Generation Z desperately needs role models and mentors, but unfortunately the quality and availability of both are in short supply. In this age of smartphones, social media, and “influencers” who portray success as materialism and the conquest of women, the nation needs the wit, the common sense, and wisdom of the good old American cowboy.
Patrick Dorinson, “The Common Sense Cowboy,” joined Dangerous Laughter with A.J. Rice to throw his hat in the ring as a resource to fit the bill. Dangerous Laughter is a sharply produced, superbly entertaining new show hosted by America’s publicist — the undisputed GOAT of conservative public relations. A columnist, humorist, producer, and author, Rice serves as president and CEO of Publius PR, boasting top conservative politicians and public figures among his clientele.
Dorinson is a verified working cowboy who also wears the hats of political commentator, businessman, and author. His new book, The Common Sense Cowboy's Guide to Life: Stories from the Old Guy at the End of the Bar, is a plea for Americans to rediscover personal responsibility, timeless virtues and the mentorship of a rare breed of men.
Saddle your own horse and don’t forget to laugh
“You’re going to have to learn to saddle your own horse someday,” Dorinson says, “better try now.”
His simple, no-nonsense philosophy, learned from horse trainers, ranchers, and decades of life experience, sets the pace for an engaging interview that has both a backbone and a funny bone. “We should be laughing every day and not take things so seriously,” he says. Yet he balances that humor with sobering wisdom: “it’s a hard life out there,” but reminding the next generation that setbacks can be overcome.
"There are always two old guys at the bar," he explains. "One is loud and everybody ignores him. The other sits quietly. He's approachable. He isn't quoting philosophers—he's simply telling you what life taught him."
And that’s what Dorinson offers in this episode — conversations he fears are disappearing — and a burning motivation to pass that wisdom on and leave the world and the country better than he found it.
"I don't want to sit around waiting for the Lord to tap me on the shoulder," he says. "I want to meet young people, laugh with them, answer their questions, and pass along what I've learned."
That investment matters because, in Dorinson's view, the future belongs to today's youth — not to Baby Boomers, Gen X, or Millennials. He offers The Common Sense Cowboy’s 12 Rules for Life: practical wisdom earned through experience. "If I were speaking to graduates," he says, "I'd tell them, 'Go forth and make mistakes.' That's how you learn."
His 12 Rules include gems like:
Never betray trust, because trust is like virginity. Once lost, it’s impossible to get back.
A fancy education might gain you some knowledge, but only hard life experiences will gain you wisdom. A PhD won’t help you fix a flat tire.
There is right, and there is wrong. There are no loopholes, and the only thing in between are excuses.
Rather than encouraging people to search endlessly for someone else to solve their problems, Dorinson argues that the first place to look is in the mirror. "If you're facing a problem," he says, "fix it."
“You’re never going to achieve perfection,” he points out, citing legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, “but pursuing perfection, you might just catch excellence.”
Dorinson acknowledges the nation's problems but refuses to define it by them. Instead, he points to the country's enduring strengths, the enthusiasm of international visitors wanting to tour America, and what he believes is a renewed appreciation for patriotism among younger generations.
He tells the story of two brothers: one an optimist, the other a pessimist. One Christmas, the pessimist receives a room full of toys but complains because he wanted a pony. The optimist enters a room filled with horse manure but excitedly begins digging.
"With all this horse manure," the boy says, "there's got to be a pony in here somewhere."
Recapturing the cowboy way
The “cowboy way,” he explains, isn’t just about horses, ranches, or hats, but about kindness, humility, and doing what needs to be done without expecting recognition. He believes our society has become obsessed with grandiose gestures, while neglecting simple acts of decency and small habits that make a big difference: Holding a door open, encouraging someone, leaving a nice tip for a hard-working service employee. These, he says, are the building blocks of community that we need to recapture.
Rice and Dorinson also discuss the enduring popularity of Western stories. Growing up, Dorinson watched Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Bonanza, and The Lone Ranger. These weren't simply adventures; they were moral lessons and training in a kind of nobility. Every episode reinforced virtues like honesty, courage, respect for parents, kindness toward strangers, and personal responsibility. Television, Dorinson argues, once worked alongside parents rather than against them.
Both host and guest are critical of the Left’s parody of masculinity, including the “man up” ad campaign for the Harris-Walz campaign, which Rice humorously calls “the sequel to Brokeback Mountain.” Dorinson stares icily into the camera and says, “men are men” and “we don’t have to be told through an ad what needs to be done… they don’t get it.”
In the cowboy and ranching world, Dorinson says it’s not as if the man does everything and the woman cooks and sews and cans; they work together, side by side.
Dorinson’s common sense to life is summed up best in the same advice his father gave him: “Get up every day with a purpose; if you don’t have one, find one… Value family and have a little faith in the Lord.”
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy PJ Media's conservative reporting exposing the radical left and woke media? Support our work so we can keep bringing you the truth.
Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member