Bill Maher: Bush Should Pardon ALL Turkeys

George Bush: Pardon All The Turkeys
By Bill Maher

New Rule: The president can't pardon just one or two turkeys this Thanksgiving. He's got to let them all go.

It's probably too much to expect from the man who wanted "no child left behind," then vetoed health care for kids. But think of the upside. Freeing the turkeys might help the president's credibility when he says things like, "We don't torture..."

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/george-bush-pardon-all-t_b_73574.html

didn't Bush pardon that turkey Scooter Libby?

so that's 3 turkeys Dubya pardoned this year!

thanks.

Then again, better put your flame suit on.

While that video was horrific (as most factory farm/slaughterhouse conditions would be), is it really an indictment against eating meat in general? To me it just speaks to the deplorable conditions related to *mass produced* meat.

Of course I realize the current demand could never be met with all free range (simply not enough space), but I think the all or nothing approach (i.e. STOP EATING ALL MEAT) of some turns off as many people as it converts, and that might be generous.

Suggesting that people *reduce* meat consumption and or try free range options is a more reasonable (aka, practical) idea in my opinion, at least in most cases.

It's like asking someone to go from whole milk to skim milk (or soy milk). It's just way too much of a jump for most people, and they'll dismiss it immediately. But whole milk (gross and thick, like drinking cream) to 2%, and eventually 1%, and someday skim (or soy)?

I think that's a better approach.

PS---For the record, I'm having a tofurkey, but no, I'm still not a vegetarian.

and I am not against the idea of humans being omnivores. I also agree that more good is done if a lot of people cut down on meat, and tried to support local farms when they do buy it, than if a small number gave it up.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of tofurkey. There are a lot of great faux meats out there, and way more than there were 20 years ago when I first gave it up, but... tofurkey to me should be called toflogna, or at least the one time I tried it.

It just means the birds are crowded into sheds instead of cages. And even in the best case scenario they're still debeaked, sexed (and the undesired sex tossed straight in the garbage or ground up alive for fertilizer) transported and slaughtered just as in a conventional operation.

It doesn't make sense to promote free range and then have to tell people later it's a sham. It's unfair and moving the goalposts. Better to tell the truth from the beginning- there's no humane way to treat an animal as a commodity.

You correctly used the word "most". Find and promote the companies that *do* treat them as humanely as possible.

Again, it's about looking at what is most likely to reduce meat consumption and also, what is *less likely* to cause undue stress for the birds compared to most methods and also, to encourage alternatives.

In my opinion, a militant "No Meat Ever!" approach might help people sleep better at night but it's far less likely to yield positive results ultimately. It's like radical pro-lifers who yell "Abortion Is Murder" instead of working with others to improve alternatives (adoption, foster care) and reduce unintended pregnancies. It shuts down debate and makes meat eaters resentful and MORE likely to continue eating meat most of the time.

In other words, if *you* want to take a no-meat-ever approach to *your* life, that's fine, more power to you. But in my opinion, convincing others to follow suit usually requires smaller, intermediate steps or compromises, as frustrating as it may be.

And I'm sure you'd agree that people simply reducing their meat consumption is far better than doing nothing.

Even in the rosiest of best case scenarios, sexing, a very short life and slaughter are inevitable.

It'd be a piss-poor animal advocate who endorsed that.

So do you think there is room for compromise or weaning off of meat or is it an all or nothing approach?

In my experience, the end result is usually the "nothing" in the latter scenario.