How the West Was Lost

When conservatives wish to pose their heroes for photographs that suggest certain idealized American virtues—the stalwart courage of the westering pioneers; the innate sense of justice that civilized a wilderness; the mighty determination that turned that wilderness into a dynamic economic paradise—they have them wear chapeaux in sturdy felt, with especially wide brims, turned up at the edges, often pinched neatly at the crown.

These garments are colloquially known as "cowboy hats"...

...because, for whatever reason, and for whatever it's worth—some historian has no doubt come up with a brilliant explanation, but this historian has no idea why—our cowboys' work converting of the American West into pasture lands for cattle, then driving the fatted calves onto a global market, has become a global symbol of "Americanness."

Beef: it's not just for dinner—it's a totem of our national greatness. Of the trust the rest of the world places in that greatness.

So what does it say about the image of trustworthiness America projects to the rest of the world, at the close of the Conservative Era, when the thought of accepting American beef imports is horrifying enough to drive 80,000 Koreans into the street in enraged protest?

Nobody trusts America anymore, not even our cowboys. Thanks, cowboy-hat-wearing Republicans!!

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future