Althouse: HuffPo is aghast that turkey-killing doesn't faze Sarah Palin.

November 21, 2008

HuffPo is aghast that turkey-killing doesn't faze Sarah Palin.

Deal with it, you candy-asses. If you eat meat, something like that is going on in the background for you too.

265 comments:

1 – 200 of 265 Newer› Newest»

Molly said...: Are they putting the turkeys through a giant grinder? Whole?! Are they still alive? I'm really confused. I guess it says something that I'd rather watch turkeys being slaughtered than Sarah Palin talking.; 11/21/08, 10:34 AM
Brian Doyle said...: Ann bites the heads off turkeys, and spits them at HuffPo readers.; 11/21/08, 10:36 AM
MadisonMan said...: I'm assuming that those big cones hold the carcass in place while the blood drains out. But where do they chop the head off? It looked like the one going in had no head.

HuffPo readers should try living on a farm sometime.; 11/21/08, 10:41 AM
MadisonMan said...: ..and I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview, or Obama, with a turkey being processed in the background.

I think it's good that politicians can focus. Still, it's an odd visual -- I like how the guy holding the bird keeps looking back at the camera.; 11/21/08, 10:42 AM
Meade said...: Time for a new banner:

Althouse...
muscular hard-ass liberalism with the thermostat set cruelly low; 11/21/08, 10:48 AM
TWM said...: That reminds me, I have to get the Thanksgiving turkey this weekend.; 11/21/08, 10:48 AM
Roger J. said...: This is relatively humane; compare this to the fate of Daniel Pearl.
I suppose many in this country simply dont think about the rather nasty activities involved in converting living animals, fowl and fish to the food that magically shows up in our grocery stores. Perhaps if they did, there might be more vegetarians!; 11/21/08, 10:48 AM
KCFleming said...: Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming?; 11/21/08, 10:49 AM
Anonymous said...: i have to agree. how in the heck does anyone expect to process the amount of turkeys that will be needed in one day this thursday. and gads, our children shouldn't know where our food comes from.

Haven't any of you heard the cries of rabbits, or gone to your mother in laws where she catches a duck running around the "hof", takes it in the back room and you get it that Sunday as dinner.

gads this country is a bunch of wimps.; 11/21/08, 10:49 AM
Meade said...: ... in order to weed out HuffPo pussy turkey huggers; 11/21/08, 10:51 AM
DaLawGiver said...: I was expecting blood and guts flying across the screen, Sarah chasing the hapless birds around the pen wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chain saw. But it didn't happen. The video is mildly amusing but no big deal.

How many of the recent presidential contenders do you think have ever killed, dressed, cooked, and eaten their own foodies?

If Palin moved to Texas she could be our governor in five years following in the footsteps of the great Sam Houston as the only person ever to be govenor of two states and in 2020 she could storm the White House!

GOOOOOOO SARAH!; 11/21/08, 10:56 AM
Shanna said...: Totally agree Ann. If you eat it, don't whine about it.; 11/21/08, 10:57 AM
KCFleming said...: "It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. ...No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenburg tragedy has there been anything like this!"; 11/21/08, 10:58 AM
Palladian said...: Turkeys are repulsive, generally ugly, stupid and aggressive. It's hard to have any sympathy for them if you've been around them.

Hey, wait, I just described the denizens of Huffington Post!; 11/21/08, 10:58 AM
KCFleming said...: "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!"
Arthur Carlson, WKRP in Cincinnati; 11/21/08, 10:59 AM
Henry said...: The slaughterhouse backdrop makes the pardon that much more real. A pardon doesn't mean much if we wish away the alternative.

For the normal politician, the turkey pardon is make-believe, a comic cliche of high-mindedness. Unlike the literal pardon -- one turkey lives and the rest go down -- the symbolic pardon rescues every turkey -- even the one in Grandmas' freezer.

And thus we remain innocent of our actions for another year.; 11/21/08, 11:01 AM
Roberto said...: Oh, please...it was reported on many of the cable news shows with plenty of video.

And it wasn't the killing of the turkeys you morons...it was the heads being whacked off right behind her, with the trough filling up with more and more blood...while the idiot was being interviewed on camera.

If people here think that's some kind of really shrewd political move...you're even dumber than I thought you were...and that takes some doing.

*And you wonder why she was a massive drag on the ticket...duh.; 11/21/08, 11:01 AM
Meade said...: Nice banner. Brilliant, if I do say so myself.

But you're not going to add "to weed out the HuffPo pussy turkey huggers?"

No, no - you're right - save that for a special occasion.; 11/21/08, 11:01 AM
Palladian said...: You're such a pussy Gene. Gobble Gobble.; 11/21/08, 11:02 AM
Darcy said...: LOL! What is wrong with people? Where do they come from? Candy asses is right. I don't think anyone who thinks this way lives in Michigan.; 11/21/08, 11:02 AM
Roberto said...: MadisonPerson asks: "..and I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview, or Obama, with a turkey being processed in the background."

Neither of them are stupid enough to do anything like that.

*Actually it's hard to imagine anyone with the semblance of a brain allowing it...other than Princess Sarah of course.; 11/21/08, 11:03 AM
Dumb Plumber said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/21/08, 11:04 AM
Roberto said...: Shanna said..."Totally agree Ann. If you eat it, don't whine about it."

People eat dogs, too.; 11/21/08, 11:04 AM
wgh said...: I would prefer to believe that farmers pull shrinkwrapped turkeys from the ground thank you.

You know... despite my candy ass, what struck me about the video was not the gruesomeness I was supposed to feel, but why the shot was framed to include this in the background. Clearly the news cameraman is a vegan Huffy blogger.; 11/21/08, 11:04 AM
Darcy said...: LOL, Pogo! That made my day! I loved that show.; 11/21/08, 11:04 AM
Roberto said...: Ann is under the impression HuffPo is the only blog site or cable news show that reported this dipstick allowing the video.

Think that might have anything to do with HuffPo thinking Ann is a joke?

Take a guess...; 11/21/08, 11:06 AM
Palladian said...: Wait... Gobble, gobble? Dear God, that's the worst line from one of the worst movies ever made. Turkey time?! Sarah Palin?! Gobble, Gobble?! Lucy Gene the pussy troll?! AHhhhhh!; 11/21/08, 11:06 AM
Bissage said...: "Can one so rich in love be so poor in pity?"

-- The Lord Moses (Prince of Egypt, son of the Pharaoh's sister, beloved of the Nile god, Commander of the Southern Host); 11/21/08, 11:07 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I agree...candy asses indeed.

Where do people think steaks, pork chops, boneless chicken breasts come from anyway? They must think they magically appear in those shrink wrapped plastic trays in the meat department.

We should be as humane as possible when slaughtering and preparing our food, but seriously......animals do die in order that we eat them. We also kill plants.

Unless you are a strict vegan, getting all twitterpated about Sara Palin not being phased at a turkey farm, is hypocrisy.

She isn't phased because she has been hunting, knows how to field dress a moose and probably geese, ducks too.; 11/21/08, 11:07 AM
Zachary Sire said...: Can't wait to see this clip in an attack ad in 2012. Slaughtering turkeys is fine...but giving an interview right in front of it shows her total carelessness and lack of political savvy. It's just dumb. Who gives an interview while big dumb birds are being killed behind you? That's lameness.

