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Last updated on August 9th, 2017 at 04:26 am
Lee Russ, of Watching the Watchers, has a fictional feathered friend:
Until chaos had infested the country, driving hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to leave and many thousands of others to relocate within Iraq, we were happy with an occasional plastic turkey photo-op and a ham handed egomaniac named Rumsfeld in charge of our military operations …
Oh, and here’s a cute headline from those legendary fake-spotters at CBS:
President Bush Pardons A Real Turkey
- Speaking of turkeys, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!Posted by Achillea on 2006 11 22 at 11:35 PM • permalink
- From the small amount of footage I’ve seen of Barney, that birds at least twice his size.
He probably thought all his thanksgivings had come at once…
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2006 11 22 at 11:42 PM • permalink
- Lee Rus (rhymes with pus) quotes, approvingly, a NYT article that begins, “President Bush, visiting a country that forced the United States into a humiliating withdrawal three decades ago . . .”
Stop right there, fellows. It was media outlets like the NYT, and talking airheads like Walter Kronkite, that forced the U.S. into a “humiliating withdrawal” from Vietnam by misrepresenting the truth of the Tet offensive and fatally undermining the American will to win – with an able assist from Democrats taking advantage of the politically crippled Nixon. The Viet Cong had ceased to exist as an effective military force, and nobody seriously doubts that the U.S. could have wiped out the NV regular army had it been given leave to do so.
I still remember seeing a helmeted Kronkite on television, broadcasting from Vietnam – and looking like Mr. Mooney with a salad bowl on his head – piously announcing the futility of trying to achieve victory. As far as I am concerned, Kronkite and his ilk are among the gravediggers of Southeast Asia. And that’s the way it is, Rus. You dick.
- Well, that’s Weight Watchers opinion. What’s Jenny Craig got to say?Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 22 at 11:58 PM • permalink
- …And we give thanks to Almighty Science for presenting us with this bountiful feast of plastic turkey…Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 23 at 12:00 AM • permalink
- #5 Paco, It pains me to say that the lessons from that war appear to have been forgotten in America. The scumbags on the other side seem to have been paying much more attention.Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2006 11 23 at 12:10 AM • permalink
- #9, My bad, I forgot to mention those American scumbags. Although I am pretty sure they’re not on our side anymore, if they ever were…Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2006 11 23 at 12:31 AM • permalink
- infidel @ #6:
Well, that’s Weight Watchers opinion. What’s Jenny Craig got to say?Do you have to mock Kim
Jong IlBeazley at every turn?Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 11 23 at 12:57 AM • permalink
- …. and Happy Thanksgiving to our seppo mates.
May all your turkeys be
Kim BeazleyDemocrats.<stop it, stop it, stop it!>
Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 11 23 at 01:00 AM • permalink
- Happy Thanksgiving y’all
for the Brits and Aussies and Kiwis here – I wrote y’all a letter.
Posted by Sharon Ferguson on 2006 11 23 at 01:46 AM • permalink
- Thanks Sharon. Never been a fan of turkey myself. A bit dry, (but its probably part in the cooking!)but your description made my mouth water.
I was in the USA once during Thanksgiving, in rural Nevada, but I can’t remember much of a fuss being made. I should check my diary. I was in Canada another time during their Thanksgiving and it really was a table-groaner. And yes, I do remember leftover turkey featuring prominently for the following week…
Anyway, a nice leg of lamb here tonight…
Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 11 23 at 02:27 AM • permalink
- Heh. SCD we’re having fish and chips tonight. Only turkey here is me lol.Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2006 11 23 at 02:57 AM • permalink
- The media continue to blame anyone but the actual perpetrators for the violence. If you negotiate with non-democracies (and they are recommending that you do that now), later they’ll accuse you of supporting tyrannies. If you try to make things better, they’ll blame you for all the dysfunctionality visited upon the inhabitants by their fellows.
Tonight’s PM program also featured the ABC collective trying to nail an Australian company after some misfortune in Indonesia. If you don’t invest in such countries (or even don’t recommend that people holiday there!) you are not sharing the west’s prosperity. If you do, something will go wrong, and you are to blame.
Just remember, comrades, that Indonesia wants to exploit its resources. Don’t just blame a company when something goes wrong, and do let us know, won’t you, if the locals had anything to do with the stuff up. Like in Iraq – blowing up pipelines and … everything?
- Blogstrop that’s the beauty of only ever being a commentator rather than someone actually doing something. You can criticise at will. I’ve made that point with regard to government policy. Eventually with policy you have to make a decision. There will always be arguments on both sides and any decision might not be ideal. But you can’t endlessly prevaricate and dither because someone has come up with a nice new argument.
With respect to Iraq, the dreaded partition word has been mentioned recently. While I agree that we don’t want a lot of smaller unviable states I also think that if the logic of some is right and Iraq (which was itself an artificial construct of the British anyway) can only keep itself together by having an oppressive strongman than perhaps it shouldn’t be a country and some borders might need to be redrawn.
