On Wednesday, President Obama took, as he said, the most talked-about executive action of the month.
"Today I’m taking an action fully within my legal authority, the same kind of action taken by Democrat and Republican presidents before me, to spare the lives of two turkeys, Mac and Cheese, from a terrible and delicious fate" said the President at the annual White House Thanksgiving pardon.
The birds, heavyweights at 48 pounds each, will spend the rest of their lives on a 10,000 acre farm in Virginia.
But, sadly, that won’t be for as long as it sounds – commercially bred turkeys are destined for consumption, and due to their excess weight their life expectancy is around a couple of years at best.
Popcorn, last Thanksgiving's lucky turkey, died this summer, and Cobbler and Gobbler, the birds pardoned in 2012, did not get to enjoy early retirement either.
And if you think this presidential “amnesty” would at least cheer up animal-rights activists — well, think again. Around 46 million other turkeys will end up on festive tables this holiday.
The ceremony has become more than just an annual event. It's also a PR-opportunity to show the kindheartedness of the US president.
At a time when Obama's ratings are at all-time low, it may help to draw attention away from Republican-opposed immigration reforms, ongoing US military campaigns, including the latest airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, Obamacare and many other controversial decisions.
On a more serious note, Mac and Cheese were not the only ones pardoned by the American president this year.
Barack Obama also granted clemency to one US prisoner, cutting his 15 year term to 11 and a half years.
— Allie Frankel (@abfrankel) November 27, 2014
So far the Nobel Peace Prize winner has the lowest clemency statistics among recent US presidents. In all his years in office, Obama pardoned only 62 people.
His predecessor George W. Bush used his power of granting clemency much more freely, pardoning 200 US citizens, while Bill Clinton stays in the lead with 457.
Some may say that could be because the country’s justice system is improving and the president has less need to intervene.
Ferguson protesters may not agree with that.