Then again, this is why so many of you think she's so awesome.; 11/21/08, 11:07 AM
Expat(ish) said...: Pogo - ROTFL. Thanks for a laugh on a long day!

-XC; 11/21/08, 11:09 AM
Henry said...: Michael's right. Did Palin's image consultant sleep late that day?

Al Gore would have worn a brown suit, at least.

Obama knows that turkeys get killed, but the people that do it aren't friends, just guys in his neighborhood.

Hillary doesn't do interviews in front of turkeys, not with all the sniper fire.; 11/21/08, 11:10 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Ok not phased....LOL

Fazed. Get some more coffee for me please!; 11/21/08, 11:10 AM
Henry said...: ZPS wrote: Then again, this is why so many of you think she's so awesome.

I don't think Palin is all that awesome in general, but I do think this particular bit of Palinia is awesome.

One of Churchill's Tory friends was credited for being elected because of his "you be damned-ness"

That type of attitude, to me, is damned refreshing.; 11/21/08, 11:15 AM
Palladian said...: But, but! We Huffsters buy only organic turkeys from Whole Foods! They are flown to a mountain monastery in the Himalayas where the prajñā pāramitā is chanted to them by Jain monks until their skandhas achieve release from saṃsāra and their bodies fall peacefully to the onyx floor. Only RETHUGLICAN REDNECKS eat MURDERED TURKEYS!!; 11/21/08, 11:15 AM
Darcy said...: ZPS: Tell me you are joking? I would welcome an attempt to make this an attack ad. Anyone who would be offended would never be voting for Sarah, anyway. And it would be laughed at!

Henry, that was brilliant!; 11/21/08, 11:15 AM
Original Mike said...: "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!"
Arthur Carlson, WKRP in Cincinnati

REAL turkeys can fly. It's those candy-ass farm turkeys that can't.; 11/21/08, 11:17 AM
rcocean said...: As usual the media headline "slaughtering turkeys" is misleading and intended to make Palin look bad.

I saw no turkeys being killed, just the carcasses being drained of blood.; 11/21/08, 11:18 AM
Palladian said...: "I saw no turkeys being killed, just the carcasses being drained of blood."

But that's icky!!!!!; 11/21/08, 11:20 AM
Zachary Sire said...: Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat.

Tip: if you're trying to go easy on your caloric intake this Thursday, use soy sauce on your turkey instead of gravy! It's really good. Use low sodium soy sauce though.; 11/21/08, 11:28 AM
Zachary Sire said...: Also too, ditch the butter, gravy, and sour cream, and use salsa instead!; 11/21/08, 11:29 AM
KCFleming said...: Just be sure the political class keeps up the pretence that nothing is actually killed for your dinner, though, right Zach?

They should also avoid talking to people in the trades when they are actually working, too. Some of what they do is too hard on the sensitive types.; 11/21/08, 11:34 AM
integrity said...: I don't share the outrage as I eat meat primarily, outside of corn and peas I don't touch vegetables. So animal slaughter is required and greatly appreciated.

But I think the Professor misses the point. They were showing you a dumb turkey among other dumb turkeys. Only we ain't done slaughtering the one with lipstick yet. Hehehehehehe.

Palin really does deliver. A gift that not only keeps on giving, but may destroy her own party even further (read Parker's column). We love you Sarah! And we love ridiculing you even more. And stop palling around with turkeys, you idiot.; 11/21/08, 11:35 AM
kjbe said...: It's funny how far we're removed our food sources.

On the other hand, it's certainly more efficient than shooting them from a plane.

Thanks Pogo. WKRP lives!; 11/21/08, 11:36 AM
Palladian said...: "Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat."

cough. cough. titter.; 11/21/08, 11:36 AM
Palladian said...: "Only we ain't done slaughtering the one with lipstick yet. Hehehehehehe.

Your turkey, the one who got elected, seems to be the self-slaughtering kind. He's going to be carved up and served with gravy by the media and the disappointed far left before he even gets inaugurated.; 11/21/08, 11:38 AM
Joseph said...: im vegetarian so maybe that disqualifies me, but do you really not see anything bizarre about that background for an interview?; 11/21/08, 11:42 AM
Unknown said...: the laughter, dear heart, is not at the turkey killihng. Shit. We all kill animals and devour them. What we are laughing at, and that which you missed, is the slaughter going on while she was in her own inarticulate way delivering a goodie goodie message. The background screwed up what she was trying to do and that made her look very very dumb.Now if you know about body language you can also understand context in staging. She (Palin) clearly does not.

as for the cute mockery about Huff site: the imbecile who thinks ghe is clever with the dark meat nonsense ought to learn that in any blind test, dark meat always beats out white meat in poultry tasting.

Now I am an effete liberal but I have killed my own poultry. Have you, wise ones?; 11/21/08, 11:43 AM
Zachary Sire said...: There are a couple of vegetarians in my family who always bring their own "Tofurkey" on Thanksgiving. If they saw the Palin video, their heads would probably explode. I guess they are "candy asses" too.; 11/21/08, 11:49 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Pogo:

The best Thanksgiving TV show ever?; 11/21/08, 11:50 AM
KCFleming said...: "The background screwed up what she was trying to do"

Modern Americans are quite easily distracted. An ADD electorate, unable to concentrate. How do they get any work done, their attention yanked this way and that, requiring proper staging for interviews lest real life intervene and they miss the message?

Nathan, yes, ye shall be spoon fed your news during the Obamafest. Don't you worry about all that backgound stuff. "pay no attention to the man...." etc etc.; 11/21/08, 11:51 AM
Zachary Sire said...: as for the cute mockery about Huff site: the imbecile who thinks ghe is clever with the dark meat nonsense ought to learn that in any blind test, dark meat always beats out white meat in poultry tasting.

How was my comment about dark meat mockery of the Huffington Post? WTF? How is this "nonsense," you idiot? Dark meat is greasy and flavorless, and I'm skeptical of blind people taking tests.; 11/21/08, 11:54 AM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I purchase my turkey from a cage free organic turkey farm.

The turkeys are given a mild sedative as Enya plays in the background and gently go to sleep.

I am very proud of purchasing my cage free organic turkey this way.; 11/21/08, 11:54 AM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I am also relieved that the voters in California passed the amendment to allow chickens extra legroom in their cages. Very humane.; 11/21/08, 11:55 AM
Mark O said...: Troop can help me here, but I seem to recall that when U.S. Grant killed a turkey he did something to it first that Jimmy Carter couldn't ever do.

Does anyone remember what Doris said?; 11/21/08, 11:55 AM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Also, I am on sabatical from having sex.

I anticipate this will be a couple of months.

I am not doing jerky jerky to myself either.; 11/21/08, 11:57 AM
Meade said...: "as Enya plays in the background"

Inhumane.; 11/21/08, 11:57 AM
Sofa King said...: There are a couple of vegetarians in my family who always bring their own "Tofurkey" on Thanksgiving. If they saw the Palin video, their heads would probably explode. I guess they are "candy asses" too.

Why yes, yes they are, if they apparently can't even handle the fact that other people like to eat meat.; 11/21/08, 11:58 AM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I only like dark meat. White meat is so vanilla and not exotic and boring.

Give me dark meat anyday.; 11/21/08, 12:02 PM
An Edjamikated Redneck said...: I just watched the video, and kept thinking I had seen something similar on Monty Python...

