A state motorcycle, of course. Isn't that on your holiday wish list?
We already have a state flower, fish, rock, insect, soil, dog, dance, fruit, fossil, beverage and more. Contrary to popular belief, there is not a state muffin, although that was proposed and debated a few years ago.
So why not a state motorcycle, asks State Rep. Leon Young, a Milwaukee Democrat who has introduced a bill to give that honor to Harley-Davidson. While hundreds of other bills languish in committee, that one actually got a public hearing recently.
The Wausau Daily Herald reports that the only opposition at the hearing came from Noise Free America.
Here's the thing that seems to have escaped Rep. Young's attention: None of the other state symbols have a commercial brand name attached.
The state beverage is milk, not Dean's milk or Borden's milk. The state grain is corn, not Green Giant corn.
We didn't declare Trek to be the state bicycle, or Oscar Mayer to be the state weiner. Miller is not the state beer. (Nothing to the rumor that the state weiner and the state fossil are actually members of the legislature.)
Is this too subtle a distinction, or do we want the state of Wisconsin to begin endorsing brands and putting them in the state Blue Book and on its website?
If it's going to get that commercial, how about selling naming rights?