Something has changed in America, for the better. Have you noticed that the cowboy, the rugged west, is making a comeback? It's something that has been in every American, for a very long time. And it has been waiting for us to listen to it. The press and mainstream media couldn't figure out Yellowstone at all. But it wasn't the vigilante stuff that attracted us to Yellowstone. It was justice. A line. Somebody was drawing a line in the sand. A common sense line that said: "You know what? Some things matter too much to let slide." It's the cowboy. But what does the cowboy represent? A handshake that means something. A promise you don't break, because your word is the only thing you own. It's taking your hat off for a woman. It's saying "Yes, ma'am. No, sir." Because respect isn't optional. It's standing up, not just for yourself, but for your family. For your land. Your way of life. The things that are worth defending.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Yesterday -- yesterday was just a different day for me. My eyes opened up to some things.
And I don't know -- I don't know exactly why, but some things really came clear to me yesterday. And that is, what we're waking up to.
Trump in the last election are symptoms. We think that that is what's driving. But it's not.
It's not the reason. It's a symptom. And it's all crapped up in the collective denial of what is true and real.
So let me -- what is true and real?
Have you noticed that the cowboy, the rugged west, is making a comeback?
You see it in television.
You see it everywhere. It's making a come back, all of a sudden. Why?
And it's -- it's coming at the same time our politics are changing. So which is the chicken, and which is the egg?
The cowboy, this rugged West, Yellowstone, the TV Yellowstone. Or Taylor Sheridan, and all of his many 800 shows that seem to be on television.
That's not what brought the cowboy back. It's not Kevin Costner on TV. Grumbling about the land and the legacy. It's not it. It's deeper than that.
It's in some ways, it's that jagged spine of the Grand Tetons. It's the open sweep of the grass that rolls out like God himself just unrolled it. Like, how far can that go? It is the untamed West. But it's not that!
Because that's a postcard. That's on a TV screen. That's something that nobody in New York sees. That's something that people all over the country, have never actually seen themselves. But yet, they have that, thumping, or humming in their chest.
And it's something that has been in every American, for a very long time. And it has been waiting for us to listen to it.
You know, the -- the press, mainstream media. They couldn't figure out Yellowstone at all. You crazy people. They just want that train station, to actually exist.
It wasn't the vigilante stuff, that attracted us to Yellowstone.
The bodies dumped in the dark, to settle scores. Or how they acted. Or what she said. Sure, that played a role. It was entertaining, but that's not what we felt.
That was the noise. What got underneath our skin was that there was justice to it, not vigilante. Not perfect. Not polished.
But there was justice. A line. Somebody was drawing a line in the sand.
A common sense line. That said, you know what, some things matter too much, to let slide.
And what were those things?
They were heritage. It was family. It was a way of life, that's worth planting your feet for! The whole show is about the Duttons losing the ranch. Or is it?
Or is it about fighting for go that cannot be left behind? It shouldn't be left behind.
Was it the Dutton ranch, or was it the American way? And not something on a bumper sticker or slogan. But a heartbeat.
Something that is deep in all of us. And we feel it. I don't care if you're kicking dust in Wyoming, or you're kicking a coffee cup in the streets of New York. It's there.
And it's not the hat. It's not the spurs.
Those represent this, I guess. Because it's the cowboy. And what does the cowboy represent? A handshake that means something. A promise, you don't break. Because your word is the only thing you own!
It's taking your hat off for a woman. It's saying, yes, ma'am.
No, sir. Because respect isn't optional. It's standing up!
And not just for yourself. But for your family. For your land, your way of life. The things that are worth defending!
The things that you have been told for the last 20 years, sit down. Shut up. You should be ashamed of that.
It's righting wrongs, when the law is too slow or too blind to see what's what. Afghanistan withdrawal comes to mind.
It's a fierce independence. The kind that says, you know what, I don't have anything against you. But I'm going my own way. I'm going to chart my own path.
I'm going to do what others swear, can't be done.
I'm sorry. You think it's too tough.
Nothing is too big.
Not as long as you have faith in God, and the grit of an American.
Then nothing is too big!
That's what the cowboy represents! But it's more than just him! I don't know how to describe it. It's us. It's in all of us!
It's who this land shaped us to be. Whether you -- I mean, I'm not somebody who would have crossed the Rockies in a creaking wagon. I would have stopped way before that. You know, snow biting at my hands. Uh-uh.
Strangely, I am kind of the guy, that wouldn't mind being strapped to a rocket, and shot up, just to stab this red planet of red dust, a million miles away. Or however far it is. With a flag. And not because a flag. Why do these explorers do what they do?
They don't do it for God or country.
