RED TAILS FIND NO LOVE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Who does Representative Renny Cushing (D-Hampton) think he is, getting 4th graders all stirred up over birds?
When a fourth grade class at Akerman School (Hampton Falls)  tried to seek a hearing for their idea to make the Red Tail Hawk the New Hampshire state raptor, they learned from the Republican Representative Warren Groen (R-Rochester) just what a nasty thing it was they had done:  The Red Tail deals with its prey in a most indecorous way, Mr. Groen objected: it "tears it apart limb by limb." 

And, not content to educate these 4th graders on table manners, he added, "It would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood."

In Mr. Groen's defense, adult residents of New York City, not an easy crowd to shock, were somewhat unnerved to find pigeon bones raining down on them, when a nest of Red Tails roosted on a ledge started feeding their young without instructing them in urban table etiquette, so the fledgings simply tossed the bones overboard.

So maybe Mr. Groen is not alone.
On, the other hand, Planned Parenthood?
It did turn out to be a teaching moment, as one Hampton Falls parent explained: She had to explain to her 4th grader what Planned Parenthood is, and how it relates to the Red Tail.

I would give a lot to have heard that parent and that conversation.

For my part, I can only imagine Mr. Groen has Planned Parenthood on the mind. Not the first thing which would have leaped to my mind in the case of raptors, but that's why we have representative government--differing perspectives.  Personally, when I think of Planned Parenthood, I think of packages of birth control pills, condoms and things which, ultimately prevent anything from getting torn apart limb by limb. 

But that's just me. 

The fourth graders did respond: "In our opinion, we think that the strongest reason is that both the female and male work together to raise their young. This includes nest building, incubation and feeding. This united approach to parenting is a great example for New Hampshire families."

Talk about precocious!
Show me the kid who tweeted that. Fourth graders go way beyond what I remember. I was into Mad Magazine in fourth grade. These kids can draw analogies.

I would very much like to know Mr. Groen's response to this idea of males participating in nest building. Republicans, at least last I heard, are still trying to wrap their mind around women in the military and men being in the delivery room. 

It has been noted the same New Hampshire House of Representatives voted last week to name the bobcat New Hampshire's state wildcat.
And I've never seen a bobcat in this state.
I have seen lots of wild turkeys, which would be my choice for state bird, albeit no raptor the turkey.
If I hadn't moved to New Hampshire already, I would have packed up and moved here as soon as I saw this story on line. 
Really, with these 4th graders, this state has a future. 
And we can count on Mr. Groen, and all those who sail with him, to challenge these precocious, contraceptive loving, misguided urchins to be even better.