Are we sure that wasn't Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live?; 11/21/08, 12:03 PM
Original Mike said...: DARK meat is flavorless?????; 11/21/08, 12:04 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I am having a Dunky Donuts hot cocoa now. Yum.

Dunkey's is really an east coast thing.

I love the east coast.; 11/21/08, 12:04 PM
Jim Hu said...: Remember this from last year?
Whether the turkeys come from a shelter or the White House, they don’t live very long. Most adopted turkeys are commercially bred broad-breasted whites, genetically disposed to grow to a marketable size in about four months. Even on a diet of only a couple of cups of turkey feed a day, they become obese. They usually develop leg problems, congestive heart failure and arthritis.

“One just couldn’t get up, so I had to have her euthanized,” Ms. Lane said. “Another one just dropped dead one evening.”; 11/21/08, 12:04 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Pogo said Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming?

C'mon Professor, Pogo deserves a tag for the quote of the day.; 11/21/08, 12:05 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I don't like the south.; 11/21/08, 12:05 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I guess it says something that I'd rather watch turkeys being slaughtered than Sarah Palin talking.

It most certainly does.; 11/21/08, 12:05 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I like the midwest, mountain west and west coast.

But the east coast is the best.

The Bos-Wash corridor is fabulous.

Boston/Providence/New Haven/NYC/Philly/divine.

Although I don't like DC.; 11/21/08, 12:07 PM
Darcy said...: Does anyone remember what Doris said?

Oh, goodie! More porn bios!; 11/21/08, 12:08 PM
nrn312 said...: C'mon Professor, Pogo deserves a tag for the quote of the day.

Try giving her an apple.; 11/21/08, 12:08 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Why can't we have bald eagles for Thanksgiving?

That would be patriotic.

What do bald eagles taste like?

Do you know the male and female bald eagle take turn sitting on the eggs?; 11/21/08, 12:09 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: ZPS said "Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat."

I always knew you were a racist.

I'm letting Mort know too.; 11/21/08, 12:11 PM
Tully said...: Yes, REAL turkeys can fly. Quite well, too. As Original Mike said, it's those candy-ass genetic farm mutants that can't get in the air.

I kill my own. They taste better that way. :-); 11/21/08, 12:12 PM
le Douanier said...: I just hope that guy wasn't another undocumented worker in the meat processing industry. Maybe he jumped ship from Big to Little Diomede.

Those guys are always rearing, also.; 11/21/08, 12:13 PM
RJ said...: Oh my God! Meat comes from living animals?!! Who knew?!! Has Palin been in on this from the beginning?!!!; 11/21/08, 12:13 PM
Tully said...: What do bald eagles taste like?

Not so good. Kind of like a cross between California condor and spotted owl.; 11/21/08, 12:14 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I love how Palin still sends the lefties into mouth frothing frenzies.; 11/21/08, 12:15 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I like dark hogs as well as dark meat.

There is something interesting about a darker hog.

It is the texture, composition, skin, feel and look.

Also, I enjoy the contrast of the white splew and the black hog. It is much easier to trace the flow of the splew when it is coming out of a black hog and deposited on a hard black body.; 11/21/08, 12:16 PM
Unknown said...: Meat is murder.

Tasty, tasty murder.; 11/21/08, 12:17 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Eagles are thieves. They steal from other eagles.

Eagles used to get ddt poisioning and were endangered birds.

DDT was banned and eagles came back.

Suzie Orman is a carpet chewer. She enjoye eating meat curtains.; 11/21/08, 12:19 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: My sense is Suzie Orman has a brazillian.

I could see Suzie strapping one on during sex too.; 11/21/08, 12:20 PM
Dewave said...: Apparently not a single huffpo reader has ever worked on a farm.; 11/21/08, 12:20 PM
Anonymous said...: "If Palin moved to Texas she could be our governor in five years following in the footsteps of the great Sam Houston as the only person ever to be govenor of two states…"

As I recall, Houston only served as Gov. of Tennessee for a few days before going back to live with the Indians though. He was a strange character but was one of my heroes as a boy. He opposed Texas's secession too and escaped the fate of some who did (lynching) due to his great prestige.; 11/21/08, 12:20 PM
chuck said...: I'm assuming that those big cones hold the carcass in place while the blood drains out. But where do they chop the head off? It looked like the one going in had no head.

Probably. When I was a kid the local turkey farm up the street just cut the turkeys under the tongue and put them in the cones to bleed out, creating big puddles of blood in the snow. Quite the scene, really. I thought shoveling turkey shit was the better job.

You mean, neither was stupid enough to ever do real work. I would guess most folks have never been through a turkey farm before Thanksgiving, shoveled turkey shit, or discovered why calling someone a turkey really is an insult.; 11/21/08, 12:21 PM
Crimso said...: "What do bald eagles taste like?"

Chicken.

I recommend deep frying turkey. You might think it would come out greasy, but it doesn't. And the meat is incredibly moist.; 11/21/08, 12:23 PM
newton said...: It's called a Dirty Job - The jobs that are done that make life easier for the rest of us.

And obviously, Sarah is very familiar with them.

Turkey slaughter, politics... They're dirty jobs - but somebody's gotta do them!; 11/21/08, 12:23 PM
John Stodder said...: I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview

Hillary's career has been all about meat. Wasn't one of her big clients at Rose Law Group a big chicken-slaughtering syndicate? And how do you think cattle futures get so valuable? They don't take those cows out on kiddie rides.; 11/21/08, 12:25 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA X 1,000,000

All over the place, out loud, split my gut, oh, it hurts, now that there's funny, I don't care who ya are.; 11/21/08, 12:25 PM
Ann Althouse said...: 1. I'm eating a turkey sandwich right now.

2. I'm doing a completely vegetarian Thanksgiving this year.

3. "White meat is so vanilla and not exotic and boring." I think that shows ignorance of the depth and dimension of vanilla, a real and important flavor.

4. While the cameraman is clearly going out of his way to include the turkey in the background, I think Palin is not being oblivious, but the kind of tough, outdoorsy, gun-loving dame that she is.

5. Blood is a theme today, as Mukasey faints and Sarah does not.; 11/21/08, 12:26 PM
Original Mike said...: ...it's those candy-ass genetic farm WHITE-MEAT-LADEN mutants that can't get in the air.; 11/21/08, 12:27 PM
Anonymous said...: I recently wrote: As I recall, Houston only served as Gov. of Tennessee for a few days before going back to live with the Indians though.

I didn't recall too well. A little research shows he served a little over a year and a half, but he did just quit (and leave his young wife).; 11/21/08, 12:28 PM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: Are they serious??

I killed my first chicken at the age of three. My mother put its neck on my hand, and said "Kill it". It's something people learn from an early age. It's a survival skill, if you will.

These wackos would starve to death if they had to procure their own food.; 11/21/08, 12:29 PM
Revenant said...: Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming?

