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Upset Over Sarah Palin's Turkey Video
November 21, 2008 5:59 PM
ABC's Lisa Stark from Washington:
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's botched pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey, has now caught the attention of an animal rights group. Let's be fair, Palin, the former Republican Vice Presidential nominee, did successfully pardon a Thanksgiving turkey at a farm in Wasilla, Alaska. The problem was what came next. Palin stopped to talk to the media after saving the turkey's life –- but the interview was conducted right in front of the slaughterhouse. So as Palin talked, a worker appeared to be slaughtering turkeys in the background.
Circulated across the internet, the video has prompted groans, sighs and chuckles. But it also provided an opening for one animal rights group to push it agenda. In a press release today, Farm Sanctuary is pointing out that "more than 45 million turkeys suffer this very same fate for Thanksgiving every year." The group's national shelter director, Susie Coston, said in a statement, "The interview should be an eye opener for the millions of Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving." It noted the group has been rescuing turkeys for more than 23 years, and finds them to be social, sensitive creatures.
Farm Sanctuary is using the moment to urge Americans to give up the bird, and celebrate a vegetarian Thanksgiving. No word on what Palin, who is an avid hunter, will have on her holiday table.
November 21, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (77)
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Do YOU eat turkey for Thanksgiving??? Then SHUT UP!!! Would you rather they die by lethal injection. FOOLS!!! Oh, and enjoy your Christmas turkey!!!
Posted by: please! | Nov 21, 2008 7:53:57 PM
Too bad the liberals got offended by the death of a chicken.
What on earth will they do tomarrow morning when deer hunting opens in my state.
Posted by: Bambi slayer | Nov 21, 2008 7:59:27 PM
Funny how these vegetarians haven't "evolved" enough to loose their incisors.
In nature, animals that have those teeth eat _________. Can peta figure that one out?
Posted by: Stupid animal rights lovers | Nov 21, 2008 8:03:33 PM
I'm smoking my Turkey!!!!
Posted by: sisterdearest09 | Nov 21, 2008 8:05:07 PM
If I had to guess what the Thrilla from Wasilla might have on her holiday table, I'd probably have to assume it would be some endangered species. Remember: Country First.
Posted by: w_roos | Nov 21, 2008 8:07:02 PM
And just what do these people think happen at a slaughter house???
They should see the way turkeys flop around when they are shot with an arrow.
Posted by: Randy | Nov 21, 2008 8:14:50 PM
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
Once again...LOL
Dumb Palin strikes again.
"I really love helping out small businesses like this wonderful farm we have out here, and my family enjoys Thanksgiving..."
*turkey is slaughtered*
"Well I think that the most joyous thing is families getting together.."
*another slaughtered*
"I STILL wish I would have won that damn election!!!!!"
Jeez...GET A LIFE PALIN!
Posted by: Turkey Sanctuary | Nov 21, 2008 8:18:04 PM
If people are so concerned about what children see on television and the Internet, maybe they should actually pay attention to the youngsters' television and Internet activities.
Posted by: Lily | Nov 21, 2008 8:19:51 PM
Well, this video in question is a typically Palin distasteful farce.
But I want to correct a serious misunderstanding expressed in a post by theforse. That One does not support late term abortion. This mistaken notion morphed from the fact that he voted against a certain proposed law against it, because it was redundant of laws already in effect.
Posted by: Sam | Nov 21, 2008 8:26:32 PM
What's wrong with a 5 year old seeing where their food comes from. Parents let their kids watch TV where people are killed every day but let them see a real turkey being killed for Thanksgiving and they get upset. Grow up. I eat meat and so does millions of people and if they can't watch a turkey being killed they should become a vegetarian.
Posted by: unshrub | Nov 21, 2008 8:28:01 PM
If you're a person who doesn't "eat anything with a face," then go ahead and be horrified. Everyone knows that pardoning the turkey is a fun tradition that is meaningless, since most of the nation chows down on turkey every November.
As a fan of the movie Fargo, I love the fact that Palin, who has already been compared to that movie's hero cop Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand)is now in front of a turkey grinder while a Fargo like worker does the wood-chipper scene!
Go Marge! Go Palin!
Posted by: Tracy Lynn | Nov 21, 2008 8:28:28 PM
Are we actually letting these people breath our oxygen? I can think of a few folks I would substitute for the Turkey...quite a few in fact!
Posted by: SKip | Nov 21, 2008 8:28:45 PM
Does anyone other than me think that the person actually conducting the interview and shooting the film is responsible for the setting?
But go ahead, have your fun with her. Blame her for everything thats wrong in this country.
Posted by: michael | Nov 21, 2008 8:45:34 PM
Some people are still obsessed with Sarah.