- Lee Russ, you are one sorry-ass stupid son of a bitch. You believe that everything is sunshine and roses in good ole communist Vietnam, so everything will be fine in Iraq if we just leave them alone. Please come over to Iraq so I can yank your head out your ass for you, and then promptly stomp on it.
These miserable leftist pawns of Al Qaeda are willing to lie, distort, or omit facts while revising history simply to draw parallels between Iraq and Vietnam. I hold people like Russ personally responsible (at least in part) to every dead Coalition soldier over here. They couldn’t care less about how their assistance to the enemy creates more casualties. In my book, they are guilty of treason and should be shot. Without blindfold or cigarette.
So go to sleep tonight Mr Russ, and may you dream about the dead, mutilated bodies of those young soldiers you and your comrades helped to kill. You will not be forgotten nor forgiven.
- I’m not going to let a Lee Russ, or a Katie Couric, or a Nancy Pelosi enter my mind today, with the exception of a few comments…after that, finis.
To this….
Until chaos had infested the country, driving hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to leave and many thousands of others to relocate within Iraq, we were happy with an occasional plastic turkey photo-op and a ham handed egomaniac named Rumsfeld in charge of our military operations
…I will say, Ask the 5000 or more Kurds that Saddam gassed, ask the hundreds and hundreds of thousands that Saddam, mutilated, buried alive, raped or had raped, shot, tossed off buildings about “chaos had infested the country, driving hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to leave and many thousands of others to relocate within (OR outside of) Iraq”
Well God Damn, you can’t ask them, can you?
To this…plastic turkey photo-op AND to this President Bush Pardons A Real Turkey .
For the former, one of the REAL “plastic turkey” persons, IS Lee Russ.
For the latter, since its origin is CBS…I did NOT know that Dan Rather and/or Mary Mapes had been charged with the crime of fraud.
As to Thanksgiving…Christians along with Native Americans, as the story and history shows, did in fact give thanks for being alive, free and away from a King in England.
The first white Australians, knew the same, as did the Aboriginals…Yes, it did take a while for Native Americans, Africans and Aboriginals to become parts of each of our societies, (yes bad, unspeakable things did happen to each group) but I would have to say, (correct me if I err) that they are all now giving thanks for being free, alive and away from a King in England.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, that celebrate the blessings of being free, alive and away, from a King in England.
- Hmmm.
@ Stop Continental Drift
Thanks Sharon. Never been a fan of turkey myself. A bit dry, (but its probably part in the cooking!)but your description made my mouth water.
1. Do not overcook the turkey!
A problem a lot of people have is in not taking into account something called “carryover”. Carryover is the residual heat inside the turkey that will continue to cook the turkey long after you’ve removed it from the oven.
So if you cook the turkey in the oven until the meat thermometer reads 160F then the turkey is already overcooked and will be dry.
I generally remove the turkey when the meat thermometer reads about 155F.
2. Do not depend on that little plastic pop-up thing.It sucks. Don’t depend on it.
3. A lot of people don’t let the turkey rest long enough.When meat is cooked the process of cooking breaks down fibers. This breaking down of fibers releases juices which will then simply run out onto the plate, leaving the meat dry as a bone, unless the meat is given time to reabsorb the juices.
The meat acts like a sponge. When you cook meat it’s like squeezing a sponge. When you take the meat off heat, to let it rest, then the meat slowly reabsorbs the moisture squeezed out. This is also why marinades and basting works to help keep meat tender and moist.
4. For God’s sake cook the damn turkey breast down!Frankly a lot of people like to emulate the nonsense they see in advertisements and Norman Rockwell paintings and cook turkeys breast side up, i.e. on it’s back. The only problem is that the breast meat, the most desirable part, is farthest away from the basting juices while the back meat, which hardly anybody bothers with, is the one soaking in the juices. Additionally the juices released from cooking follow gravity and tend to head downward. Which in traditional turkey-on-the-back cooking means again the back of the turkey is the one that’ll be the most moist.
And, on top of everything else, the area immediately above the basting juices will by definition be the most moisture rich area of the cooking bird.
Plus it won’t matter from which direction the turkey is being cooked. If the oven heats from the bottom then the pan is interposed and will prevent the dry heat being directly applied to the turkey. But if the heat is coming from the top of the oven then the breast meat, of a breast-side down turkey, is protected from the dry heat by the bulk of the turkey itself.
What part of this doesn’t makes sense to anyone?
Personally I use a v-shaped rack to bake my turkey breast-side down. Please note that I do not simply throw the turkey down into the cooking pan without any support *and* I do NOT let the turkey breast be fully immersed in the basting juices.
The idea is to promote juicy turkey, not turkey soup.
…
Seriously. There is no excuse for dry turkey. Now or ever.
And, IMHO, what I think is kinda neat is stove top steamed bread:
Just playing around with the concept right now since I’m new to it. But it might offer opportunities to make different breads that would otherwise come out too dry in regular oven cooking.
