Close to the Edge: Near Death on the Orange Line
Sports Redux: C's Shot Down
Max Goes to Longwood: Wild Things on the Subway
Saturday Happenings
Sunday Happenings
You know how much we love the Globe's fluffy articles about summer homes and houseguests. The concerns of the rich are always amusing. However, it gets even more grating when the Globe turns an unilluminating upper-class lens on issues that actually matter to those of us without millions of dollars. The latest "Globular" travesty is a take on Election 2008 that focuses on that all-important issue: food.
Featuring such hard-hitting insights as the fact that John McCain was "spotted ordering a pepperoni slice this summer," the article doesn't even take its mission seriously, failing to cite a single original source or food-related quote from a candidate. Based on his once having made ribs for some political chums, McCain apparently also likes barbecue. Grilling himself shows "he favors self-sufficiency over help from others." Yeah, it's pretty easy to be "self-sufficient" when you can pay people to Google things for you. We love that Republicans think "self-sufficiency" means paying folks to do your work.
The Globe also tells us that Barack Obama likes Topolobampo, a Mexican restaurant in Chicago; we're surprised they didn't extend that to suggest he supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. Guess that would be too relevant to actual issues, which should be avoided at all cost.
An article like this might be funny in The Onion. In that context, it'd be both humorous and sharply critical of mainstream media articles that trot around the issues without confronting them. But to run something like this in a major city paper is to ignore the damage that such articles do to real issues--and to real Americans.
More anti-Globe tirade after the jump! Pepperoni image from Pizza Hut.
By suggesting, however glibly, that food preferences might matter in a campaign, the Globe gives readers a bit of ground to stand on when it comes to developing an irrational attraction to or dislike for a candidate based on a quality completely unrelated to politics. You should vote for Barack Obama because you agree with his policies, not because he drinks margaritas or enjoys guacamole just like you! As many people have noted, voting for "the guy you'd like to have a beer with" is what got us into our current political mess, and we really wish the Globe weren't encouraging us to vote based on the guy we'd like to have some 'roni (yes, we just abbreviated "pepperoni") or a 'rita with.
Additionally, the light nature of the article misses the opportunity to make food a real campaign issue, which it should be. We face environmental crises (caused in part by poor food growing practices), we're fat, small farmers are struggling, and genetically modified foods need to be better understood. Plus there are millions of hungry people around the world, and even in our own country. We need a president who can help us restructure and improve the way we grow, distribute, and think about food. Unfortunately, the Globe doesn't help us understand who that president might be--just who likes to eat pizza.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Post a comment (Comment Policy)