Perhaps I have a wrong understanding of the tradition, but here is my reaction as I see it right now.
Presidents pardon criminals for offenses. These offenses are real crimes that they supposedly committed. In the case of a turkey, it cannot be guilty of any crime. So why pardon it? The only reason for pardoning a turkey is to forgive it for any sins its mere existence might have cause.
You know who has that power? God. God pardons your sins. With the president taking the freedom to pardon a turkey, he is symbolically assuming the power of God to pardon original sin.
My frustration with this cannot be understated. We’ve made the state our God.
A pardon is more than forgiveness for criminal offenses; it also includes the removal of the penalties for those crimes. While the turkey is certainly is not guilty of a crime, it is nonetheless facing death and becoming the main course of a Thanksgiving dinner. The President is sparing the bird this death sentence.
I think you’re looking too deep into this. I see the whole thing as a way for the president to enlarge how much of an arrogant, pretentious jackass he really is. It’s sort of pathetic. They pardon a turkey as a joke (that turkey is probably killed next year), which I think is a slap in the face to wrongfully accused criminals who do get the death penalty (pardon the turkey for publicity while someone sits in prison for something they didn’t do, shows what does get coverage and importance and how compassionate and serious our government is). Towards the turkeys it’s not like they are not eating any that day. They pardon one turkey and I’m sure got a truckload they are waiting to eat.
It’s a symbolic measure of trying to make the government seem like a fun loving group of individuals, while in reality instead of pardoning the innocent they pardon one turkey while they got countless more ready to be slaughtered. That’s how the gov’t works. Save one for the media, kill the rest while no one’s looking.
Ok, so you mean that the turkey which is pardoned is not eaten?
in reality instead of pardoning the innocent they pardon one turkey while they got countless more ready to be slaughtered. That’s how the gov’t works. Save one for the media, kill the rest while no one’s looking.
Yeah, that’s a great analogy to how taxes and government work.