Pogo wins the thread. :); 11/21/08, 12:30 PM
F said...: If anyone is seriously interested in the actual technique involved (I used to slaughter several hundred chickens at a time), what you are seeing is live turkeys being put in a cone that holds their wings from flapping. The bottom of the cone is open so their head can extend through, and the person doing the killing cuts the large artery on the side of their neck, then lets them bleed out. If their wings could flap they'd scatter blood all over (I know from experience). The head is not completely severed for the simple reason that an open windpipe allows dirty water to be sucked into the lungs during the "scalding" process (which loosens the feathers for plucking.) F; 11/21/08, 12:30 PM
ZHID said...: So what was Palin supposed to do? Say "oh, wait, let's move away from the background of the turkey processing, I would hate for people to see how turkeys go from gobble to table."

You know what would have happened had she done that? The HuffPo and rest of the Palinphobes would have screamed that she was staging the interview to keep people from seeing the brutality of turkey processing.; 11/21/08, 12:34 PM
newton said...: "These wackos would starve to death if they had to procure their own food."

Don't you see that's our plan for them?!?

Have you seen this cartoon? Show it to your tofurkey-eating friend the next time...; 11/21/08, 12:35 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Some birds that I don't know what they taste like:

Pelican
Osprey
Sandhill Crane
Sparrows
Robins
Bluejay

My dad is a hunter so I have had partridge or grouse, quail, pheasant, duck, goose, turkey, and that's it. I have also had elk, antelope, deer, moose,

My dad is hunting whitetail deer this weekend in Wisconsin.

What is the penalty for shooting a bald eagle?; 11/21/08, 12:35 PM
BJK said...: I'm sure Gov. Palin has done far worse to a moose than that farmer did to those turkeys (not that you could actually really see what he was doing -- as I was watching, my assumption was that he was snapping the necks of the previously live turkeys...one of them seemed too jumpy to be dead).

Personally, I'm more approving of the words coming out of her mouth than I am appalled by the scenery.; 11/21/08, 12:35 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: What animals have tits to feed their young and what don't?; 11/21/08, 12:39 PM
Anonymous said...: The HuffPo folks are idiots. What's the big deal about this turkey killing? Are we supposed to eat turkeys live? I killed my first chicken a long time ago by wringing its neck and cutting its throat (when I got squeamish) at the wringing.

Was Palin supposed to tell the cameraman (likely a Dem) to take a tight shot or was she supposed to pardon the turkey? Well, she pardoned the turkey, now all the snide Palin-haters are making asinine comments as if there is something wrong with Palin being filmed at the scene of a turkey slaughter.

BTW, does anyone want a movie of a three dogs hanging from a line, slaughtered, and skinned? What about a slab of doggy ribs next to a side of mutton on a butcher's block? What about puppies in a cage waiting for someone to buy them so they can face the knife? That's the norm in this part of the world; 11/21/08, 12:43 PM
Original Mike said...: I'm sure Gov. Palin has done far worse to a moose than that farmer did to those turkeys

I'm willing to bet the ranch that the moose is dead before she starts dressing it out.;-); 11/21/08, 12:43 PM
The Ghost said...: What a joke. These people have descended into a realm where analysis and self-criticism are completely extinct.

These are almost all meat eating, bloodthirsty carnivores) poo-pooing at someone standing in front of their dinner being prepared. There isn't even an word for this level of bourgeois hypocrisy. I suspect future civilizations will adopt the world "American" for oblivious irony the way "Greek" is used for ironic tragedy.

Does anyone know any statistics for Alaska's turkey exports? It would be great to calculate the likelihood that these people are actually eating the very same turkeys that they're harrumphing Palin for standing near.; 11/21/08, 12:43 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: OK, I just watched the video. You have to admit it's funny.

Is that Burberry scarf she is wearing property of the RNC? Do they sell Burberry in Alaska is what I want to know.; 11/21/08, 12:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Blogger Zachary Paul Sire said...

Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat.

Tip: if you're trying to go easy on your caloric intake this Thursday, use soy sauce on your turkey instead of gravy! It's really good. Use low sodium soy sauce though.
11:28 AM

Screw that, Zach. Eat what you want and die like a man!; 11/21/08, 12:46 PM
Meade said...: "What is the penalty for shooting a bald eagle?"

If convicted, you will be tied down naked, your hog slathered with mouse guts, and eagles will be allowed to swoop down and do what they normally do to mouse guts.; 11/21/08, 12:46 PM
Unknown said...: I know there must be some connection between Palin and the turkey slaughter and the way the very blue state of Massachusetts has apparently been reduced to a state of terror by a plague of wild turkies. Comment?; 11/21/08, 12:46 PM
The Den Mother said...: I don't get why this is such a big deal, beyond the fact that the guy killing the turkeys reminds me of those people who stand outside the Today Show window hoping to get on television. (Aside: do they do that any more? I haven't watched Today in years.) It also says something about the director whose boneheaded decision it was to show that in the background rather than choosing another angle. S/he was either clueless about the photography aspect or wanted to make Palin look stupid. Either way, I doubt she cares. The woman actually (gasp!) knows where meat comes from.; 11/21/08, 12:47 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I am not a vegan or anything but I think if we could see how our foods were made we would change our eating habits.

I went to my little nieces school for lunch and the food was absolutely disgusting. Airline food is gross. Fast Food is nasty. It is so easy to eat gross food.

I think of all the processed foods and frozen dinners and shit.

We do put a lot of crap in our bodies.

Watching that video does actually make me not want to eat a turkey. Or at least not think about how the turkey came to my table.; 11/21/08, 12:48 PM
Unknown said...: I know there must be some connection between Palin and the turkey slaughter and the way the very blue state of Massachusetts has apparently been reduced to a state of terror by a plague of wild turkies. Comment?; 11/21/08, 12:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Here we go again with another Sarah Palin super post. 200+ comments here we come.

It's unbelievable how captivating she is to so many people, especially to the one's who hate her.

To all the Palinphobic weirdos out there remember what that late great religious leader once said -

"In Alaska, they came first for the moose, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a moose;

And then they came for the wolves, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a wolf;

And then they came for the turkeys, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an turkeys;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Romney/Palin 2012!

molly said...Are they putting the turkeys through a giant grinder? Whole?! Are they still alive? I'm really confused.

No, they are being put upside down in order to be choked to death.

Look at the guy in the background at 2:38. He's obviously choking his chicken, I mean turkey.; 11/21/08, 12:51 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I love Ann's nice hard ass.; 11/21/08, 12:52 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I don't like seeing some of those pens they put the chickens in either.

They are so crowded.

Maybe I am a secret PETA person.

I am sucker for animals. Sure, I eat them, not much though.

That ASPCA video of all the dogs eyes with Sarah MacLaughlan gets me every time.

I love dogs so much. Any time I read a story about some dog being abused I grow insane.

I am all for abortion on demand though.; 11/21/08, 12:52 PM
Sigivald said...: Titus said: I am also relieved that the voters in California passed the amendment to allow chickens extra legroom in their cages. Very humane.

Don't you mean require, not allow?

Because I'm pretty sure there was no law prohibiting giving chickens more legroom in their cages, and thus the new law did not "allow" something previously prohibited.

It requires something previously not done. Government can only "allow" things it was itself prohibiting.

(Also, "processed" food is not an evil. All cooking is "processing".)

Ghost: Europeans are just as capable of being squeamish fainting-lilies as Americans are, last I checked their chattering classes.; 11/21/08, 12:53 PM
save_the_rustbelt said...: In Michigan this week hunters are gutting tens of thousands of deer.

Given the odds of hitting one with my car, I hope they gut a lot more of them.

