Gray Panthers hand out annual Turkey Awards
9:30 AM Mon, Nov 26, 2007 | Permalink
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This was one award that no one wanted to accept. Political Scene was in the State House last week as the Gray Panthers — a small but persistent lobby for the elderly — held surprise ceremonies for the recipients of their annual Turkey Award. Never heard of it? The Panthers traditionally honor the person or group that made the biggest blunder (in their eyes) over the course of the year with a hand-crafted paper turkey. Given widespread cuts to social services in recent months, the Panthers decided to give this year’s prize to Rhode Island state government as a whole. They made separate turkeys for Governor Carcieri, House Speaker William J. Murphy, and Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano. “We decided it’s really the people who run the government. They are the most responsible,” the Gray Panthers’ executive director, Richard Bidwell, told Political Scene, noting that his group was particularly upset with cuts to the Meals on Wheels program and heating assistance to the poor and elderly. The Panthers waited outside the governor’s office last Wednesday for nearly half an hour before presenting the turkey to one of the governor’s staffers. What took so long? Evidently, with a news photographer waiting to snap a picture of the presentation, no one wanted to receive the paper turkey on Carcieri’s behalf. The governor’s communications director, Steve Kass, was on hand, but he did not step up. Neither did the governor’s legislative coordinator Stephen Kavanagh, or Barbara Trainor, of Carcieri’s media office. All three appeared to be slightly relieved when the governor’s newest communications and policy analyst, Fred Sneesby, wandered through the small gathering on his way to drop off some documents at another office. Sneesby, a former Catholic priest, later told Political Scene that he merely stopped in front of Gray Panthers president Irene Santos to be polite. The next thing he knew he was holding a two-foot paper turkey and being blasted by some tough rhetoric: “A turkey is not a very bright bird,” Santos said to a baffled Sneesby. “These people we voted for are not too bright either … You think we enjoy pushing these turkeys around every year? We know what this represents.” Sneesby had little to say before walking away with the turkey a few minutes later. He contacted Political Scene later in the day with a comment: “My observation would be that the governor does not deserve this. The Gray Panthers and Irene Santos should know that the governor just sat with her and representatives of the George Wiley Center on Monday in a substantive meeting at which everyone grappled with how to get food stamps into the hands of more people and how to relieve the burden of high energy costs on the poor,” Sneesby said. “They should also know that it was not the governor who cut the Meals on Wheels grant; it was a decision of the legislature, so their complaint is misdirected.” After dealing with Sneesby, the Panthers moved upstairs to Speaker Murphy’s office. An administrative assistant accepted the award on the speaker’s behalf, but not before Santos blew off some more steam. “A turkey is not a very smart bird. And right now what he’s doing isn’t too smart,” Santos said of Murphy to the secretary. House spokesman Larry Berman later told Political Scene that his boss had little choice in the cuts. “It was a terrible budget year and it’s going to continue to be,” he said. -- By Steve Peoples and Katherine Gregg 
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I'M A SENIOR, SO I QUALIFY TO MAKE A SENIOR COMMENT. SENIORS ARE THE MOST SELFISH GROUP I KNOW. GIVE ME, GIVE ME, GIVE ME, NEVER ENOUGH. PAY REDUCED TAXES, GET AID IN MANY FORMS, HEALTH CARE, HOUSING, TRANSPORTION AND MANY OTHER AREAS.
WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO WAKE UP. BIG BUDGET DEFICITS WILL BE PAID BY THEIR CHILDREN. WHAT A SURPRISE. WOW NO FREE LUNCH.
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Perhaps someone should remind Ms santo that the wild turkey was Ben franklin's choice as our national emblem. So much for her remark that "A turkey is not a very smart bird."
Franklin's comments follow:
"I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."
Too bad she never learned this bit of American folklore!
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