| Date: |
Friday, October 6, 2000
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| Question/Topic: |
I heard that Florida has a commissioner of barbecues.
Is that true? Where Can I get more information?
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| Answer/Pointer: |
The News-Journal Online has a story about the Secretary of Barbeque that I
have copied and pasted for you.
Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Secretary of BBQ turns Florida politics to pork
News-Journal Editorial
What do you do if you're a legislator who's being
term-limited out of office this year? You could scramble
for another position, maybe a judgeship or a state agency.
Or you could reset your term-limit clock by switching
legislative chambers.
With enough audacity, you could even create a special job
for yourself -like Secretary of Barbecue.
That's the burning aspiration of Rep. George Albright, an
Ocala Republican who knows a thing or two about pork,
political and otherwise. Albright is sponsoring a bill,
with some collusion by Sen. Jim King, to create a
commissioner of barbecue in the governor's office.
Before the squealing over this bill even begins, it's
important to remember this is not the worst idea Albright
has ever had. That might have been his proposal to charge
local officials with felonies if they sue gun manufacturers.
And it probably won't be the worst idea he'll ever have.
This registers a "medium" on the Albright idea scale.
Albright insists he's serious about a Secretary of Barbecue.
No one should doubt him. Albright, after all, is friends
with a Sonny's Bar-B-Q franchiser and has a stake in a
couple of franchises himself. This probably is a conflict
of pork, but then many House members don't lose sleep over
such minor ethical issues.
As Albright envisions it, the Secretary of Barbecue (SOB)
is like a combination platter - an ambassador of sauce and
promoter for tourism. The SOB would travel around the state
supporting state-sanctioned cook-offs and promoting the
virtues of barbecues as social events, drawing people of
all classes and cultures together in smoky harmony. It's a
kind of "One Barbecue" idea that ought to appeal to Gov.
Jeb Bush.
For Albright, clearly a guy who can think outside the pit,
this may be just the beginning. Florida could have a
secretary for Texas-style barbecue, North Carolina style
and Florida Cracker style.
There's no reason to stop with barbecue. Boiled peanuts
certainly deserve a secretary. So do buffalo wings. If
buffalo wings have one, environmentalists naturally would
demand a secretary for manatees -after all, they're
endangered. Buffalo wings aren't.
Once this idea takes off, Florida obviously would need a
Czar of Secretaries, which may be what Albright really has
his eye on.
Or maybe Albright simply has spent too much time standing
downwindfrom a barbecue pit. Stick a fork in him.
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| Librarian: |
SLF
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| Comments: |
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