President Obama pardoned Liberty and Peace today. Not to be confused with actual liberty and peace, the names belong to two Thanksgiving turkeys chosen to take part in a presidential tradition. The official pardoning ceremony has been going on since 1989, though turkey pardons are rumored to have started as early as the Truman administration.

Liberty is the official Thanksgiving national turkey — Peace is only a backup. The backup is kept around just in case Liberty, the star of the show, gets too rambunctious.

What does the pardon mean? It grants the turkey, or turkeys, lifetime immunity against the day they most fear. The turkeys stayed the lap of luxury at the W hotel during the days leading up to the pardon. So, yeah, Liberty and Peace are better than you.

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