In the 1972 Western classic The Cowboys, Wil Andersen, played by John Wayne, has just lost his regular cattle drive crew to a gold rush and is desperate for hands to drive his herd to market.
So he recruits a group of schoolboys. And while the kids are on the ranch learning the skills to make the drive, three grown drifters ride up looking for work, led by Bruce Dern's character, Asa Watts.
Dern explains that the three tried their hand at panning for gold but came up empty and were “ready to get back to what we know, and that's cows.”
Wayne asks about their experience.
“There's Oscar West at the Triple-D, and George C. Thompson over there at McNeil,” Dern replies, then adds, “Dillard Fant at the Santa Rosa.”
“How long were you with Fant?” Wayne asks.
Dern replies, “Well, sir, the last eight years. What a lovely old gentleman he is. lf we weren't three of the damnedest fools you ever saw we'd be there with him now.”
“And if you were, you'd be in a pine box,” Wayne deadpans. “l was pallbearer at his funeral five years ago.”
Caught in a lie, Dern fesses up that the three were “fresh out of jail” and lied because when “you tell that to people, they just turn a deaf ear on you.”
Wayne then informs Dern that he won’t hire them.
“You mean you're gonna be like everybody else and not give us a chance?” Dern asks.
To which the Duke replies, “l don't hold jail against you, but l hate a liar.”
Which brings us to Nevada Assembly District 9 candidate Ryan Hampton.
* * *
Hampton is essentially applying for the job of representing the voters of AD9.
So it’s natural to ask what experience he has that qualifies him as the best person for the position.
When he ran for the same office in a different district, AD4 in 2024, Hampton provided his own sorta “fresh out of jail” story. In a video promo he explained:
“I’m Ryan Hampton, running for Nevada Assembly. When I injured my knee hiking in my twenties, the doctor prescribed opioids and addiction and despair began.”
On his ”Meet Ryan Hampton” page his campaign wrote:
“Like many in our state and across the country, in his twenties, Ryan went through a period of addiction after being prescribed painkillers for a hiking injury.”
Hampton lost that race to Assemblywoman Lisa Cole, then carpet-bagged his way into AD9 last year.
And on his new-and-improved (but not lemon-scented) “About” page on his campaign website he writes:
“Like many in our state and across the country, in his twenties, Ryan went through a period of addiction after being prescribed painkillers for a hiking injury.
But like Bruce Dern in The Cowboys, Hampton’s hiding some important information about his drug addict past from his prospective employers.
He’s not telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
In fact, it’s a lie of omission. A BIG LIE.
And I’ll get to that in Part 3. Don’t touch that dial!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I could fake being straight indefinitely. But I couldn’t fake being sober forever.” – Ryan Hampton, “American Fix”
Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.