More Bird News: Bush Pardons Bald Eagle Killer

What is it with odd bird stories this week? Sure, I know what you're shouting at your screen: Thanksgiving, moron! And, yes, that does partially explain Sarah Palin's strangest interview ever, but what about the news (via Wonkette) that our lamest of all lame duck presidents, George W. Bush, has issued a pardon to Leslie Owen Collier, who, back in 1995, was convicted of killing three bald eagles with pesticide, thereby violating the Bald Eagle Protection Act.

While the president also issued three get-out-of-jail-free cards to individuals involved with the cocaine trade, the bald eagle killer reprieve remains an utter mystery.

Speaking of mysteries, why is it that Sarah Palin seems incapable of giving an interview that doesn't generate controversy? Yes, the turkey-slaughter backdrop to last week's Q and A was surreal in itself, but odder still is the changing story as to what the Governor knew about the ongoing bird executions and when she knew it. As Andrew Sullivan chronicled yesterday, we have two very conflicting accounts of Turkey-Decapitation-Gate (TM). From eyewitnesses of the interview we have the following:

The turkey slaughter was already underway when the governor chose the spot. The photographer pointed out what was going on and asked her if she wanted to move. She said, "No worries."

But here's Palin's spokesperson:

"The Alaska governor did not know it was going on behind her."

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is no laughing matter. The future of our democracy requires that we discover the truth about Turkey-Decapitation-Gate (TM). Was Palin an unwitting victim of the worst interview backdrop in history, or did she go willingly toward the turkey gallows?

That brings us right back to Bush, and this week's time-honored tradition of the presidential turkey pardon, in which the commander-in-chief selects an all white bird, and, in the spirit of all that's good about America, spares it the ax. It's a feel good moment that makes you want to burst out in (bird) song. So, take it away, John Ashcroft: