Thursday, February 9, 2012

Another Republican Fowl Story

A bird expert warns that the sandhill crane's "diversity" could suffer if Wisconsin Rep. Joel Kleefisch, (R-Oconomowoc), gets his wish and the big birds are hunted for their rib-eye steak-like tenderness.

sandhill cranes
These are sandhill cranes

Kleefisch probably needs be told that it's a bad thing when legislation could put a fowl's diversity at stake, not at s-t-e-a-k. ("Rib-eye of the sky" is his remark. Really.)

There seems to be some disagreement about whether sandhill crane makes good eating.

One Kentucky commentator last year says he'd heard "yes," though he ended with an admonition as his state considered adding a sandhll season:
I would not want to shoot a sandhill crane any more than I would want to kill a mockingbird or cedar waxwing...
I am not opposed to hunting per se, but I do question whether adding sandhill cranes to the list of game birds in Kentucky is necessary, particularly when you realize that whooping cranes sometimes fly in the flocks with them. The penalty for killing a whooping crane can be thousands of dollars, plus jail time. So if you think it is OK to shoot into a flock of high-flying, long-legged wading birds with little edible meat on their body, be sure not to hit the white ones with black wing tips. That could cost you.
Then there's this commentary on a hunting website, where the notion of sandhill crane as flying rib-eye was mocked:
Sandhill crane is quite possibly the worst eating there is.

In fact, the comment "my dog wouldn't touch it" is not uncommon.

The most popular Sandhill recipe:

Wrap the breasts in bacon and jalepeno peppers, secure with toothpicks and string. Grill over a medium flame until bacon and jalepenos are well cooked. Unwrap the bacon and jalepenos and use to garnish t-bone. Throw the sandhill crane breast out.
Kleefisch is said to be a duck hunter.

Seems to me that turkey season is coming early for some GOP legislators.

One true fact below:
File:Traditional entrecĂ´te (rib-eye steak).jpg
This is a rib-eye beefsteak.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A turkey in every pot. Thanksgiving every day. They are populists!

Anony Too said...

I see Jesus in the rib eye. Or is that the Virgin Mary?

Boxer said...

This guy is seriously challenging Frank Lasee for Dumbest Legislative Proposal of the Century, and that is saying something these days in Wisconsin. Lasee, if you'll recall, proposed to 1) require teachers to be armed in the classroom, 2) limit the number of lawyers admitted to the Wis State Bar (shortly after his divorce case WHEN HE ACTED AS HIS OWN COUNSEL. Presumedly, he wasn't the only person in that courtroom running circles around himself) and 3)OOPS! He can't remember what the third thing** was, but boy was it stupid!
Let's not forget former Rep Scott Gunderson, who wanted 8 year olds to be able to hunt--yes, with guns. As luck would have it, he timed his announcement the same week the Feds came out with new guidelines for booster-seating 8 year olds. Saved by the Dumb Bell!
So Kleefisch is on very competitive turf with his Sandhill Sandwich legislation. May the Stoopidest idea win!

**Third thing--Take your pick: Overturning a requirement of insurance companies to pay for hearing aids or cochlear implants for deaf children, or legislating against wind energy.
***But the REAL Lasee kicker wasn't his one of his kooky legislative ideas, but a kooky accusation of Brown Deer School administration and staff that they had set aside a special hallway and classrooms for African-American students to have sex in while the adults looked the other way. (Isn't it always the African-American students having sex? I'm sure the thought of sex never occurs to white kids who are raised with the right values and whose parents have them sign purity pledges.)