Posted on 11/25/2005 8:29:21 AM PST by dukeman
They're slipping.
Usually during the run up to Thanksgiving I'll see a weekful of letters to the editor decrying the barbarity of the holiday and condemning turkey genocide. These always put me in the holiday spirit, since the only "right" a turkey has is the right to be delicious on my table!
But there were no letters this year! Where were all the writers, in a ditch outside Crawford, Texas? Fortunately, one person did oblige. The following is from my local paper's Thanksgiving Day edition. Brighten my day. Post similar items from your local newspaper.
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More than one turkey pardoned
This Thanksgiving, President Bush will have pardoned a turkey as a promotional gimmick for the turkey industry. This Thanksgiving, each of us has the same power to pardon a turkey, but to do it as an act of kindness, compassion and giving thanks for life, health and happiness.
The 300 million turkeys slaughtered in the U.S. each year have nothing to give thanks for. They breathe toxic fumes in crowded sheds. Their beaks and toes are severed. At the slaughterhouse, workers cut their throats and dump them into boiling water.
The turkeys do get their revenge. Their flesh is laced with cholesterol and saturated fats that elevate the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Careful adherence to government warning labels is required to avoid food poisoning. Any day now, they may bring us bird flu.
This Thanksgiving, I won't be reading the warning labels or calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture's meat and poultry hot line. I won't be staying awake at night wondering how that turkey lived and died. I will be joining millions of other Americans in observing this joyful family holiday with nonviolent, delicious products of the harvest: vegetables, fruits and grains.
My holiday meal may include a mock turkey made from soy, lentil or nut roast, stuffed squash, corn chowder or chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin or pecan pie and carrot cake. An Internet search on vegetarian Thanksgiving will provide more mail-order items and recipes than anyone would ever need.
Sherman Shebbington
LOL!
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