Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Hold the stuffing! Obama pardons Thanksgiving turkeys

Image: Obama pardons a turkeyThe tradition of pardoning turkeys goes back to President Harry Truman in 1947. He pardoned a bird and when the press left, he sent it to the White House kitchen and ate it! Future presidents continued this silly little show of forgiveness in an effort to show  what nice guys they were. I have a hard time separating this custom from other presidential pardons where turkeys get out of jail, or trouble, because the president is in a forgiving mood, or is a lame duck that doesn’t care what people think.

image source - NBC News

No comments:

Another Societal Transformation: Will the Nation Survive this One?

I watched America undergo a massive transformation in the 1960s and early 70s. The streets were full of protestors against the Vietnam war. ...