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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Quick note from Red State Land |
| 2003-08-26 |
| Fred, feel free to delete this if it’s inappropriate. This isn’t news, but I’ll keep it short. I’m on vacation at a dude ranch in western Michigan, and last Friday night I attended a rural small town rodeo. We’ve been to this one several times. Attendance is about 800 or so, and they’re all small town America folks. It’s a weekly rodeo and the wranglers from the dude ranch help run it, including performing the opening act. That’s the reason for this note. The wranglers, 8 of them in all, come into the ring on horses carrying flags. It’s usually American flags with one Canadian flag mixed in, and the wranglers ride around in a few patterns to the tune of Tim McGraw’s "Rodeo". Well this time the announcer says, "please stand as we salute America’s heroes", and the wranglers come into the ring with only a couple American flags, one Canadian flag -- and a Navy flag, an Army flag, a Marine Corp flag, an Air Force flag, and a flag to represent all the police and firefighters in the country. And the crowd stops whatever they’re doing, stand and cheer. For the entire routine. When the wranglers are done one of them sings the "Star Spangled Banner", and everyone -- everyone -- stands, sings and puts a hand over their heart. The opening ends with the Cowboy Prayer, a big cheer, and on with the bull riding. Just a note from red state land. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #12 Sorry, should have made clear that the dude ranch and rodeo are in Rothbury, Michigan. Great area, good people, real salt of the earth types. MW, you nearby? And all the seats were good, as was the beer. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-8-26 11:05:35 PM |
| #11 Thank you for the post. |
| Posted by: John Anderson 2003-8-26 5:18:15 PM |
| #10 How did the Democrats become Blue when have of them are Reds. How did they get the term Liberal when the classical version of the term applies to Conservatives far more than the current Democrats. Everything is upside down. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-8-26 3:32:01 PM |
| #9 Um, hate to tell you folks, but Michigan was actually a blue state in the last election (that is, it went for Gore). We also elected a Dem. governor. But west Michigan, where I live, is solidly in red territory. |
| Posted by: MW 2003-8-26 1:43:45 PM |
| #8 Michigan has dude ranches? Seriously, thanks for a great post about the real America. :-) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2003-8-26 1:20:59 PM |
| #7 And I went from NH to Mass. Go figure... |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-8-26 1:17:44 PM |
| #6 No, Massachusetts is a Blue State, it's just they keep electing Reds to the U.S. Senate. One of the reasons I left. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-8-26 11:43:36 AM |
| #5 I assumed the Red State was Massachusetts... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-26 9:54:46 AM |
| #4 Raptor: I assumed that when he said at a dude ranch in western Michigan that it might have meant the red state was Michigan... :-) I went to a couple of these rodeos when I grew up there... lots of fun, and all the seats were good! |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-8-26 9:32:56 AM |
| #3 Doesn't matter. It's still the good ol' US of A. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-8-26 7:35:28 AM |
| #2 Cowboy-up,dude. Wich is the Red State? I'm thinking Utah. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-8-26 7:24:09 AM |
| #1 Cool Runnings - Thx! |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-26 4:56:25 AM |