Celebrated in America on the last Thursday of November, one of the oldest national holidays, Thanksgiving, has traditionally set in motion the whole country, tuning into a marathon of feasts, meetings with family and friends and the joyful leapfrog of the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

Thanks to the first immigrants from England who arrived in the New World four centuries ago, long before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of 1776, and in those times immemorial, they once decided to gather at the table to thank God for giving them a rich man on their new land. harvest.

Special thanks to the Wampanoag Indians who were invited to that ancient holiday.

According to legend, they did not come to the holiday empty-handed, but brought a turkey with them.

Since this all started.

Over the past centuries, a special Thanksgiving ritual has developed around turkey, which has become something of an American totem product.

Every year he demands the proper eating of turkey meat with cranberry sauce and the ceremonial pardon of two specially selected birds for the holiday, one of which receives the status of "national", and the other becomes her "substitute".

On the eve of the celebration, the president personally bestows pardon on the named turkeys on the White House lawn, and this is a key moment of the holiday, which has the status of a state one.

On his first Thanksgiving as president, Joe Biden successfully completed the ritual.

After a colonoscopy that was safely rescheduled last Friday and the removal of a polyp found in him, on the eve of his 79th birthday, the head of the White House pardoned two birds raised in Indiana, which students of the local school creatively named Peanut Butter and Jelly.

“By the power vested in me as President of the United States, I will have mercy on you this Thanksgiving,” Joe Biden turned to Peanut Butter, the first number in America's top turkey tandem.

“Say something,” the president called to the turkey.

And the grateful bird made a sound, as if responding to his call.

In the same way, Joe Biden pardoned Jelly, after which the turkeys who made a trip to the Rose Garden of the White House had to return to their native Indiana.

The ceremony of pardoning the turkeys, which Joe Biden held, without confusing anything and not forgetting the names of the birds, became perhaps the most successful act of his presidency, which in general (this is not a secret for anyone) is still going very badly.

Polls show that the president's credibility is inexorably melting; as of today, the Americans do not want him to be re-elected for a second term.

About half of US citizens have doubts about his mental health at all, and the attending physician Kevin O'Connor admits that "during the speeches, the president began to feel a sore throat and cough more often and more strongly" and "his gait became noticeably more tense and less free than a year ago or so. "

American comedian Michael Che, who suits Joe Biden as sons, if not grandchildren, makes nasty jokes like that, asking the president if he is ready to fight for an extension of his mandate in three years, the journalists are actually trying to sniff out if he is still three years old.

But even if we imagine that, in spite of the army of scoffers and ill-wishers, Joe Biden will turn out to be a tough nut to crack and keep fit until the 2024 elections, it remains unclear how he can restore voters' trust.

Apparently, Joe Biden does not have a single strong move capable of taking his rating out of the dive.

Of course, the president is still supported by the leadership of the Democratic Party, and for at least another year, before the midterm elections to the US Congress in November next year, Democrats will control not only the White House, but also the Capitol.

But time flies fast, and the party functionaries and strategists of the Democrats cannot in any way reprogram the consciousness of the Americans, who already today declare their readiness to support the Republicans in the congressional elections.

The Democrats have no magic wand.

At the same time, on whom Joe Biden can certainly rely on, it is perhaps on the two main American turkeys of Thanksgiving Day, who are ready to play along with him and by their presence in the White House at the pardon ceremony gratefully demonstrate to US citizens that the president is capable and continues to successfully fulfill his functions.

As for Thanksgiving itself, its original meaning is somehow lost and fades into the background, giving way to mundane speculations about how much money should be spent on a festive dinner in order to ritually eat a certain amount of turkey, sweet potatoes, peas on the last Thursday of November , vegetables, cranberries and other products.

As the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) recently reported, this year's Thanksgiving dinner for ten people will cost $ 53.31.

This is as much as 14% more than last year's value, when his turkeys named Corn and Cob were last pardoned by Donald Trump, who did not want to leave the White House.

At the same time, if you add ham, potatoes and frozen green beans to the standard set of a festive dinner, then its cost will increase by another $ 15.41.

“Several factors contributed to the rise in value this year.

These include turmoil in the US economy, supply chain problems, inflationary pressures, the difficulty of forecasting demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as high demand for food in the world, especially for meat, "AFBF quotes the words of economist Veronica Nye. ...

As for the standard seven-kilogram turkey during the reign of Joe Biden, it will generally cost the Americans 24% more than last year.

Volunteers were convinced of this when they compared prices in stores.

However, on this occasion, the authorities urge the Americans not to get upset.

"Leading vendors are confident that every family will be able to get a turkey on the holiday table, and the largest will cost them a dollar more than last year," said US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

So Thanksgiving is increasingly becoming Turkey Eating Day, given that only two privileged birds are awarded the presidential pardon.

And the rest go to the supermarkets with their price tags.

To the gallery page

But who to thank on this day, except for the President who pardoned the birds and agricultural producers?

Maybe the Wampanoag Indians, who once revealed to the American homeland the joy of eating turkey, but eventually became an outgoing nature for this homeland?

No, they will not wait for their recognition.

Then maybe, as before, thank God, remembering the original, undistorted meaning of Thanksgiving?

But here, too, not everything is so simple.

What kind of thanksgiving God can we talk about if today different Americans pray to different gods?

Everyone has their own god or their own idol.

It remains to thank the lord of the White House turkeys.

This year - Joe Biden.

Thank Biden for something.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.