That's what the left would tell you. It's jingoism.
It's not!
They don't do it for God or country. They do it because of God and country. Because of what God and this country made us! It's simply who we are. It's why the rest of the world, never understands us. And yet, when we live up to those ideals, when we live up to what this land and God created with us, when we live up to who we really are. The world loves us.
It's what this land does to you. The mountains. The plains. The rivers that cut through stone.
They're not just pretty. I don't know about you, but they call to me.
They call to all of us.
They -- they make you. And when you answer, it's not about proving something to anybody else. It's about proving it to yourself. Because that's what the soul of this country is asking for!
Who are you? Who can you be?
No other country, no other people can feel it like we do. Because this is our DNA. It's why I go to the mountains every chance I get. I love the mountains, to not escape, but to remember. To breathe the air that is sharp and clean, cold in the morning, hot during the day. To hear the wind, whip the flag. Yellowstone was not big on TV, because it was a show.
It was big, because it's a mirror! It is a funhouse mirror. And everybody else looked at funhouse part. What we -- it's all about what we've been missing!
It's what it was showing us! That's what we felt. What we've let slip through our fingers.
Because we were too busy chasing other things. Or listen to other people convince us of lies.
And now?
Look around, last six weeks.
What is America doing?
We're putting our based on the back on. We're wrapping ourselves in denim, that's not afraid to touch grass.
In fact, it's required to touch grass!
And not because it's trendy. But because it's try!
It's who we are, deep down. I don't care if you've ever roped cattle. You should see with my cows. I have no idea what I'm doing.
It doesn't matter. You can be punching a clock in Cincinnati.
It doesn't matter!
But the land, our way of life, our DNA is calling us back, and thank God we're listening!
It is morning in America again. And it comes again, under the brim of a cowboy hat!
But the guy who is -- the one who seems to be doing it all. He would look ridiculous, in a cowboy hat.
Maybe as ridiculous as I look in a cowboy hat.
He's a big city real estate broker, from New York City. That likely has never gone anywhere on horseback. Or climbed a mountain.
But the spirit lives in this guy!
His whole life is about doing something no one thought could be done. He didn't climb mountains, or conquer the West, in the traditional way.
Instead, out of concrete and steel, he built mountains, that tear at that American sky!
He conquered what we all the. You can't conquer that. Mainstream media. He broke the back of that horse. And he is riding it, sitting tall in his saddle, and he's also making it very clear to all the outlaws of the world.
And I can guarantee you'll go, yes, sir. When you hear this!
He's making it very clear. This man from New York City. There is a new sheriff in town!
The spirit of the West!
All humans feel this call to the ocean. I don't know what it is. But we all do. For Americans, it's the same kind of call, but to something different. The West isn't a place. It's a feeling! It's a pull! It's a strange shadow of a horse and a required against a sunset that bleeds red and gold! It's the creek of leather and the weight of a rifle in your hands. When the world turns mean. It's the quiet of a night so quiet, you can hear your own thoughts! It's the roar of a river that reminds you, some things just can't be tamed. Not by man. Not by time. And that is what is roaring back.
It's the spirit that put us here in the first place. The part of us that says, I'll stand for what's right.
I'll fight for the little guy. I'll build something worth keeping. And I do.
Because we always have. From the first people that crossed the oceans, to the ones who broke the trails through the mountains. No sane person would ever do that!
The dreamers who looked up to the sky, and said, I'll go to the moon.
And it was never about glory. It was about guts.
Knowing about -- knowing that there are some things that are just bigger than you. But you're big enough to meet them anyway.
Yellowstone is, again, a mirror of us waking up. It was already there. It's simmering.
It's always there. The photos of the peaks and the plains. And the horses.
They're not just pictures. They are us. It is the snap of the sound -- the sound of the snap of a flag in the wind!
It's the weight of a life lived on your terms. And it is not dead. It is not gone.
It is rising again!
Because the truth is, it never really left us. You'll feel it, wherever you are. You'll hear it in the stories we tell. The songs we sing. The way we look at the world and say, why can't people -- we'll take it on!
You're living in an American era again! We are truly going to see the rebirth of a nation.
Not -- not -- not in the boardrooms, or the ballots. But first and foremost, in the dirt, in the sky, in the soul!
It's about a cowboy, an American cowboy coming home!
Not because he's lost. Because finally -- finally, he remembered where he belongs!
And we're all riding along with him. Whether we know it or not. Because no matter what the popular culture tells us, this is really who we are. We're fierce. We're honorable. We're free. We're unbroken!
The sun just dipped down low, and the shadows were stretching long. But thank God America heard it whispering again. Come back!
Come back home!
I want to talk to you about Ruff Gr
