News

Speak Softly and Sent a Big Stick

Published March 8, 2004. By Hugh McDiarmid Jr. Detroit Free Press.
Speak softly and send a big stick

Dove hunting provokes such strong emotions that we took notice when Rep. Susan Tabor, R-Delta Township, told of receiving a 2-by-4 wood board in the mail with suggestions that it be used upside her head. A threat from some dove-lover angered by Tabor's efforts to legalize mourning dove hunting?

Not so, says Bill Bonning, an 82-year-old World War II paratrooper who's stepped forward to claim credit. Bonning of Big Rapids said last summer he sent Tabor and Free Press sports columnist Eric Sharp (also a dove-hunt supporter) each a 30-inch 2-by-4. He shaped a handle on each, sanded them and applied three coats of polyurethane. He also clearly printed his name and return address.

Bonning was angry at Tabor for pushing the dove legislation, which is stalled in a Senate committee. On the board he inscribed the words, "Stubborn as a mule," and a note that said, "Bet you don't hang this in your office." Bonning said the mailing prompted an investigation by the Michigan State Police, who determined he was no threat. Tabor says the gift wasn't funny.

"Susan Tabor has no sense of humor," Bonning wrote in an e-mail to Bytes.

And the 2x4? "It's hanging in my office," Tabor said.

SPC Note: Tabor "suggested" this to be what it wasn't - guess this backfired on her too. As it turns out, it was just a regular mainstream retiree and WWII veteran with a simple non-threatening message.

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