"Cowboy" Bush challenged by bovines. [Christopher Hitchens]

There was really little open conflict between working cowboys and Indians.

Absolutely right - enough of them were Indians to make that less likely. By the time of the cattle drives the extinction that had begun with Cortez and the dislocation that was largely a result of the British model of cultivation colonization were largely over. And the cattle drives themselves didn't last long after the railroads came through, and that lonely range cowboy playing his guitar to the cattle on the lone prairie (ever wonder where these guys carried guitars? I'm thinking it must have been in the camera van) morphed into the working stockman who survives to this day.

Now, "cowboy" as a sobriquet conjures (to me, at least) the image of a guy riding at full gallop into town, sixgun firing wildly into the air. This, too, is a bit of a stretch inasmuch as the townspeople tended to be considerably better-armed than the cowboys and took a dim view of unwashed trail jockeys shooting up their tiffin. Coffeeville and Northfield come to mind. Home team 21, Cowboys 0.

The third was when he was asked about the murder of an Arab-American in Texas after 11 Sept. and remarked rather ominously that the perpetrator had "picked the wrong state" in which to commit this outrage. One could almost see the noose snaking over the limb of the tree.

His imagery here is a bit out of date. We no longer hang 'em high but we do give 'em the "ultimate high".

Very good summation, rendered in your usual lapidary style.

When Euros accuse Bush of being a cowboy, they confuse a cowboy with a gunslinger (on occasion cowboys qualified for both roles) from old western movies. The concept is strictly Hollywood, and has nothing to do with the actual old west.

Euros can't be taken too much to task, though, since Americans frequently use the term in the same way.

Now, "cowboy" as a sobriquet conjures (to me, at least) the image of a guy riding at full gallop into town, sixgun firing wildly into the air...

Brings to my mind a guy working for $10/month and found for a small rancher. His job is fixing fences, rounding up strays, breaking horses and doing periodic round-ups while trying to stay out of the sight of the rancher or foreman.

The Cowboy was Black, White, Mexican or part Indian, and usually crippled to some degree by 30; an individualist with a sense of right and wrong as cowboys that tried to cut corners or stray from the path usually ended up dead.

I consider the term Cowboy to be a title of Honor.

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