President Barack Obama did his duty as our nation’s leader today and bestowed a presidential pardon for a very lucky turkey in order to spare him from the fate of many of his turkey cohorts this Thanksgiving season. In a ceremony at the White House earlier today (which was also attended by first daughters Malia and Natasha Obama), a turkey named Courage was chosen from all of the turkeys in the country for this special pardon and will NOT be made into Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, Courage will be flown FIRST CLASS to Disneyland here in SoCal to be marched down Main Street in a lavish parade tomorrow in his honor and will live out the rest of his days in Frontier Town at Disney. Here are a few photos from the fun event along with some deets about what went down:
After 10 months in office, President Barack Obama granted his first pardon Wednesday to “Courage,” a 45-pound turkey spared from the Thanksgiving table. Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama stood under the North Portico of the White House to honor a holiday tradition that dates to 1947 — receiving a bird from the National Turkey Federation. “I’m told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys,” Obama said. “You can’t fault them for that; that’s a good-looking bird.” President George H.W. Bush was the first to officially pardon a turkey. Obama joked about wanting to forgo the tradition and eat “Courage.” “Thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha — because I was planning to eat this sucker — ‘Courage’ will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate,” he said. Obama said he wished all American service members at home and abroad a happy Thanksgiving, saying it is a “tremendous honor it is to serve as commander in chief of the finest military in the world.” He also spoke about the first family’s plans for the holiday dinner. “Just like millions of other families across America, we’ll take time to give our thanks for many blessings,” Obama said. “We’ll also remember this is a time when so many members of our American family are hurting.” Obama noted that President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a holiday in the midst of the Civil War, “when the future of our very union was most in doubt.” “This is an era of new perils and new hardships,” he added. “So on this quintessentially American holiday, as we give thanks for what we’ve got, let’s also give back to those who are less fortunate.” After his remarks, the turkey was lifted to a table and Obama raised his hand over its head to deliver a mock-serious pardon. “You are hereby pardoned,” he said. Obama said “Courage” will get to spend the rest of his life in “peace and tranquility” at Disneyland.
As much as I love this tradition and am very happy that Courage will live out the rest of his “peaceful and tranquil” days at Disneyland, I have to admit that all I kept thinking during this ceremony was how much I want to eat turkey right now (it looks like Sasha was thinkin’ the same thing). I have been invited by some very dear friends to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with them tomorrow afternoon so I am really looking forward to that. As for Courage, well, I think we can all send him our best wishes this Thanksgiving … unlike many of his compatriots, it looks like his best days lie ahead of him :)
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