Thankfully, Bush Never Had an Ax To Grind

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Bush Pardons 'Pumpkin' & 'Pecan'

President Bush follows the annual White House Thanksgiving tradition of pardoning a turkey on Wednesday in the Rose Garden.

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"In recent weeks, I've talked a lot about sprinting to the finish," Bush told an audience that included several dozen fidgety schoolchildren. "I've assured these turkeys they will not to be trotting to their finish."

The turkey-pardoning tradition is generally said to date to President Harry S. Truman, though there is much disagreement about its origins. Clinton did it, Daddy Bush did it, Reagan did it, too. But which of those presidents can claim the vast array of accomplishments in this critical environmental and legal area that W. can?

None!

Fussy historians might be lining up to dis Bush as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history, and, frankly, who knows whether they're dead-on or full of stuffing. Rosenblatt might be diplomatically neutral about presidential turkey pardoning -- "every president handles it differently" -- but we're not afraid to say it: Bush's greatness in the realm of turkey pardoning is undisputed. He sets a high bar for President-elect Barack Obama.

Consider these facts, condensed neatly into bullet points suitable for framing on conservative blogs:

· Living conditions.

This year's national turkey and his alternate both kicked back on Pardon Eve at a suite in the Willard Hotel, a serious upgrade over the digs of their recent predecessors, who holed up at the charming, but fading -- and now closed -- Hotel Washington.

Bush's reign also saw an end to the tonally questionable practice of sending pardoned turkeys to live out their days at a place called Frying Pan Park in Fairfax County. Since 2005, the turkeys have been flown in style to Disneyland, where they serve as grand marshals of the theme park's annual Thanksgiving Day parade and reside in Frontierland.

· Innovation.

In a landmark 2003 decision, Bush decided to let Americans vote on the names of the national turkeys, ending years of disenfranchisement.