“Wonderfully prolific,

Having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds,

It is here today, and elsewhere tomorrow,

And no ordinary destruction can lessen them,

Or be missed from the myriads that are yearly produced.

The passenger pigeon needs no protection.”

A Senate Proclamation,

1857

Today, the Passenger Pigeon is Very Sadly Extinct

Along with 10 Other North American Bird Species

And 235 Other Species of Birds Are Now on the Brink

Yet, Most of Our Leaders, and Most of Us, Still Cannot See

We arrogantly continue to chop down their forest homes

We very selfishly pollute and overharvest the waters they fish

Though too many human beings on this planet refuse to believe

We are very rapidly accomplishing our greedy ‘Planet Death Wish’

And right now, today, as I pen this, many of our leaders in Washington

Are taking great efforts to gut and destroy The Endangered Species Act

Very soon, far more endangered creatures, like the polar bear and the wolf

Will be joining the Passenger Pigeon and that, very sadly, is a horrifying fact

In past yearly competitions, ‘sportsmen’ had to kill 30,000 Passenger Pigeons just to be considered for a prize. These innocent birds were shot, netted, and blasted out of trees with an early prototype of the machine gun.  And once upon a time, millions and millions of these Passenger Pigeons inhabited our vast nation.  Today, not a single one survives.

And Today, many of our leaders in Washington belong to exclusive Private Hunting Clubs, where they gun down 30 or more captive birds – before lunch.

And Today, hundreds of scientists and biologists believe the Polar Bear may become extinct by the year 2050, and our leaders, as they eat their gourmet lunches, after gunning down 30 helpless birds say, “We’ll need many more studies, before we can list the Polar Bear, as ‘Endangered.’”

And Today, as Wealthy Special Interest Group Lobbyists pay for our leaders’ exorbitant Hunting Club memberships, and their fine gourmet lunches, they smile very devilishly, as they convince our leaders to issue ‘Kill Permits’ and ‘Cash Bounties’ for wolves residing in Yellowstone National Park, and even in their very last refuge on Earth - Alaska.  “These damned wolves are killing and eating Elk, Senators, and you know how much you enjoy those fabulous trophy elk hunts we pay for!”

But Who Is Speaking Out In Defense Of:

The 235 species of birds on the brink,

The soon to be extinct Polar Bears,

The now to be exterminated Wolves,

And All The Other Living Beings,

We Now Annihilate on a Daily Basis?

It Certainly Isn’t Our Leaders,

And Far Too Many of Us,

Don’t Even Seem To Care.

And How Do I Know,

That Our Leaders So Arrogantly and So Wastefully

Gun Down 30 or More Helpless Birds Before Lunch?

In Another Life,

Which I Truly Hated,

When I Spent Many Hellish Days,

In Washington, D.C.,

I Was Invited To Lunch,

At One of These Hunting Clubs,

Right Outside Our Nation’s Capital,

And It Truly Made Me Sick.

And The Thousands of Gunned Down

Game Birds At These Private Hunting Clubs

Are Very Callously Tossed Into The Trash,

While Thousands of Hungry, Homeless,

Fellow Human Beings,

Many of Whom,

Are Military Veterans,

Wander The Streets of Washington, D.C.

Most Of Our So Called ‘Leaders’

Still Make Me Extremely Ill, Today.

And Unless We All Start Speaking Out,

Far Too Many of Earth’s Residents – Will Pay.

©2008, Mr. Ed