Palin pardons turkey as bird bleeds out on camera

In 1963, President Kennedy decided to let the White House turkey live instead of making dinner of it. George Bush Sr. was the first president since to pardon a seasonal fowl, in the waning months of 1993, and his son followed suit through his presidency.

Now Alaska Governor and failed Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has mimed presidential tradition, but her effort at winged mercy was 'cut' short. As she staged an impromptu press conference after pardoning one lucky bird, a worker at the Triple D Farm and Hatchery in Wasilla sliced a turkey's neck, bled it out and twisted its head off behind the governor, directly in the camera's line of fire.

A reporter asked Palin if she was okay with the backdrop. The Alaskan Governor answered, "no worries." As the bird's head was removed, the man looked over his shoulder at the governor and reporters and flashed a toothy grin.