As Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin pardoned a turkey prior to its demise for the Thanksgiving holiday. All went well, except for one thing. Read about it below and see photos and a video. Video is not for those with a weak stomach, vegetarians or others who have never been on a farm or know where their food comes from.
Only a few Presidents have kept up a tradition of pardoning turkeys at Thanksgiving. John F. Kennedy did it in 1963 starting the sort of tradition. No one else did it until President George H. W. Bush did it in 1993. President George W. Bush has pardoned a turkey every year of his Presidency. Its a lovely tradition even though we all know that thousands upon thousands of the sad birds are slaughtered every year so we can gorge our gluttonous selves on their tender meat on Thanksgiving Day. And, of course, give Thanks for the bounty we have been blessed with in this land of plenty. Yada, yada … lets eat.
Apparently, some Governors around the country have taken up the cause to give a formal pardon to one lone turkey prior to Thanksgiving. Its ceremonial and basically meaningless, but its still kind of … well … kind.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin did just that this year. However, instead of having a big, fat, juicy gobbler brought to her for a formal ceremony under controlled circumstances, she went to the turkey. That seems like her style after all. She held the ceremony at the turkey’s home at Triple D Farm and Hatchery in Wasilla, Alaska. News crews were at hand to film the whole event, of course.
She did the whole pardoning thing with the backdrop of the birds milling around in the big bird house. When she finished with the ceremony a worker sliced off the head of a turkey right behind her … in full view of the camera crew. As might be expected liberals, vegans and people who think their food originates in grocery stores were horrified. In fact, there is a warning that the video is just too grisly to watch.
Many have actually used this as yet another opportunity to deride her. The fact that they go to this extreme to find something to damage her image is just further proof of the power she has over them. They are terrified of her. Its also further proof that they really do live in a bubble. I mean, where do they think their food comes from? Most people have at least visited farms.
I admit that I’m a city girl and rarely saw food coming from its original sources. I turned on a faucet and water came out. Chicken came in packages already skinned and boned. However, I did have country relatives and family friends who lived in the country. Several things stand out in my mind from my childhood when I think of this whole turkey beheading incident. I remember drinking milk straight from the cow one time. It didn’t taste right to me, was warm and I didn’t like it a bit. Just from the thought of it. I remember seeing a chicken get its neck wrung once and served for dinner that night. It made enough of an impression on me that I still remember it. I remember seeing an egg broken open with a chicken embryo in it and haven’t liked eggs every since. So I’m not hating on people with weak stomachs or who are too prissy to understand where their food comes from.
I still think the fuss some people are making over the fact that Sarah Palin is NOT prissy is a little over the top.
She took it all in stride as is her pattern. When the worker grinned up at the cameras after slicing off the non-pardoned turkey’s head, Sarah kept on task.
A reporter asked Palin if she was okay with the backdrop. The Alaskan Governor answered, “no worries.” As the bird’s head was removed, the man looked over his shoulder at the governor and reporters and flashed a toothy grin.
“I was happy to be invited to participate in, in this, and, uh, and, you know, for one, you need a little bit of levity in this job, especially with a, uh, so much that has gone on in the last couple of months that has been so, um, political, ah, obviously, that it’s nice to get out and, and do something to promote a local business and, and to uh, just participate in something that isn’t so, um, heavy-handed politics that, uh, invites criticism,” said the governor in what appeared to be a single sentence.
“Certainly we’ll even invite criticism for doin’ this too, but at least this was fun!” she pronounced.
The lady’s got spunk. You just have to like that about her.
I hope every has a very Happy Thanksgiving and remember to give Thanks that there are people who know where food comes from and manage to get it unrecognizable and all packaged up so you can serve it at your table without having to give it a minutes thought.
Sarah Palin Turkey Pardon - Video
Not for weak the stomached, vegetarians or others who have never been on a farm.
Photos: WENN









November 20th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Good interview…and this is national news, why? Isn’t that how we all get our turkeys? Last year my brother shot our turkey at a turkey shoot and cleaned it in the back yard.
What is most interesting is how MSM is so fascinated/concerned with/afraid of a losing VP candidate 2 weeks after an election that they comb through reels of local affiliate film to dig up interviews and info on her. Amazing.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
The stupid man in the background was obviously doing it for the cameras. And what does the turkey beheading have to do with Palin anyway? She doesn’t own the turkey farm, and at least she saved one turkey. Much ado about nothing.
I think it’s hilarious that the news folks are still so fixated on Sarah Palin.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I think they are fixated on her because she scares them. They just can’t let it go. Poor them! lol
November 20th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Good thing she wasnt pardoning a moose.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
” Last year my brother shot our turkey at a turkey shoot and cleaned it in the back yard.”
what kind of gun did the turkey have?
