Blog per Frank's Request: Turkey Was Almost The National Bird

The other day I asked Twitter for Blog Wheel topics. I usually take 8 random ideas, put them on a wheel, and then let the wheel decide what I write about. But this time, Frank Fleming submitted 8 topics himself. So naturally I had to do a separate 'Frank Wheel'. Here were Frank's topics. 

Butterball Help Line
Turkey Frying Warnings
Great Stuffing Recipes
Turkey was almost the National Bird
When the Cowboys did not get a Thanksgiving game in 1977
What the actual first Thanksgiving meal was
Friends Thanksgiving episodes
History of Thanksgiving

I wasn't entirely sure what all of these topics meant, or how to make them into a blog. But the wheel landed on 'Turkey was almost the National Bird', and I'm a slave to the Blog Wheel, so that's what I'm writing about.

First things first, I did a little Googling to learn about the topic. Here's the first thing I found.

The Franklin Institute - The story about Benjamin Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a myth. This false story began due to a letter Franklin wrote to his daughter criticizing the original eagle design for the Great Seal, saying that it looked more like a turkey. In the letter, Franklin wrote that the “Bald Eagle...is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.”

About the turkey, Franklin wrote that in comparison to the bald eagle, the turkey is “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.” So, although Benjamin Franklin defended the honor of the turkey against the bald eagle, he did not propose it become one of America’s most important symbols.

So, it sounds like the Founding Father's weren't necessarily that close to declaring the turkey our national bird. It sounds like Benjamin Franklin just really loves turkeys. As the kids would say, "Ben Franklin stans turkeys". And conversely, he HATES bald eagles. 

I had never realized that the bald eagle was a bird of low morale character. That's something the public school system fails to teach us. Classic US propaganda. The public school system wants us to think a lot of things. They want us to think Christopher Columbus was the first person to set foot on American soil. They want us to think that we won't succeed in life unless we can do calculus in cursive. That God wrote the pledge of allegiance. And that the bald eagle is a noble bird. But that's not the case at all. As it turns out, bald eagles are kind of dicks.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy - Bald Eagles primarily eat fish, and you will often find their nests near a good water-based food source. They are also opportunistic eaters, meaning they not only catch live prey, but will steal food from other small birds or mammals, or scavenge carrion (roadkill, dead birds or mammals). 

Don't shoot the messenger guys. I respect the bald eagle as much as any other red-blooded, god-fearing American citizen. I'm simply reporting the facts as Google reports them to me. Bald eagles will feed themselves, and get fat off the backs of the work done by lesser animals. Animals who were dealt a worse hand in life than bald eagles were. Animals who by nature need to work harder to survive than the privileged bald eagles. Does that sound like America to you? 

Turkeys on the other hand are a noble bird. Turkeys are birds of courage. They live to serve. Turkeys are a staple of the most important meal of the year (Thanksgiving). They're bred to be sacrificed for the enjoyment of others. Do you know who else sacrificed themself for the greater good? Jesus Christ. 

If the turkey was appointed as our national bird, would our society be better off? Have we as a country embodied the spirit of the selfish bald eagle, as opposed to the noble turkey? Who am I to say. I'm just writing the blog that Frank Fleming asked me to.

Thank you Frank Fleming. I learned something new today.