And the guts are left in the woods to feed the four-legged carnivores - wouldn't that freak the HuffPo hippie crowd?; 11/21/08, 12:54 PM
sonicfrog said...: Holy Crap, This Is PRICELESS!!!!!

"... the campaign was pretty brutal..."

The best part is at about 1:14 minutes in the video, when the reporter asks about government programs being on the chopping block!!!!

Titus said:
The turkeys are given a mild sedative as Enya plays in the background and gently go to sleep.

Funny!!! But if they're listening to Enya, why would they need the sedative? Enya should be enough to sedate ANYTHING! Why, I've seen reports of whole villages going into a persistent vegetative state after listening to the first side of "Shepard Moon"....; 11/21/08, 12:56 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: "If you eat meat, something like that is going on in the background for you too."

I also defecate. Pretty sure even more people defecate than eat meat.

Yet, somehow, I don't expect a politician to use a backdrop of defecation in their press.

Gotta say I got a few laughs off of that latest low-class Palin video. She's always good for a few yucks.; 11/21/08, 12:58 PM
Dan said...: "Turkeys are repulsive, generally ugly, stupid and aggressive. It's hard to have any sympathy for them if you've been around them.

Hey, wait, I just described the denizens of Huffington Post!"

Why do you think they're so upset about this?; 11/21/08, 12:58 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I didn't think deer hunters leave the guts in the forest.

My father always guts his deer when he returns to the lodge.

Then he puts in on his truck spread eagle and drives home 5 hours.

After that he takes it to the meat market and they make deer steaks, hamburger, venison, barbecue and even beef jerkey.

If it has a big enough rack he cuts the head off has it stuffed and puts in his wild game room with all the other heads of animals. When I was young I used to put my peepee in their mouths. For some reason when they taxidermist is done with them he has their mouths open and their tongue hanging out. It was too tempting for me not to feel what it was like to get a bj from a stuffed deer head so I put the peter in it. I also french kissed the rainbow trout that my father has mounted on a wooden outline of the state of Wisconsin.; 11/21/08, 1:00 PM
David said...: Go to the flicker page of "Molly," the first commenter. Several photos of happy youths chomping barbecue turkey legs at the Minnesota state fair.

Palin is just having a little fun with everyone. She is perfectly aware what is going on behind her, and the fact that some people will go batshit over it. That suits her just fine.

She isn't going for the votes of the tofu crowd, or the the fools who think their meat might be humanely euthanized.; 11/21/08, 1:01 PM
jayne_cobb said...: I do hope that anyone criticizing her for this has never been critical of a politician for micromanaging their public appearances.

As for turkey, it's all good so long as it's drenched in homemade gravy (giblet based of course).; 11/21/08, 1:02 PM
Anonymous said...: "I suppose many in this country simply dont think about the rather nasty activities involved in converting living animals, fowl and fish to the food that magically shows up in our grocery stores. Perhaps if they did, there might be more vegetarians!"

Not more vegetarians - more pragmatic, realistic meat eaters that would bring much needed sense and sensibility.

As we speak, the ratio of cluless, squealing wusses to realistic, sensible folk is rising.; 11/21/08, 1:02 PM
Zachary Sire said...: I watched this on TV last night (because I am unhappy), and David Schuster reported that Palin was asked point blank if she wanted to do the interview in front of the slaughtering, and she in fact said "No worries," so it's not as if she was oblivious. She knew exactly what she was doing, which either makes her more of a complete whack job or more of a total bad ass.

I will confess that I think she is a whack job bad ass.; 11/21/08, 1:03 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Turkeys are mean. My father has a farm in Lodi Wisconsin and there are turkeys in the cornfield. My father and I were walking in the field and saw this huge turkey who tried to chase us.

I was scared.; 11/21/08, 1:03 PM
Original Mike said...: It's a lot less heavy, and therefore easier to haul out of the woods, if you gut it where it drops, Titus.; 11/21/08, 1:03 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: When I was in my teens as a young gay my other young gay friends wanted to do my father.

He was pretty hot.; 11/21/08, 1:04 PM
Richard Fagin said...: Amen, Lawgiver. After Ma Ferguson and Ann Richards, if we gotta have a woman governor, let's have Sarah!

If her damn husband had a real job in the oilfield like he should have, at least he could ger transferred to Houston. (Just kidding, Todd); 11/21/08, 1:05 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: Also, when I was young I took the black bear head off the wall and put it on the floor and squatted on it's face and rubbed my ass up and down is tongue as I jerked off.

I lied...I didn't do that when I was young. I did it last year when I came home for Christmas.; 11/21/08, 1:08 PM
Darcy said...: OK...I'm really hungry for turkey now. And I wish someone would deep fry it for me.

Bless those turkey processors!; 11/21/08, 1:08 PM
Darcy said...: LOL! I was really hoping my comment would follow something like Richard's. *sigh*; 11/21/08, 1:10 PM
Steven said...: I love Michael's implicit analysis:

1) Weak-minded people who can't deal with reality get aghast at actually seeing animal slaughter.

2) Palin let herself be pictured with animal slaughter in the background.

3) Therefore, Palin is an idiot, for failing to carefully tailor her image to avoid upsetting the weak-minded who can't deal with reality.

Well, okay, yes, if your definition of a good politician is someone who goes to every effort to avoid confronting the weak-minded with reality, Plain isn't a good politician. And you should certainly vote Democrat, because their policies similarly have no intersection with reality.; 11/21/08, 1:11 PM
Original Mike said...: David Schuster reported that Palin was asked point blank if she wanted to do the interview in front of the slaughtering, and she in fact said "No worries,"

I assumed she didn't know. I like her even more, now.; 11/21/08, 1:12 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I also put my peepee in a stuffed pheasants mouth.

As well as a large mouth bass and partridge.

The partridge was especially pretty his entire "fan" was spread out.

I pulled one of the feathers out of the partridges fan and used to use it to tickle my ass.; 11/21/08, 1:15 PM
Steven said...: Ah, and AlphalLiberal comes along to give us our explicit dose of classist scorn. Sometimes you have to wonder if he's a deliberate parody, with his handle so perfectly suited to the elitism of his comments.; 11/21/08, 1:16 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: One time I jerked off in a stuffed Antelopes mouth.; 11/21/08, 1:19 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I didn't think deer hunters leave the guts in the forest.

If you don't field dress (gut the animal) immediately the core temperature of the animal will remain high. You want the body temperature to begin dropping to keep the meat from going bad.

Plus if you accidentally shoot the animal in the torso there tends to be a mess inside of the animal (icky fluids etc)which should be cleaned up immediately.

If you are just a quick drive away from your home or are one of those despicable, lazy, unsporting "road hunters" you might get away with not field dressing. However, if you are camped in the wilderness and many many miles from home or the nearest town where there is a cold storage place to hang your kill you will field dress in the woods and you certainly don't want a pile of guts laying around to attract predators to your campsite.

You also don't want to keep your deer hanging, literally, around your campsite either. We usually went hunting for a week or more and took our deer or elk to the nearest town which was about 50 miles from the camp and then returned to help the rest of the guys and gals get their tag filled.

