Today, I was listening to a beautiful rendition of “America the Beautiful,” performed by the late-Elvis Presley, who shares a birthday with me. I really focused on the words, “For purple mountains majesty above the fruited-plains. America, America, God shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

It suddenly hit me. I’m a real American cowboy with a real horse, and frequently ride on those “purple mountains majesty,” usually on 13,000 and 14,000-foot peaks in the majestic Sangre de Cristo range in southern Colorado. Meaning, the “Blood of Christ” the Sangre de Cristos are so named for the red hue on the snow-capped peaks at sunset and sunrise. I have been so richly-blessed, I thought, to live my dream borne of my childhood imagination in Akron, Ohio while watching Roy Rogers, the Range Rider, and John Wayne.

I ride my beautiful black and white pinto Eagle up in the “high lonesome” and do indeed look out “above the fruited plains.” Recently criss-crossing the nation, traveling to Orlando, Florida, Las Vegas, then Oklahoma City, I spent a week in each location in different time zones, different environs, and different climates. I have been in all fifty states and today thought about the wonder of it all and the differing climes throughout our country. However, the majestic varied types of beauty found throughout our nation are not what makes this country great.

“And crowned thy good with brotherhood.” That is how it is supposed to be, and that is what we must get back to if we truly want to reclaim our bounteous blessings. GM used to stand for General Motors, but now it stands for Government Motors. That is reminiscent of the defunct Soviet Union or communist China, but not the country where I grew up. Brotherhood? Politicians have convinced the poor that the rich are greedy and should be forced to give it all to the poor. Poverty pimps convince black children they are victims, instead of teaching them they came from a strong powerful race of people that survived slavery and the wilds of Africa. As a cowboy and a western author, I wrote my own Code of the West, and one of its principal tenets is “A cowboy is only as good as his word.” When you are a politician, you can promise all the free cake and ice cream to voters all day long, but except for the very ignorant, at some point, people will realize that somehow, someway, somebody is eventually going to have to pay for all that free cake and ice cream. 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence and most of them died in poverty, because they gave to this nation for our freedoms, not for our freebies. They did not collect food stamps, welfare, social security, or ask for a guaranteed rocking chair to go along with their gold watch and dead turkey on retirement day. They looked ahead to see what we all need: Our most precious individual freedoms and liberty, and they gave their all, so that we could each enjoy those blessings.

In my Code of the West, I state that “A cowboy will share his grub and campfire with you.” That is voluntary, but if you try to take what is mine or my family’s, you better have a .45 in your hand and shoot straight, because I darned sure will have two Colts in mine. And if you try to force free men and free women to work harder to pay more money to those who want only to take from this nation without giving, you will find yourself under a stout cottonwood limb, listening to those famous old words: “Somebody grab a rope.”

For this nation was nurtured by the blood and sweat of heroes and true  Americans will live free like eagles, and will not be herded like mindless cattle for very long. The biggest mistake made; over the years, by tyrants, dictators, selfish politicians, carpet-baggers, and land-grabbers, is to underestimate the will and might of free men and free women. The self-serving beware: Don’t tread on me, for nobody fights harder than a man or woman in the cause of protecting their God-given freedoms.  Keep herding us into a box canyon with rock walls of new laws, hidden taxes, and regulations, and we will teach you a new game. It’s called “Cowboys and Bureaucrats.”