Mother Jones

The Last Roundup

ON AN OCTOBER morning, two men and a woman wearing cowboy hats, bearing American flags, and sitting atop horses rode into a windowless conference room in the depths of a Ramada Inn on the edge of Omaha. When they reached the front of the room and faced the crowd of about 500 ranchers, a man stepped to a podium flanked by a dozen American flags sticking out of hay bales and gave an animated recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The riders filed out, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Two men sporting yellow “Cowboys for Trump” T-shirts leaped to their feet in applause.

This wasn’t a Trump rally. Rather, these ranchers, some from as far away as Alabama, had converged to demand that the White

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Mother Jones

Mother Jones4 min read
Chatbot Quacks
NOT LONG AGO, I noticed a new term trending in social media wellness circles: “certified hormone specialist.” I could have investigated it the old-fashioned way: googling, calling up an expert or two, digging into the scientific literature. I’m accus
Mother Jones17 min read
The Democracy Bomb
A DAY AHEAD of the third anniversary of January 6, President Joe Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania—where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War—before delivering what he described as a “deadly serious” speech framing the s
Mother Jones3 min read
How Journalism Can Resist the Tide of Doom
MOST OF THE NEWS about the journalism business right now is grim. Storied newsrooms are being hollowed out and sold to hedge funds. Once-hot digital startups are cutting back and closing down. Even public radio and television are laying off staff. La

Related Books & Audiobooks