarin drunk an makin a general nuisance out of hisself.
basically the same behavior now without the excuse of being drunk
weekend cowboy … no audience for the spinmonster out there. just a lot of tame fish dumped in a pond for his sportmanship prowness
Carter had a peanut farm- not so macho as a “ranch” but a hell of a lot more practical.
get along little peanuts! get along!
Right. But Carter grew actual peanuts on his peanut farm.
Having lived in Phoenix, I can attest to the fact that having a getaway on higher ground is coducive to continued life.
I wonder sometime what this man can actually do. He doesn’t seem to be good at anything except riding his bike and he feel off that one day.
Well- sure looked like real peanuts ta me!
He not only falls off it- he damn near crippled a cop once
Why does Blazing Saddles keep coming to mind?
Probably what he does best is to throw big drunken parties- so if he can’t do THAT- there ain’t much left.
Most people would call that a mountain cabin, not a ranch.
Has McSame ever been closer to cattle than meat on a barbecue?
Bush would have to be Hedley Lamarr
He can walk around the Crawford “Ranch” think bout the thousands of little piggies who spent their last hours of life there- screamin their little porker heads off until the knife bid em good night.
Exactly. What, is every large estate in the south, where Lindsey Graham hails from, a “plantation”?
Don’t know bout McBush and cattle- but Sedona is at 5,000 feet or so- high enough to shave 20 degrees or so of the high temp..Flagstaff is better at over 7,000 feet- and it’s only a half hour from Sedona.
The McCain Raunch.
no hat, all addle.
The “plantation” thingee is a little risky politically.
I’m just sayin’.
Enjoyed this read. Thanks for the reality check.
Once again…style not substance. Testosterone cowboys.
Don’t forget the accent. So Bush family from Maine, with his college time at Yale. How can you link this sub-articulate cowboy from Texas to someone named “Prescott” Bush from New England intellectual elite who enabled the Nazis?
HRC’s accent has been ever-thickening I notice, too.
Our sound-byte blip culture … IMAGE locks in. Reagan with all those Death Valley Day monologues to the camera… hypnotized America before getting near the WH.
Just watching a commercial for a pharmaceutical… the voiceover melodious tone talking about horrifying side effects as the viewer enjoys a woman walking along a picturesque beach. Like a SNL sketch… but not. The surreal=the real. MSM + Mad Ave = Wizard of Oz. Embrace denial and trust the impression being fed you. Ignore the maddening truth behind the curtain.
I would point that Lyndon’s 438 Acre ranch belonged to a relative since 1909. My Dad ran his airstrip, I can attest to the fact that there were lots of cattle there. They did give all the air force guys cowboy hats to wear (not with uniforms, they were casual). I still have a few that came from the San Antonio Sombrero Co.
Frankly, i don’t think he has any real accomplishments to his name. He got into schools based on legacy status. And every one knows Harvard, except for legacies, is the hardest school to get into AND the hardest school to flunk out of. His businesses have failed right and left–unless you count the Texas Rangers. His one accolade is going to be WORST PRESIDENT EVER.
When last in La. I bought a “plantation” painting from an African American artist who was selling his work at a local five and dime.
It shows the plantation with a big house- and slave’s quarters- with the Master’s horse hitched in front of one of the slave shacks….
The artist laughed his ass off when he sold it to me.
It’s Not A “Ranch” Unless There’s Cattle On It
___________
Neither does shit like this make you a Manly War Hero.
Very cool.
shucks. thot you’d step right into that one.
There once was a great and noble Texan named Molly Ivins.
This here junior league windshield cowardboy ain’t no Texan, nor cowboy.
No BBQ at the Kept Man’s Compound this weekend…. nasty wet and cold weather …. they all had to troop out to Jerome AZ for the eats…. that bastion of liberal hippy artists…
John McCain, Stop Sniffing Around Our Red Rocks!