More info than you really wanted to know I'm sure. Next, how to clean and pluck Canadian Geese.; 11/21/08, 1:19 PM
Jon said...: David Schuster has long been in strong contention for the title of single biggest tool on MSDNC, arguably surpassing even Olbermann and Matthews.; 11/21/08, 1:22 PM
Dr. Waddlesworth Lumplevin said...: At my group therapy session at the Sf Zen Spiritual Center, we had an amazing breakthrough on our Palin-obsession and hatred. At the end of my article on it....

"No more guilt and shame when I say that I would like to take that %$#%$%ing Sarah Palin and film her getting tortured and raped by brothers from Harlem, as one Progressive recently suggested. And then, before kicking her ass myself with my hobnailed boots until she screams for mercy, as Madonna suggested to thousands of hooting fans , I will burn her trailer-trash family alive before her eyes just before finishing her off by making her drink muriatic acid and letting the last words she ever hears be, "It's all your fault Ms. Hottie... plus I hate those glasses!"

....and besides she's so....so.... mean to those poor animals!!!
http://lumpsfromtheleft.blogspot.com/2008/10/hatred-and-bigotry-of-republicans-has.html; 11/21/08, 1:23 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Ah, and AlphalLiberal comes along to give us our explicit dose of classist scorn.

Uh.... There's nothing elitist or classist in what I said. I said that there are things in life we don't need broadcast. Crapping, killing animals are 2 examples.

You, OTOH, implied that non-elites are people who are comfortable with watching animals get slaughtered.

Besides being dumb that implication is, you know, "classist."; 11/21/08, 1:27 PM
DADvocate said...: Glenn Reynolds purees puppies. Ann Althouse grinds up turkeys. Oh, the humanity of it all!; 11/21/08, 1:27 PM
Anthony said...: My mother's parents were poor Italian immigrants who often got their food where they could.

One day, a long November ago, my mother came home and found a turkey sitting in the family bathtub.

Several days later (the day before Thanksgiving) the turkey "ran away."

Where do people think their food comes from?; 11/21/08, 1:29 PM
dualdiagnosis said...: Palin's a total bad-ass.; 11/21/08, 1:31 PM
**SkipKent** said...: Vegan Republican here, and I thought it was pretty damn funny, in a good way!

Dirty business indeed, and she knows it. If she runs in '12 she'll have my vote. As Pres, or maybe VP to Condi?; 11/21/08, 1:32 PM
Synova said...: The HuffPo folks are too funny.

Though I didn't think the one person who compared viewing dead turkeys to viewing caskets of fallen soldiers was funny.

Because, you know, wanting your meat to appear magically shrink wrapped in plastic is *so* morally equivalent to wanting to respect the dignity of humans who have died serving their country.; 11/21/08, 1:33 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Okay, people. Those are "killing cones," and the one for chicken are proportionally smaller.

You drop the bird in head first and slit the throat. The bird doesn't know that. Once it loses consciousness the nervous system sets it to flapping and kicking, so the main purpose of the cone is restraint.

If you don't bleed out the bird while it's alive the meat's lousy.

The real beauty of a small operation like that one is its transparency. You can see how the birds are raised -- well -- and you can see how they're killed. This is not some big industrial operation with mechanical evisceration that spreads salmonella all over kingdom-come.

BTW, the next step in an operation such as the one filmed is a short bath in very hot water. That loosens the feathers. Then the bird is placed between two drums of rotating cylinders well-endowed with rubber fingers, each of which has several slits. This plucks the bird more or less clean.

After that it is gutted, head and feet are removed, it is washed out with a hose and then chilled in ice water.

The only Alaska residents who might be offended by such a scene ... almost certainly were not born there.; 11/21/08, 1:34 PM
Shanna said...: Shanna said..."Totally agree Ann. If you eat it, don't whine about it."

People eat dogs, too.

Ok...What exactly is your point? Do people in the US habitually eat dogs? No. Not really. But we have a national holiday based around the eating of Turkey.

Some people are put off by this, and some people think she's a person who knows where her food comes from and doesn't shirk from it. I find that refreshing.; 11/21/08, 1:42 PM
Synova said...: AL... crapping and eating meat are not the same.

Poo, by any other name remains verboten from the moment you gotta go to when it returns to unrecognizable soil, and there are good, hygenic, reasons for that. We do our dumping away from where we do the rest of our living, even at our most primitive.

Killing our food is/has been inherently a social/group activity. The hunters return and everyone cheers. The carcasses are prepared and the food is cooked and consumed together.

A *feast* is inherently social. It is, in fact, the whole point of having a holiday center around the feast. We work together and we eat together and we give thanks together.; 11/21/08, 1:43 PM
Charlie Martin said...: where the prajñā pāramitā is chanted to them by Jain monks

What the hell were Jainas doing chanting the prajãparmita?; 11/21/08, 1:44 PM
Anonymous said...: @Michael

You're one of those HuffPo candy asses aren't you?

You know what the joke is? You coming on here having hissy fits over turkeys being slaughtered.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Priss.; 11/21/08, 1:45 PM
garage mahal said...: You drop the bird in head first and slit the throat. The bird doesn't know that.

Oh I bet it does!; 11/21/08, 1:47 PM
Revenant said...: Bart Hall,

Thanks for the summary! Pretty interesting stuff.; 11/21/08, 1:47 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Not if the knife is as sharp at it should be.; 11/21/08, 1:49 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Oh I bet it does!

Life's a bitch and then you're dinner. It's life in the food chain.

I've always wanted to kill my own meal. Besides fish, I mean.; 11/21/08, 1:50 PM
Shanna said...: I've always wanted to kill my own meal. Besides fish, I mean.

Well, you picked the right time of year because it's deer season! All you need is a license and a gun. And probably a deer camp.

My dad, brother and sister in law along with many coworkers will be off shooting this weekend. Then there will be lots of tasty deer sausage to eat for the rest of the year. Although personally I prefer Duck to Deer.; 11/21/08, 1:56 PM
garage mahal said...: Not if the knife is as sharp at it should be.

I'm sure they don't feel much if anything but your phrasing was hilarious.; 11/21/08, 2:02 PM
SH said...: Hoosier Daddy said...

"I love how Palin still sends the lefties into mouth frothing frenzies."

Yeah, you do have wonder if this was a rope a dope move on her end. Every lefty saying how bad this makes her look just turns everyone else off...; 11/21/08, 2:09 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Oh, there's a lot more about turkeys ... I used to raise 'em. Most of them are quite smart, and the wild ones are probably north of half the critters in Congress.

The big white ones, however, are indeed dumber than your average fencepost.

Not only that, they've been raised big-chested for so long that they're unable to breed naturally. Breeding age toms can barely stand up.

So ... to get little turkeys the hens have to be artificially inseminated. That means there are people out there whose job it is to jerk off turkeys.

Gainful employment for Titus, perhaps?; 11/21/08, 2:21 PM
Rocker 419 said...: Everytime these candy butt liberals put down Sarah Palin, she just gets stronger and stronger. Can't wait until shes President. Maybe then she'll put a few liberals through the meat grinder. Good riddance.; 11/21/08, 2:22 PM
knox said...: Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming?

LMAO!

Ah, Silence of the Lambs. There's a quote for virtually every possible situation in life.; 11/21/08, 2:31 PM
Snowed In said...: Yet, somehow, I don't expect a politician to use a backdrop of defecation in their press.

