Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Launching the holiday season in the United States, President George Bush Monday "pardoned" two turkeys from ending up on a Thanksgiving platter. At a Rose Garden ceremony amid the gobbles of Stars the turkey, Bush explained as a symbol of the compassion of the nation's founders, Stars would be sent to live out his natural life at a Virginia farm. Advertisement "Stars is a very special bird with a very special name," Bush said. "This year, for the first time, thousands of people voted on the White House Web site to name the national turkey, and the alternate turkey. Stars and Stripes beat out Pumpkin and Cranberry." To laughter from school children, Bush added: "It was a neck-to-neck race." The second pardon was issued to Stripes. "The rule book states that an alternate turkey is chosen in case the national Thanksgiving turkey cannot fulfill his role in this ceremony," Bush explained. "It's kind of like being the Vice President."