Get a grip.
Posted by: I like turkey - on my plate. | Nov 21, 2008 9:09:25 PM
I'm a 32-year vegetarian. God didn't tell me to eat anything in particular. The Bible however tells Christians, Jews and Muslims not to eat pork, shellfish, etc.
I went to the Creation "Museum" in Petersburg three years ago on a Sunday. The cafeteria menu has cute Biblical names for their pork dishes. They won't let anyone work there who thinks the world is over 4,000 years old but they're open for business on "the Lord's Day" and serve "forbidden" food.
I don't care what people eat; it's their business. I don't even care if they don't realize their veal came from a young calf that was kept in a tiny pen for it's whole life, or that their eggs come from hens that are kept in tiny cages for their whole lives with the lights on 24/7. I don't care if they don't know that the beef they eat has been fed droppings from those same chickens. I hope they realize that factory farms contribute heavily to global warming and water shortages.
The point of this AP story, however, is that it reinforces the fact that Sarah Palin is a clueless idiot.
Posted by: Frank | Nov 21, 2008 11:57:19 PM
Just my two cents... Has anyone ever considered that the guy in the background who put the turkey in the barrel is an idiot? Think about it..and watch the clip again. As many times as he looked back at the camera during the interview, he knew exactly what he was doing--he knew he was being filmed. It doesn't appear Sarah knew that was going on because he appeared "after" the interview started and she didn't look back. Cut her some slack, for goodness sake. Perhaps this guy did it to get some noteriety or stir up the pot some more...who knows? ..hmmm...I wonder. Honestly, if he had any sense whatsoever, he would have waited after the interview to kill the bird--if it ever died. That part is never shown.
Posted by: Kathy | Nov 22, 2008 1:48:08 AM
Kathy, take another look at that clip. As she said, “This was – this was neat,” she turned to her left and should have been able to see the worker. Later she said, “Certainly we’ll probably invite criticism for even doin’ this too, but at least this was fun.” No one would criticize her for pardoning a turkey but they might very well criticize her for enjoying a slaughter. Remember how she giggled with delight during the prank call when the phony Sarkozy said it was fun taking away life? Think about it.
Posted by: WWW | Nov 22, 2008 2:30:35 AM
Hey, Frank! Maybe you should have read the other comments.. Palin was asked BEFORE the interview about the location, and at the end, she DID look to her left before she made a comment about probably taking criticism for 'this' too. She knew what she was doing. She's a farm girl, a hunter. She's not being duped, tricked, and the worker at the farm wasn't in some kind of conspiracy.
It's a matter of whether or not she used good judgment or whether choosing to do the interview during the ongoing slaughter was showing sensitivity.
And I agree, the worker didn't show much intelligence in not waiting for the interview before going back to work.
This IS the reality of eating turkey - they get slaughtered.
Posted by: MM | Nov 22, 2008 3:07:37 AM
Sarah is not stupid, she's just not a wrapped in cotton and coddled city girl. She's seen food before it's wrapped on foam in the supermarket freezer section.
If there's an idiot in the video it's the farm worker: I suspect the turkey's demise was drawn out because he was too busy looking back at the camera.
This in no way will dampen my enjoyment of making this Thanksgiving's feast.
On the whole, I found it darkly humorous.
Posted by: Dis | Nov 22, 2008 6:01:02 AM
Palin is a train wreck that just won't stop and thank God for that! I googled Palin + turkey and got 0ver 3,290,000 sites and trust me it wasn't the publicity she's seeking.
It's difficult to believe that she has any advisors whatsoever because the least astute of professional media handlers woulda nixed this in the bud. She's probably got someone else from her Wasilla High coterie advising her. While most governors who even "pardoned" a turkey just issued a press release, Palin sees this as a camera opportunity but doesn't even have the foresight to have the lucky tom turkey bathed so she wouldn't soil her designer duds. And then the irony of pardoning one bird while the slaughter goes on in the background is lost only on her base of rabid supporters. I laughed out loud when she said "We're probably going to get criticized even for this." Well, yeah, um... DUUUH!
I trust that Palin had the option to reshoot the interview had she had the slightest foresight to do so. Any time constraints that she was under had to be entirely self-imposed.
Thank you Sarah, this one was priceless. Get more air time, PULEEZE! BTW, growing up in north Ga, I've hunted often and slaughtered animals myself but, BUT, we controlled the environment and access to the goings on to those who might have found it offensive. It's painfully obvious that Palin is obliviously and idiotically insensitive to the public sentiment she so desperately courts.
Flailin Failin Palin!! 2012!
Posted by: Bob | Nov 22, 2008 6:42:22 AM
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