November 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
lisab - LOL!
November 21st, 2008 at 7:37 am
Rest assured, vegans and vegetarians know more about the food supply than the average citizen. That’s why we gave up meat!
I’m beginning to believe Sarah Palin is, albeit unintentionally, one of the most effective spokespeople for animal rights we’ve ever had.
November 21st, 2008 at 7:54 am
I would guess that you (justsayin) grew up in the city & “know” about the food supply through websites and video propaganda presented to you by your friends. Most people who’ve lived off the land and raised their own food continue to eat meat. I’m just sayin.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:03 am
Justsayin.
Theres animal rights and then theres food rights.
Get it right.
I’m a professional chef for 30 years now and “I” know more about the food supply than the average person and can tell you with great confidence that if veggies actually knew a damn thing about nutrition, mans digestive design, and how to find good clean ethical meat you wouldnt be sounding like such a bunch of hateful zealots.
Trust me, if you were a mountain man a few centuries ago and you were getting hungry to the point of starvation,and freezing your a$$ off, something most of us have never really experienced, you would quickly remove that thorny crown of yours and eat the first thing that moved while wearing its pelt.
In addition, if the processes you’ve seen upset you so much then you could of simply of learned to process your own to your ethical standards.
Animals have the right to be eaten when we are hungry.
Would I eat my Great Dane, my Pug, my Himalayan Siamese, the little abandoned chick I found last week ? Probably not.
In a more civilized society we dont eat animals that we can create bonds with as opposed to other cultures that dont share those values.
So, if you really want to bang on that issue why dont you take your case to Thailand or the Filipines where they would no sooner eat Fido and your kitty than they would burp ?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:50 am
Kathy, actually I grew up in the country. We had chickens, goats, a horse, and of course, the usual menagerie of domestic pets. We only kept our chickens for their eggs, but had neighbors who slaughtered their’s for meat. So, I’ve seen with my own eyes an animal killed for food.
However, that is markedly different than how they are kept and killed on most commercial farms. And no, I haven’t witnessed that in person, but through videos as you mentioned. I’ve no reason to believe those videos were faked, as they are inevitably followed by the obligatory press release from factory farms saying how “horrified” they were and how they will take “appropriate actions” to discipline the workers caught on tape abusing animals.
micky - I’m not a professional chef like you, but do love to cook and am also interested in my health, which has certainly led me to study vegan and vegetarian nutrition. I believe a vegan diet has improved this immeasurably. Far fewer digestion issues, clearer skin, a lower weight, etc.
Plus, I’ve learned to be more creative in the kitchen rather than relying on meat-based dishes for main course entrees.
At any rate, I was responding to the article’s claim that vegetarians and vegans would be one of the few who were shocked by the video. That’s just a silly remark to make, as obviously we’re the ones mostly likely to have the most knowledgeable about the meat industry. We didn’t become vegetarians because we didn’t like the taste of meat, trust me.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:56 am
Oh, and Micky - I am aware of the Asian culture’s treatment of cats and dogs. It’s very sad, and I’ve seen videos there too that are just horrifying. I do appreciate living in a country where we at least value some of our animals, and where a growing number of citizens are learning that factory farm conditions are not good for the animals under their watch.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:12 am
You just don’t get it, do you Beth.
People are not “scared” of Sarah Palin, they are LAUGHING AT HER COMPLETE LACK OF FEELING OR CONSCIENCE.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am
I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us at Christmas.
Disemboweling live reindeer in front of the baby Jesus?
Amen
November 21st, 2008 at 9:38 am
Abuse of an animal is an entirely different argument aside from having a diet that consists of meat.
In the 60s some schmuck hooked up a stethescope to a peach tree and said you could hear it scream when its fruit was plucked, where does the madness stop ? And at what point is it ethical to harvest and at what means ? Are we going to go into the physcological effects of pending doom to any animal that is raised for harvets ?
I think this is more about some range of guilt that veggies like to feed on and hold more than it is sympathy for animals.
In all my years witnessing processing plants,industrial fishing, mongers, and butchers there’s never been a level of processing ethics that has satisfied the veggies/PETA crowd.
Processing can never avoid the blood and gore that is demobstrated on the videos you claim you’ve seen, I’ve seen them too. All they do is dramatize the process that is inevitible.
Its the life leading upto initial kill that we should concerned about and not so much the bleeding and gutting which is even hard for some of the most seasoned culinary artists.
I myself wont eat veal simply because I’ve seen first hand what the calf goes thru but at the same time I’ll yank an Ahi up in deck and Sashimi its a$$ one minute after I clubbed it on the head.
Good stuff Maynard.
Justsayin, just think if you applied that creativity to an even larger palate of ingredients that include certain meats.
You guys are cheating yourselves out of one of the greatest gifts God has given us.