WASHINGTON — Members of the Rolling Thunder motorcycling group roared into town for a White House visit Sunday, where they presented President Bush with his own cowhide vest jacket and pushed for increased veterans benefits
Not only a cowboy but a biker too!!
Speaking of fake cowboys, remember this picture one of one former and one current Senator?
Says it all, doesn’t it ?
that’s very nice. I like seeing that. thanks
In case anyone was wondering, the pic is of the shoes of George ‘macaca’ Allen and Jim Webb prior to the ‘06 midterms.
.
I wonder if there are tens of thousands of pig carcasses buried somewhere on the Bush “Ranch”…BTW Pigs are raised on Farms, not Ranches. The notorious mass murderer in British Columbia lived on a “pig farm”.
And pig farms stick to high heavens and are notorious for their environmental damage.
what, no free range pigs?
I can hardly remember what it’s like to have a President who does not play dress-up.
Free-range pigs == no need for plowing your fields….. rooting is the main activity of pigs besides sleeping…. at least mine did…. rooting, eating, sleeping, wallowing in mud….. gee maybe pig behavior has rubbed off on Bush?
when I vacation, I always choose the ranch not the blue cheese.
My mind immediately leapt to Karl Rove running around naked on the “ranch.” With Bush and Cheney chasing him around, making him squeal for them.
Jeez. The insults have been piled on innocent cowboys and now on Ned Beatty.
Well, I remember some photos of Obama in cowboy hat in Austin during a campaign stop here,
Bush’s Crawford estate is an ex-urban oasis: close enough to Dallas and Fort Worth that he won’t miss where he used to go drinking, far enough away that he should be glad he’s no longer drinking and driving. Rumor has it Laura’s headed for Dallas, Park City, no matter where Shrub hangs his faux ten-gallon hat.
One reason there’s no cattle – other than there’s nothing for them to eat and Bush doesn’t know how to raise them – is that Shrub has a morbid fear of horses. Maybe they remind him of his daddy. Herding them on foot might be awkward, what with all that dust and manure. So Bush’s homestead lacks horses, cattle and grass. The only sheep are visiting CongressCritters. But it does seem replete with organic fertilizer.
McBush’s wife’s estates (McBush has none) are even more citified. The only brush nearby are the celery stalks in not so virgin mary’s.
Wonder if the leather vest matches the chaps and cap Jeff Gannon gave him?
OT
But in case anyone is wanting an update on the Super Delegate count Obama picked up three Hawaiin Super D’s yesterday. He’s picked up about three a day, and even won over one previously committed to Clinton. She only gained one…essentially staying at the status quo.
I suspect things will be quiet today, but there may be several more announcements tomorrow. How many switch over before Friday may play some role in how the Rules Committee acts regarding Florida and Michigan. They may even try to finesse it by having some proportionate deal based on awarding seats based upon the final delegate counts nationally. That would mean that the final seats wouldn’t be known until after the final primary.
Or they may agree to the Michigan internal compromise (that Clinton delegates get their seats and the Obama delegates get the bulk of the non-Committed- though not all), and defer the Florida solution until later.
Antebellum style residence.
Wait, wait. Surely Boy Wonder will happily live out his exile in the shadow of the holy Jenna&Henry altar. Kinda makes this ol’ heart go pitty-pat from the sheer beautifulness of it all.
A cowboy hat wasn’t something exclusively worn by cowboys. Lots of “townies” and farmers wore them, as did the Marshals and Texas Rangers (the law enforcement group, not the Bush Baseball Team). But a lot of people prefer the smaller and lighter, brimmed straw hat. Better ventilated than those big felt monstrosities.
Ah. Midnight cowboy.
Pink Floyd – Pigs:
The straw hat most working cowboys preferred
In his pass through Austin, apart from a hat landing on his head, he had a Heisman land in his arms !
I’ve lived in Texas most of my long life. Even when hats were a principle article of male dress, I saw more Stetsons on television and the movies than I saw in person. Boots are another thing.