Nah, some politicians use it as their platform.; 11/21/08, 2:33 PM
amba said...: Pogo strikes again!

(People will say we're in love . . .); 11/21/08, 2:42 PM
Trooper York said...: The first officially sanctioned thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Lincoln during the depths of the civil war for the final Thursday in November 1963. The tradition of pardoning the White House Turkey was also initiated by President Lincoln during the next year’s celebration. It seems that the turkey that year resembled Joshua Speed who was President Lincoln’s long term companion during his years as circuit riding lawyer. Speed an art teacher and perfume developer often shared young Mr. Lincoln’s bed as they traveled the back roads of Illinois where Lincoln would try cases and Speed would try to peddle his nostrums while entertaining the depressed Mr. Lincoln with his rants against the poor quality of art and wine to be found in those roadside taverns. The chubby thighs and endearing wattle so much resembled the rotund raconteur that President Lincoln freed the pouty lipped poultry in the name of his good friend.
(Pardon Me? The History of Presidential Pardons, Doris Kearns Goodwin Simon & Schuster 2007); 11/21/08, 2:44 PM
chickelit said...: For an encore, I like to see Sarah Palin give her next interview with something like this in the background. That should make the Huffpo's stop driving.; 11/21/08, 3:01 PM
Trooper York said...: The tradition of pardoning the White House turkey did not become an automatic ritual as many of Presidents did not have a sentimental attachment to their meat. However some of them were more kind hearted than others. US Grant who led the Union army in some of the most sanguinary battles in the history of the United States actually hated the sight of blood or the infliction of pain. So the night before Thanksgiving, Sam Grant sat up all night getting drunk with the turkey so it wouldn’t feel anything when the fateful moment arrived. The ingestion of bourbon by the doomed fowl left its meat with a delicious taste that became all the rage in sophisticated circles after it was introduced on the menu in Delmonico’s restaurant later that same year.
(Pardon Me? The History of Presidential Pardons, Doris Kearns Goodwin Simon & Schuster 2007); 11/21/08, 3:07 PM
amba said...: That ASPCA video of all the dogs eyes with Sarah MacLaughlan gets me every time.

Me too, Titus. (Never thought I'd have a chance to say that.) I usually leave the room when it comes on so I don't start to cry.; 11/21/08, 3:10 PM
amba said...: I also french kissed the rainbow trout that my father has mounted on a wooden outline of the state of Wisconsin. This is like a sequel to Portnoy's Complaint. Titus's Tantrum?; 11/21/08, 3:14 PM
Trooper York said...: The most ineffectual attempt at pardoning the White House turkey occurred during the administration of Jimmy Carter. Even though he famously termed himself a “peanut farmer”, President Carter could not face up to the realities of life on a working farm. So he went to the turkey pen where all the turkeys were held to ask them to pray with him. Although he could only pardon one of them he felt the rest could go to their fate with the solace of prayer to speed them along in their journey. Unfortunately when he entered the turkey pen the birds saw their chance and surrounded the fearful commander in chief and pecked and terrorized him. President Carter did not know what to do. The irate turkeys held the embattled chief executive hostage for 444 hours until the end of the holiday
Season and the change in administrations in January. Then President Elect Ronald Reagan had them all made into turkey burgers.
(Pardon Me? The History of Presidential Pardons, Doris Kearns Goodwin Simon & Schuster 2007); 11/21/08, 3:16 PM
Ron said...: Pogo -- all of life is about good lighting.

Althouse -- What tha?!? I hope no Tofu-rkey fauxs its way onto your plate! Maybe HuffPo commenters for giblets?

Trooper -- Grant...needed...a...reason...to...drink?
Nope, doesn't compute!

Darcy -- I'm makin' turkey sandwiches also! You are welcome to one, bring yams!

Amba -- good to see you! :); 11/21/08, 3:18 PM
Ron said...: I also french kissed the rainbow trout that my father has mounted on a wooden outline of the state of Wisconsin. This is like a sequel to Portnoy's Complaint. Titus's Tantrum?

Better that than mounting the rainbow trout that was french kissing him, because his shape is turning into that of Wisconsins!; 11/21/08, 3:22 PM
Sofa King said...: AlphaLiberal, you never heard of Sewer Socialism?; 11/21/08, 3:22 PM
Justin said...: A turkey attacked me once. My parents were trying to get me to pose with it for a photo. I knew it didn't like me, but they insisted. It slapped my arm with its wing and then chased me around for a while. It felt like being slapped by a human hand, only with more surface area. My arm is fine now, but some scars never heal.

Some say revenge is a dish best served cold, but I prefer a hot Thanksgiving turkey dinner to a cold turkey sandwich. But both are delicious.; 11/21/08, 3:35 PM
Unknown said...: Now I get to try on my Democratic pants:

Sarah Palin is a distraction. The flying turkey bits in the background are a distraction. Why are we talking about distractions when the American people care about things like why Obama hasn't fixed the economy yet and why his absence on the national stage has allowed the financial crisis to continue?; 11/21/08, 3:52 PM
theobromophile said...: The reaction to Gov. Palin's making of Thanksgiving turkey has confirmed my long-held belief that vegetarians have more in common with hunters than with your average meat eater: hunters and veggies alike understand where their food comes from.; 11/21/08, 3:57 PM
tim maguire said...: Frankly, you deserve what you get when you read the Huffington Post. I can never understand why anyone would bother.; 11/21/08, 4:05 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I have never done a live animal though.

I don't want you think I am into bestiality.

I would not jerk off turkeys for an occupation or pleasure either.

The only sex I had with animals were dead and stuffed animals. Also, I did actually do it in my teens with friends around. It wasn't some intimate weird sexual man on animal scene.

The closest I cum to bestiality is spooning my rare clumbers.; 11/21/08, 4:11 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I would fuck Palin though.; 11/21/08, 4:11 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I wonder if Palin's vage smells like moose.; 11/21/08, 4:13 PM
knox said...: A turkey attacked me once.

This one time, at Band Camp...; 11/21/08, 4:18 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: What's everyone having for dindin?; 11/21/08, 4:24 PM
LoafingOaf said...: Another nutty Palin interview, but I guess we can just laugh at them now that she won't actually be VP. Yeah, people should know where their meat comes from, but in this particular video - as a backdrop to the interview - it's kinda whacko. (Oh, and she still sounds like a phoney even though she's not being handled by McCain's people anymore.)

What bugs me more as an animal lover is her sick and barbaric enthusiasm for aerial wolf culling in Alaska. No laughing matter on that issue at all.; 11/21/08, 4:26 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: These are the nights that I cry I am not in Wisconsin.

It is cold and I am hungry and it is Friday.

My thoughts turn to either take out Friday Fish Fry or Friday Fish Fry at a Wisconsin Supper Club.

Deep fried haddock or walleye or perch. American Fries slathered with butter. Really good rolls. Fried cheese curds. Salad bar with thick french dressing. Breadsticks with yummy cheese spread. Baked Beans. Maybe corn fritters. Or the unthinkable french fried lobster. Where else can you get lobster french fried but Wisconsin? Cottage cheese. And finally a brandy alexander or grasshopper-yum.

I cannot find any of those items together here and it sucks big time.

Sometimes you really can't take the Wisconsin out of the big city girl.; 11/21/08, 4:32 PM
Jon said...: Altho Schuster doesn't have as high a profile as Olbermann and Matthews, I really think he may be the biggest tool on MSDNC.

