Only 21 weeks old, two California dudes named Apple and Cider were headed for a customary Thanksgiving fate.
Reared near Modesto, the two tom turkeys were among 25 birds to strut their stuff in front of a pardon board. Something they did must have touched the judges' sense of forgiveness and greater fairness.
On Nov. 24, only three weeks after Democrats took a beating and lost the House of Representatives, Obama pardoned the two turkeys as part of a White House Thanksgiving ritual that goes back to President Kennedy.
Obama said he was glad to be able to "stop at least one shellacking this November." As the reprieve was announced, Apple let fly a noisy gobble.
Apple and Cider, however, were not free to go. They will spend the rest of their days in a special coop at the Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in Virginia. In their place, two not-quite-so-fortunate birds were condemned to grace the celebration at Martha's Table, a Washington charity that helps feed the needy.
