Apple and Cider Live On to See Another Thanksgiving
Drew Angerer/The New York Times The president of the National Turkey Federation, Yubert Envia, and the first daughters Sasha, left, and Malia, were on hand when President Obama pardoned Apple the turkey.
He could hardly say his lines with a straight face, but President Obama pardoned two turkeys on Wednesday morning, saying “it feels pretty good to stop at least one shellacking this November.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Obama had, of course, acknowledged that Democrats had received a “shellacking” at the polls, when voters handed control of the House to the Republicans. But on Wednesday, Mr. Obama seemed at ease with his weighty responsibility.
Noting that the turkeys, named Apple and Cider, were selected from a pool of 25 birds who were asked to “strut their stuff” to music, Mr. Obama remarked that “it’s kind of like a turkey version of ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ except the stakes for the contestants was much higher.”
“Only one pair would survive and win the big prize: life.”
The president nearly cracked up as he said that the turkeys had also received “an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, where they’ve been living it up on corn feed at the W Hotel.”
“The W Hotel has really been putting them up,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s great advertising. It makes you want to stay at the W.”
But he became serious when he discussed what he considered to be the meaning of Thanksgiving. “It’s a time to spend with the ones we love, and a chance to show compassion and concern to people we’ve never met,” he said. “It’s a tradition that’s brought us together as a community since before we were a nation, when the ground we’re standing on was nothing but wilderness.”
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