For the record, I like the "turkey pardon" tradition. It's a fun moment in a much too darn serious town.
This year, President Obama tried to make a connection between the "turkey pardon" and the executive order that he signed. It went like this:
"I know some will call this amnesty," Obama said, "but don't worry, there's plenty of turkey to go around."
Frankly, it was not funny.
First, President Obama has the authority to pardon. It's in black and white in the U.S. Constitution. Every president has done it going back to President Washington. It's not an issue, unless President Clinton pardons a man like Marc Rich and people scream a little. The other controversial pardon was the Nixon pardon from 1974 but most historians credit President Ford for making the right callafter Watergate.
Second, the executive order to stop deportations is not a presidential power. It is an overreach, even if some of us agree that "DREAMers," or others who've worked here for many years, should be provided a path to legalization after meeting certain conditions.
The difference is rather clear. He has the authority to pardon – even a turkey. He does not have the authority to change or make law, as he told us for several years when he addressed Hispanic audiences on immigration.
Finally, why would he use a "turkey pardon" moment to take a shot at his critics? The answer is that President Obama is very thin-skinned and does not take criticism well. He seems unable to understand that some people have honest differences of opinion.
The other answer is that he is angry and bitter that the next two years will not be any fun. After all, even Dana Milbank now writes that "Obama is turning into Bush." It won't be any fun sending ground troops back to Iraq or watching Obamacare implode.
P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here.
We take a day off from the politics to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
As we've posted, Thanksgiving is a unique US holiday.
I can still recall our first Thanksgiving in the US in 1964. It was a wonderful moment. It was a treat to read about it in school and to enjoy the meaning of the holiday with everyone.
Of course, our first Thanksgiving was truly a moment to say "thanks" for the opportunity to leave communist Cuba and live in the US.
So enjoy the day. We will do the same.
Of course, it will be a perfect day if Dallas wins today.
So go Cowboys!
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Back in 1941, President Roosevelt made it official:
Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga.
In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution.
However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.
With a few deviations, Lincoln's precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president--until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt's declaration.
For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
In my case, I did not know a thing about Thanksgiving when our family settled in Wisconsin in the fall of 1964. I began to detect that something was coming when the kids in school started putting "turkey posters" about the upcoming holiday.
Finally, Miss Jones, that wonderful 6th-grade teacher I was blessed with, sat me down and explained the story, from the ship crossing the ocean, to the landing at Plymouth Rock, to the terrible first winter and eventually a day to say thanks for everything.
It did not take long for me to get into the Thanksgiving mood.
Today, it's my favorite American holiday for two reasons:
1) It demonstrates the role of faith in the early days of what would become the United States.
2) It confirms that this land was settled by self-reliant people who faced adversity and grew stronger.
As I told a friend years ago, you cannot understand American exceptionalism unless you get familiar with the Thanksgiving story.
P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