Posted by memomachine on 2006 11 23 at 12:34 PM • permalink
- Until chaos had infested the mainstream media, driving hundreds of thousands of readers to quit paying attention and many thousands of others to reallocate their reading time to the Internet, we were happy with an occasional Jayson Blair-type scandal and a ham handed egomaniac named Pinch Sulzberger in charge of the paper of record…
- Thanks ed. I guess the same applies to cooking chooks as well, wouldn’t it?Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 11 23 at 05:33 PM • permalink
- My bird turned out perfectly today, moist, tender & delicious. I used to roast it upside down, but about 6 years ago I tried it the way Alton Brown on the Food Network suggested & been doing it that way ever since. Absolute perfection, the trick being – as ed says – to NOT OVERCOOK! It doesn’t take all damn day to roast a 20lb turkey. Potatoes were marvelous, dressiing was the best I ever made & the gravy was so good we were eating it by itself. Then homemade coconut creme pie that my best friend brought. Good food, good people, good fellowship…a winning combination for which we are so thankful. Love that steamed bread idea, too…..
- Yep, upside down (stuffed with a few pierced limes) and butter/spices stuffed under the skin, yum. Steamed Veggies with cheddar drizzled on top, hot sourdough bread, cream cheese mashed potatoes casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sugar glazed sweet potatoes, banana and pumpkin breads, pies, ice cream, nuts and chocolate covered popcorn, wine….and lasagna for the vegan in lieu of turkey.
Wife, children, grandchildren, 3 dogs and a wacky neighbor.
Sweet. Altho I printed out a sign for the holiday requiring no in-fighting, no politics, and posted it in the dining room. It didn’t work.
Wife, children, grandchildren, 3 dogs and a wacky neighbor.
Did the wacky neighbour get into trouble recently at a standup comedian show, trainer?
Posted by andycanuck on 2006 11 24 at 12:55 AM • permalink
- Interesting to see that PETA which in the link, lectured President Bush on retiring the turkey to an animal sanctuary where it could “socialise” (where do they find this language?)with other birds, has has a slight fall from its own high moral plane: one of its people has apparently nabbed an expensive mink coat which Mariah Carey donated, intended as a gift for poor Mongolian herders (that would have been an interesting sight).Nice to know that a mink coat can corrupt even the incorruptable.
- #20, Francis H,
“With respect to Iraq, the dreaded partition word has been mentioned recently. While I agree that we don’t want a lot of smaller unviable states I also think that if the logic of some is right and Iraq (which was itself an artificial construct of the British anyway) can only keep itself together by having an oppressive strongman than perhaps it shouldn’t be a country and some borders might need to be redrawn.”
I lived nextdoor to 3 young Kurdish guys in 2003. Needless to say they supported Saddams downfall. With the commitment they had to their culture and lands, I can picture ‘Kurdistan’ becoming the Muslim Israel.
Now I’m not saying thats a bad thing, but it will be a bloody thing.
Then again, if the Fing (I’m trying) POME’s had listened to T.E. Lawrence after WW1, we wouldn’t even be in this mess now.
#21, Tex, I know you dont need it, but I’ve got your back on that one. ‘Treason’, a word that simply doesnt get its proper usage these days…
#28, SCD, Not if you BBQ ‘em on a rotisserie… (Its finger licken’ good y’all, yet not greasy like the colonels crap)
P.S. Roasting is all about timing, unless you fry the thing at 250C of course. Ima guessin’ birds only take about 180C (BBQ is WAY better for chicken).
Posted by The_Wizard_of_WOZ on 2006 11 24 at 01:00 PM • permalink
- #29: Sounds lip-smacking delicious, Auntie! We went to visit my mother on her little farm in Mann’s Harbor, NC, yesterday and had turkey, rice with gravy, greenbeans, and – one of my all-time favorite desserts -sweet potato pie. Then we retired to the living room, where a wood-burning stove kept us cozy and warm while the wind and rain lashed futilely at the house, and we downed cups of espresso and my stepfather outlined to us some of his crackpot business schemes – I don’t recall the details of the first one, but I remember vaguely that it had something to do with bamboo and pigs. He also has some kind of idea about a train that could be made to run on two lanes of I-95, non-stop, from Maine to Florida carrying passengers and, for some reason, garbage. I was a little unclear as to how the passengers were to get off at the various stops, but believe it involved railway cars that detached automatically along the way on spur tracks constructed for the purpose. I have to say, I believe the old fellow would make a crackerjack R&D chief for Paco Industries.
- Hmmm…bamboo & pigs, eh, Paco? Please let us know if you recall anymore, cuz that sounds…ummm…weird. The railway, on the other hand, sounds intriguing, simply cuz I’d love to avoid I-95 traffic, I’d love to visit our old duty station some day – & I have quite a few friends down here that are Mainiac transplants.
I’m trying to remember if I still know anyone in MD, I need a “Don’t Bother Me – I’m Crabby” t-shirt as a gift for my cousin. Do you know where I might go online to get one?
And Texas Bob, we gotta remember that jerk’s name so we don’t have to fight another Swiftboat offensive in 20 or 30 years. I hope he falls off a building. Or a building falls on him. I ain’t that picky.
Bad back day today, hope tomorrow’s better. Stunningly gorgeous weather, though!
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