Ms. Alaska wishes us all a Happy Thanksgiving

Why is this not surprising? I guess I've come to expect nothing less of Governor Palin than to go about talking in front of a camera while multiple turkeys get slaughtered 10 feet away from her over the course of a few minutes. I mean, it's almost as hard to watch as that other video of our Vice President speaking to folks in Mississippi after Katrina and that one of him at the Nationals game and that other guy at another Nationals game and well, most of the youtube videos of our beloved GOP favorites. But I digress; let's not get too sidetracked. The point I wanted to make is that Thanksgiving is one of the worst holidays that Americans celebrate (God, I'm sure this is going to go over real well with most people who read this). I think that in theory the holiday seems alright but I find the practice of it quite disgusting.

First and foremost, no other country than Canada celebrates it, which makes it one of those distinctly North American celebrations. You know, like the Daytona 500 or the annual Canadian Seal Hunt. It's as if Americans love it for no other reason than because, well, it's American; some contend that we're blind followers of religion in the U.S., and I've gotta say, I don't disagree.

Is it then valid to ask, "why can't we practice giving thanks more often and not just once a year?" And why do nearly a quarter of the 300 million turkeys slaughtered each year in the United States need to be killed for the fourth Thursday of every November for us to express this? Could we not adopt a tradition which promotes adopting abandoned and needy animals instead, giving them each a good home while sharing this occasion with our family and friends? Would a tradition like this not be a better way of expressing thankfulness, respect, and compassion for others? Is a proposition like this really too idealistic? Am I that crazy? Probably so.



Watch more videos at PETA.org

I hate to break it to my turkey-eating friends out there but when you eat turkey (and other meat, for that matter) you associate yourselves with people like these. The people that I speak of, writing on the linked message board, make some real convincing claims like this one: "PETA is a communist organization full of smelly hippies who look, and smell like animals. Nobody likes cruelty to animals, but I'll have a steak for dinner and love it. Notice they never think its cruel when people are starving."

Dare I begin analyzing this claim piece by piece? I'll try to spare elaborating on the obvious but that last bit definitely got to me since in it is one of the most common misperceptions and misunderstandings associated with vegetarianism and veganism. In addition, I find it ironic that people make such broad accusations and yet go on about eating their "steak for dinner, loving it" and then partake in absurd Thanksgiving feasts in which they likely help themselves to five courses and two helpings of each throughout the night. I'm not saying that this is my sole intention as a subscriber of veganism but let's face it, if you truly want to keep others from starving and additionally leave as small of an impact on our environment as possible, start thinking a bit more about what you put on your plate this Thanksgiving and what implications that may have on you, those around you, and those starving this holiday season that we all seem to be so concerned about. If you need more reason to mix up this Thanksgiving and opt out of turkey at the dinner table this year, here's ten more reasons you may want to do so. As always, thanks for listening. Please leave a comment or two if you'd like.