For one thing, when Schuster whines about bias on Fox, he's an even greater hypocrite, since Olbermann and Matthews didn't spend years drawing a paycheck as a reporter there.

Also, Olbermann's "Worst person" segments are sometimes funny. I've never seen Schuster say anything funny.

Plus, Olbermann is clearly insane. Whereas Schuster doesn't come across as disturbed, just as a smug, obnoxious jackass.; 11/21/08, 4:32 PM
Ann Althouse said...: It's very cozy here in Wisconsin.; 11/21/08, 4:33 PM
TitusIAmNotHavingSex said...: I would have to say I am much more "real Wisconsin" than Althouse.

I have never once heard Althouse going to a Friday Fish Fry.

If not, her Wisconsin dairyland member should be taken away.

Real badgers and "packers" and "bucks" and "mallards" eat Friday Night Fish Fries.; 11/21/08, 4:36 PM
Synova said...: Do you understand the wolf killing thing, Oaf? Or is it just the description "shooting wolves from aircraft" that is so horrible?

It's a cull.

Now, we could argue if the cull is necessary or not. I think most biologists and wildlife experts agree that wildlife sometimes needs to be *managed*. What that means is that, because the balance of things is off, or is expected to get off, that waiting for nature to do HER job either won't work, or would be cruel, so people step in and do away with predators or somehow protect the threatened wildlife,(fences around nesting grounds, stuff like that).

The wolves can be killed... or people could wait until an over population of wolves and an under population of wolf-food, means that the wolves die of starvation and related disease epidemics.

So... the decision is made to kill wolves. For better or worse.

Is the *method* really relevant? A wolf shot from aircraft isn't killed any more cruelly than one killed by someone on foot or ground transportation. It's no more cruel at all. It's just... efficient?

Would it be better, more moral, more acceptable, if people tromped through the forest and snuck up on them? Or would it just be more work?; 11/21/08, 4:39 PM
Original Mike said...: Essen Haus has eliminated their all-you-can-eat Friday fish fry. It's very unWisconsin of them. All-you-can-eat is a tradition. Even if you don't get a second helping, it's comforting to know you could.; 11/21/08, 4:44 PM
knox said...: These are the nights that I cry I am not in Wisconsin.

*cue Sarah MacLaughlan music*; 11/21/08, 4:48 PM
Ryan said...: Titus is such a bad boy. Playing with the stuffed animals like that. Titus is a true Furry.

What I miss about Wisconsin is the Brat Fest and a nice glass or four of Spotted Cow from the New Glarus Brewing Company.; 11/21/08, 4:59 PM
LoafingOaf said...: Synova, I think it's you who needs to read up on the aerial wolf culling Palin pushes. I already did so and posted links and so forth in another thread around here. I don't feel like re-googling it, but the most interesting articles were on Salon.com and Slate.com. There's also a disturbing video on YouTube showing what these culls are like.

It is a far more cruel way to kill wolves. Shooting from the air causes the wolves to get shot in parts of their bodies that will make them suffer slow and painful deaths, because hunters in airplanes and helicopters are not as accurate in their aiming.

The scientific community does not agree with Palin's policy. To the contrary, they are saying this is another example where Palin doesn't care about having a scientific basis for her policies. For example, 172 scientists wrote a letter urging to her to stop it. The U.S. Congress already condemned aerial wolf hunting decades ago by legislating against it, but a governor of a state is allowed to license it. Palin is more gung-ho about it than anyone ever.

Palin was unhappy that not enough wolves were being killed, so she offered to paw $150 for every hacked-off wolf paw someone brought in. The courts intervened to stop this.

The reason Palin supports wolf culling is to try and keep the moose population up for moose hunters. I saw quotes from the scientific community suggesting the wolf culling is actually bad for both the moose and the wolves - so not just uneccesary, but harmful to nature.

I remember when the blogger Prof. Bainbridge said he could not support Mitt Romney after hearing about how Romney treats his family dog. I extend this to the canines in the wild Palin has caused to be cruelly culled. Wolves are actually even smarter than our family dogs. Palin's policy makes me sick.; 11/21/08, 5:01 PM
Nichevo said...: It's funny that you seem to think it's worse that people or things with greater intelligence should suffer, than the dumber sort of animals or people.

Does it hurt less if you're stupid? Is that the idea? I'm interested to understand how this scales.; 11/21/08, 5:05 PM
chickelit said...: It's very cozy here in Wisconsin.

Jawohl, sehr gemütlich.; 11/21/08, 5:11 PM
LoafingOaf said...: Nichevo: I care about the treatment of all animals, but I am a speciesist and I do think that the mmore intelligent animals deserve special consideration. For example, I'm not one of these PETA people who thinks going fishing is as bad as abusing and killing a chimpanzee. But this does not mean I approve of the stupider animals being needlessly tortured (say, the way the chicken industry treats chickens).

I do not call for a vegetaran society. I call for greater respect for animals.

And if you're a governor calling for the mass slaughter of wolves from aerial hunters, you better have a sound scientific basis for why such a cruel culling is required, which Palin does not. The wolves in Alaska have done fine for ages without this whack-job of a governor sticking her nose and barbaric policies in.; 11/21/08, 5:13 PM
garage mahal said...: What I miss about Wisconsin is the Brat Fest and a nice glass or four of Spotted Cow from the New Glarus Brewing Company.

Easy to drink four Spotted Cows it's so damned smooth. Organic Revolution is also really good. I was wondering why I felt so loosy goosy after a six pack, when I checked it was 6.20% by volume. Cheers!; 11/21/08, 5:14 PM
John said...: I hadn't seen the actual video until recently. From the sound of things, I expected a bloodbath.

I don't know if I would have really noticed had there not been a big deal made of it prior to my watching.

As for the video itself, odd camera work - you'd think they'd point it at the subject of the interview...; 11/21/08, 5:20 PM
KCFleming said...: "Does it hurt less if you're stupid? Is that the idea? I'm interested to understand how this scales."

Well, you could give us your take on it, from first-hand experience.

Heh.; 11/21/08, 5:22 PM
blake said...: What animals have tits to feed their young and what don't?

The word you're looking for is "mammals". That's right, "mammals".; 11/21/08, 5:26 PM
chickelit said...: The scientific community does not agree with Palin's policy.

Which community of scientists would that be Oaf? Is it representative in any way? The politicization of science is actually a threat to American science.; 11/21/08, 5:26 PM
Original Mike said...: "Does it hurt less if you're stupid? Is that the idea? I'm interested to understand how this scales."

"Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid"
John Wayne; 11/21/08, 5:28 PM
blake said...: They don't have the Turkey euthanasia clip at South Park, so how about "The Battle Against The Turkeys".; 11/21/08, 5:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Nature isn't a Disney cartoon. Sarah Palin's support for aerial wolf killing may have merit; 11/21/08, 5:33 PM
Anonymous said...: 200!!!! Sarah Palin!!!!; 11/21/08, 5:34 PM
William said...: Is bestial necrophilia the next big thing?....Turkeys, like most bipeds, are completely bummed out by the prospect of living through an Alaskan winter. They are generally depressed and morose in November. They fight among themselves in order to jump the line for the executioner.; 11/21/08, 5:36 PM