Watch out for flying turkeys

If you’re passing through Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) or Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) tomorrow, keep an eye out for turkeys.

Feathered ones.

On Wednesday (if news is slow), President Bush is scheduled to pardon a turkey presented to him by the National Turkey Federation. It’s a tradition that some folks believe dates back to the days of Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan, but according to the folks at Snopes.com, it was actually the current president’s father, George H.W. Bush, who was the first president to officially pardon the official turkey – and it’s back-up.

This year the pardoned birds not only get to live, but they will be flown, first class, on United Airlines’ Turkey-1, from Washington’s Dulles Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. The lucky turkeys will then get whisked over to the Disneyland Resort, where they will presumably live happily ever after.

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