We've said before that the Cowboy Way is the antidote for what ails America. It's becoming ever more clear. As we share the latest news (found herein and at americancowboy.com/nd07) about the recent observance (July 28) of the third official National Day of the American Cowboy, the news elsewhere in the country seems to be telling us that this new date on the calendar has arrived none too soon.

It seems that everywhere there are reports of public figures or celebrities or sports notables crossing the line with regard to ethics or behavior. Sports scandals are rampant. In pro football, quarterback Michael Vick's connections to dogfighting have been only the most recent in an eventful year of sad disclosures. A steroids-abuse controversy has followed baseball star Barry Bonds as he has broken the major league's career home run record. In basketball, NBA referee Tim Donaghy has been accused of betting on games in which he was officiating. Bicycling's Tour de France has been smeared with widespread accusations of doping. In the entertainment world, the collapses and misdeeds are just as common. From Paris Hilton to Brittney Spears to Lindsay Lohan and numerous others, the court appearances or entries into rehab are sufficient to seem almost part of the whole fabric of celebrity.

In a Web-circulated article entitled "Epidemic of Pro Athlete Scandals: The Trickle-Down Effect to Our Children," author Tim Bueler suggested that we are in the midst of an epidemic of such incidents. He quoted Dr. Gregg Steinberg, an authority on sports psychology and human performance, as saying that the worst fallout of these scandals is the effect they have on our children.

Steinburg asked, "How can we raise an adjusted society, full of integrity and mores, when our children see such degradation from its sports stars? What kind of lessons are these sports 'role models' sending to our children?" Obviously, the lessons are deplorable. But let's step back from this picture a moment and ask what all these examples have in common. What they describe are individuals. And therein lies a problem. Individuals falter. Individuals can fail those who look up to them. The cult of celebrity that has sprung up in this country is something relatively new. As such, it is something not in step with the kind of outlook that made this country great. Imagine, instead, a kind of society that looks up not to individuals but to a particular class or category of individuals. America was once a nation that tended more in that direction. Our predecessors and forebears were not worshippers of celebrity, and they were healthier for it. Whether in matters of faith or in secular tastes, their "role models" were less likely to be lone individuals and more likely to be group traits.

When one aspires to be like a certain class of individuals, one is striving to share in the qualities and commonalities that make a particular class admirable. There is a natural safeguard in this. People stumble, but sets of values stay constant. When a member of a particular class falters, that simply means that the individual was unable to conform to the ideals to which he or she presumably was devoted. The individual can take a tumble, yes; but the ideals themselves are uncompromised. They are still deserving of being emulated. When our children, or even our adults, look upon the CowboyWay as a pattern worthy of emulation, they are safeguarding themselves against the kind of discouragements and detriments that can come from fixating on a lone individual who happens to project a certain glittery appeal of the moment. The Cowboy Way is about deeper things than just cowboy doings. It is a worldview that confronts life head-on with clear-eyed optimism and deepseated determination. It is a mindset of honesty, integrity, sacrifice, camaraderie, humility, and a certain esprit de corps. It will not stumble, nor will it fail anyone. It's a steady mark for any who wants to elevate himself as a man or woman.

At bottom, the Cowboy Way and the National Day of the American Cowboy are about something broader and more encompassing than the cowboy world per se. They are about America and about every American. So is everything you'll find in this magazine. Dig in, neighbor, and know that we're with you all the way.