In addition to your dietary and nutrition concerns, its usually the carbs and fats/oils that create your digestive and nutritional problems, good meats and proper prep of a balanced diet have served the majority of healthy Americans just fine.
To deprive yourself of meat because of the way you percieve someones treatment of animals is no excuse to not eat meat if its not the flavor that bothers you.
The authors assertion that you would be shocked is not too far off since you’ve mentioned yourself that you dont care for the processing you’ve witnessed.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:44 am
Nah, you guys are getting it wrong — it’s not a “squeamishness” issue, it’s Herself’s obliviousness to the turkey kicking its life out right over her shoulder while she makes yet another hard-to-follow speech that’s so….lucricously funny. *That’s* why it’s getting airtime. It has all the elements of a comedy sketch — but *it’s really happening*. Over the course of 3-5 minutes. And then the dude finishes with one turkey…walks away…comes back with another…and does it *all over again*.
Come on, that’s good television right there.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:57 am
Owlhole.
The speech was fine.
I think the problem is that liberals cant understand any speech unless its put out by a gasbag full of empty promises, lies and platitudes with “uh,umm” and “duh” mixed in at every sentence.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:59 am
micky, you say, “You guys are cheating yourselves out of one of the greatest gifts God has given us.”
As a Christian, I believe the agri-industry is polluting the greatest gift God did give us - this planet. Also, the amount of grain that is raised for animal instead of human consumption deprives millions of God’s children food to eat. Believe me, what is used for biofuel is nothing compared to what goes towards feeding millions of heads of cattle.
I do agree with you that the conditions leading up to the deaths of factory farm animals needs to get more attention than their eventual slaughter. (However, the latter is often a long and drawn out process, in full view of the other animals next in line - although agribusiness would have us believe differently.)
But if that’s something you feel deserves attention, you should at least acknowledge that only animal rights activists are bringing this to the public’s attention. Our taxpayer-funded federal agencies sure aren’t. Of course, when these industries are headed up by industry insiders, what can we expect.
So hopefully you don’t view animal activists entirely with scorn and distrust.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am
You are right - we are damned scared of SP. The thought that anyone could find this clueless dimwit admirable is what is so scarey. And we have already seen 8 years of what the not-so-intelligentsia — and there are so many of you — can wreak upon the rest of us.
It isn’t the fact of turkey slaughtering that is a problem with SP and this video, it is that she is just so clueless about how she appears, allowing herself to be filmed in front of slaughtering and mouthing her now familiar spume.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:34 am
Another interesting thing–the ONLY media outlet there that shot the video with the processor in the background is the local NBC affiliate, KTUU (which is how MSNBC got it). All the other media outlets angled their cameras the other way, or, as is more common when only 1 person is being interviewed, they took a tighter shot of Palin’s face and the processor wasn’t seen.
Even more interestingly, the video has been removed from KTUU’s site.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:22 am
Justsayin.
These are peoples choices, are we to limit them ?
If I want to pay for the grain it takes to make my steak so what ? At least it goes to food as opposed to ethanol being the biggest offshoot b*tch of environmentalism we have ever seen causing grain markets across the world to go totally askew resulting in thousands if not millions starving , soil depletion, while creating ecological disasters of their own.
Gimme a break on the bio fuel issue. I’m well learned on the subject and an well aware of the amount of food wasted for bio fuels aross the world in South america, Africa and elsewhere.
You can go back as far as Carter who ushered that crap in by deciet saying it was going to help relieve dependence on the middle east and clean our air.
Half of the grants and subsidies he issued to corn farmers were illegal and reversed as Reagan assumed office.
Gemini.
“And we have already seen 8 years of what the not-so-intelligentsia — and there are so many of you — can wreak upon the rest of us.”
So what ?
You gave us Obama ?
ROTFLMAO.
So far the guys not even in office yet and hes shaping up to be the biggest clusterf*ck on two feet the world has ever seen.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:27 am
Loved it! Shows us how humane a turkey farm really is, something that our silly liberal friends would never see without a prominent governor showing the light. That’s a great machine!
November 21st, 2008 at 11:41 am
She is a disgusting excuse for a human being. And does she actually know the english language?
November 21st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Hey Mickey,
Can you blame me for thinking that having a president or vp who can speak in complete sentences and can complete a thought when asked a direct question is a great start. Don’t see any clusterf, just some measured, thoughtful, patient planning and preparing. Sorry you don’t recognize such attributes. Those are cultivated skills.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
“Can you blame me for thinking that having a president or vp who can speak in complete sentences”
you mean without all the “uh’s” and “um’s”?
yea…that’d be nice.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’d rather hear uh’s and um’s (meaning that the speaker is trying to be coherent) than blithering non sequiturs (look it up).