Speaking for the Okies, thank you. I have had it with all these East Coast ersatz westerners prancing around and playing cowboy. They are each and everyone all hat and no cattle.
Great post BT.
Can someone explain ranch dressing? The confusion is permanent.
The one time in my life that I owned a semi-cowboy hat, I opted for more of a gambler style rather than the trad cowboy hat. Seemed to be more fitting for me. :})
Actually there used to be thousands in eastern Texas and Oklahoma as well as much of the South (this is where razorback hogs come from). In the 18th century there were even pig drives with hundreds or even thousands of head from the Tennessee River country to coastal areas in the Carolinas.
Virginia ? wtf
Somewhat off-topic, but germane to tne discuussion?
Political segregation. The LA times had a good story about it today. I certainly think it’s real and I’ve embraced it.
Here’s a link.
I’ve done it again. I was having an e-mail exchange with a guy I know in Florida and he was saying McCain was the best of the three candidates. After a heated exchanged, I blocked his e-mail address in my mail app, and I’m done. I don’t give a shit about that crap any more.
I’m done with people who are blind, following sheep, listening to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, et al. They regurgiutate Repuke talking points like baptists regurgitate revelations.
I’m not thrilled with the choices we have this year. Clinton is a female Joe Lieberman, she should run as a republican. Obama is the best of a bad lot. But he’s going to be the nominee, and I’ll vote for him.
The fact is, republicans are all evil, greedy, stupid people who don’t care about anybody but themselves and their cronies. I wouldn’t piss down the throat of a republican if it was dying of thirst. And I sure as SHIT won’t associate with any republican as a “friend.”
~~~Edited and freed by Mods~~~
As a native Okie, I actually wore cowboy hats for much of my youth. Gave it up when I moved to Chicago where I switched to fedoras. Today I wear something in between the two. Have always worn cowboy boots.
Seems like everybody wants to be a cowboy – until it comes time to buck bales or work cattle.
It would be tragic if it was discovered that “Macaca” was simply a term of endearment among the rarely found Old Dominion cowboys.
Apparently though, the sign of the real rancher is a chainsaw. I wonder if Liebermann will be standing next to McCain when he crosses that threshold.
Have to say in all fairness to our southern neighbors that the term “cowboy” was in fact first coined in South Carolina, which was the center of colonial cattle raising in the British colonies. Of course a large herd at that time and place was 300-500 cattle.
To be honest, I don’t think the folks back home bail hay any longer – or at leasst not the tradition bales. I think they just do rolls of hay and leave it in the fields.
Yeah, I know. I discovered that reading about how the Battle of Cowpens got it’s name.
Jane has a new post upstairs
Yep. I’ve got a pair of Redwing work boots and a pair of Noconas, but then I was born and raised in Texas. The Redwings are great for the Oregon rain ;)
I’ve got some Okie relatives who are in the Cowboy Hall of Fame – Jo and Tater Decker. They still live in Clayton on their horse farm.
.
I think that is pretty much true everywhere anymore. Sort of sad in a way. Back in high school some buddies and I would earn extra cash by finding a rancher bailing hay alone and offer to help. Cannot say I miss bucking bails, however.
Governor William J. Lepetomane is more like it . . .esp if one knows the origin of the name :D
When the luck was bad, you got the farmer who set the bailer for 75lb bails. When it was good luck, the farmer was compassionate and set the bailer at 45lb bails.
The necessity of R nominees to dress as cowboys is beautifully explained by Glenn Greenwald in his latest book, Great American Hypocrites. It’s on purpose, to attach ‘Manly” to Rs, and weakling to Ds.
Like this???
or THIS????
Windshield Cowboy!!!
lol
so, we can’t call you “Dude” then, huh ???
(smiles)
Hope he’ll be returning to Austin for Netroots Nation.
THANK YOU. Pre-1999, a pig farm; gussied up with the reverent name “Prairie Chapel Ranch,” a pig farm still.