EDITORIALS: A Symbol of Rebirth Worthy of Celebration
Elsewhere in today’s , readers will learn that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has removed from the endangered species list.
They even held a ceremony in Washington, D.C., to celebrate this milestone, using the Jefferson Memorial as symbolic backdrop.
For those youngsters out there who haven’t a clue about why the bald eagle was ever on the endangered species list, it’s helpful to recall the widespread use of pesticides like DDT in the 1950s and 1960s.
Go to the library and check out a copy of "Silent Spring" and learn more about how we poisoned rivers and streams, killing fish and birds and nearly erasing the bald eagle entirely.
The only eagle species indigenous to North America, it was first placed on the endangered list in 1967. Now, 40 years later, we breathe a little bit easier knowing that man can reverse environmental damage and rescue species on the brink.
It might also do well to recall a bit more history for our younger readers by noting that the eagle wasn’t the only choice to be our national symbol.
Ben Franklin, among the original signers of the Declaration of Independence (which we celebrate today), actually thought the wild turkey more deserved the honor.
In a letter written to his daughter, the sage of Philadelphia opined: "For my own part, I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…. too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk, and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish…. the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him."
The wild turkey, Franklin argued, was a braver bird on the whole, defending territory and mates with ferocious attacks.
And he found the analogy to American patriots’ gutsy war for independence an apt metaphor, concluding: "though a little vain … [the turkey is] a Bird of Courage and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."
So tonight, as you watch the rockets’ red glare in the night sky, remember the redcoats, the turkey, and our founding fathers who bled real blood in this most noble cause.
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