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THE MESS AT THE TURKEY FARM: INEPT, INSENSITIVE OR JUST LIFE (AND DEATH)? The bloody scene at Triple D Farm in Wasilla yesterday as Gov. Sarah Palin "pardoned" a turkey headed for slaughter is drawing widespread comment. Just behind Palin as she was interviewed by reporters afterward, live turkeys are fed into a funnel for beheading and bleeding (see the unedited KTUU video here). She says, "This is neat. You need a little bit of levity in this job," and, seeming to acknowledge the scene behind her, adds, "Certainly we'll probably invite criticism for even doing this too but at least this was fun."  

Under the headline "Turkey of a photo op," a Chicago Tribune blogger sums up, "How any politician's staff would allow their boss to do an 'availability' against a backdrop of turkeys shuddering as their necks are snapped is really about as mind-boggling as it gets."

Read a straighter story on the event by The Valley Frontiersman. See still photos of the scene on the blog Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis.

More of today's headlines:

Sarah Palin in ‘The Silence of the Turkeys' (AOL News)

Sarah Palin turkey milkshake recipe revealed (Daily Squib, U.K.)

More painful to watch than those Couric interviews (L.A. Times)

Turkey slaughter won't faze sexy Sarah (Perez Hilton)