Wisconsin's doing the cow coin boogie News-Chronicle "The slogan on Idaho's license plate is 'Famous Potatoes.' If you drove a $50,000 Mercedes, would you want a license plate on it that said 'Famous Potatoes?'" - Andy Rooney And if you're from Wisconsin, do you want people to carry a coin with your state's image as a cow? Apparently, many of us do - that was the winning design last week in an online poll. Truth to tell, none of the three designs really turned anybody on. The one of the deer and muskie in the countryside just reminded too many people of chronic wasting disease. Nobody really got excited about the one with the white guy selling the Indian a leaky canoe. And don't get the city folk riled up about cows. "Where's the new Calatrava Art Museum? Where's Frank Lloyd Wright? Where, for the love of Laverne and Shirley, is something that reflects Wisconsin today?" they asked. Well, nobody liked my idea - a coin with nothing on it, showing a Wisconsin landscape in January. But it's tough to single out something about Wisconsin. We have no Land of Lincoln, no great battles, no single industry. Oh, we could have stood out. Maybe a coin with the tourism department's number and the saying, "For a good time, call 1-800-432-TRIP." Or maybe a picture of a tollbooth and the slogan "Nothing like that here!" Or a picture of Minnesota. Half of the people on the coasts can't tell the difference anyway. It's hard for us to brag. Remember, this is the state that once had the defensive slogan, "We Like It Here!" We do. And at a conference last week in Green Bay, state business leaders and pols looked at what a Wisconsin brand could be like. Would it represent values? Business opportunites? Quality of life? Work ethic? All wonderful ideas that don't translate well to an inch in diameter. So we've got the frappin' cow and so on. The least they could have done is put some ginseng on there; that's one of our better exports, but you hear very little about it. But I'm sure it didn't fit. That's the problem with stereotypes - they're easy to shrink, because they come from small minds. Instead, if this opportunity comes around again, let's consider a blank coin with the inscription around the edge: "Wisconsin - whatever you want, it's here." OH YEAH, AND RUSH... Rush Limbaugh, as you may have heard, had this to say about Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb during Limbaugh's appearance on ESPN on Sunday. "I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team." This caused pressure that caused Limbaugh to scurry back under his radio rock. First, I don't know of anybody outside of Philly who gives a good gahoot about McNabb; we just want to see good games. To believe that reporters decide to lie about a player's ability because of his race shows a paranoia about race that isn't healthy. Second, Limbaugh can't get it through his head that not everybody cares the same way he does or can have an unbiased point of view. That's the danger of always thinking you're right. Third, I think Limbaugh's success is because white corporate radio owners are very desirous of seeing a white male conservative do well, and he gets a lot of credit for the performance of his show that he doesn't deserve. The lack of commitment to local radio carries his show. Barrington is a reporter for The News-Chronicle. His column appears here Fridays. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected] or call 432-2941.