Conservative Cultural Supremacism Based In Extreme Insecurity

by: Chris Bowers

Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 18:43:50 PM EST

This sort of post is usually the province of Living Liberally, but as a vegetarian who is oftentimes forced to explain my cultural deviancy, I had to comment on it. House minority leader John Boehner hates food he has never tired before:

Members of Congress returning to the Capitol this week are being confronted by transformational happenings that have shaken the building to its foundations: Democrats have hired a new company to run cafeteria services. Naturally, this has caused an outbreak of partisan skirmishing.

"I like real food," proclaimed Republican leader John Boehner when asked about the new menu by a producer for another cable news outfit. "Food that I can pronounce the name of."

Boehner is now forced to wrap his lips around such phrases as "broccoli rabe and shaved persimmon," "balsamic glazed butternut squash," and "calico pinto beans"...all on this afternoon's menu, along with the downright patriotic "American Regional Yankee Pot Roast," which, even Boehner would have to admit, kind of rolls right off the tongue. On Fridays, there is a real sushi bar tended by a bona fide Japanese sushi chef. Gone are such grade-school cafeteria specialties as Salisbury steak and fried chicken, slathered in gravy and served with a side of chips.

I'm not sure which of these words are beyond Boehner's annunciation capabilities, and perhaps that should have been a question his interviewer posed to him. Also, I'm positive that there were many Democrats who didn't like the food Republicans offered up when they were in the majority, but I don't remember Pelosi holding any press conferences about it. I know I wasn't thrilled with the options in the Congressional cafeteria when I was blogging the Alito hearings. But really, whatever-I'm not going to go crying about it to Fox News. Maybe that is because, unlike conservatives, progressives don't consider it a personal affront if someone's dietary habits are different than their own.

Why does Boehner care so much if the cafeteria food is different from his usual tastes? For that matter, why have conservatives frequently insulted the type of food (sushi-eating), type of coffee (latte-drinking), or type of alcoholic beverages (wine and / or microbrews) that progressives consume? It seems to me that they consider our divergence from their habits to somehow be an insult to them, rather than the outlandish possibility that we just prefer different kinds of food and drinks. Does their intolerance know no bounds? And if they really like the food, coffee and alcoholic beverages you consume, why does it bother them so much that other people have different preferences? That strikes me as a shockingly high level of personal insecurity concerning one's cultural preferences.

This literal distaste for pluralism, coupled with whining over something as petty as personal eating habits, is demonstrative of what has always struck me as the extreme insecurity among conservatives in the cultural realm. That someone even cares what someone else eats is absolutely pathetic. The inability to just live and let live reveals how the conservative cultural supremacist message is based in the highest levels of personal insecurity that one can think of. The fear of gays, of Mexicans, of Muslims, and even of food is infantile in the extreme. Does Boehner need to someone to scare away the unpronouncable words and diverse menu options under his bed at night, too? What else can conservatives fear and hate? Are they going to start holding news conferences about progressives hanging toilet paper the wrong way, too?

For the love of crap, just grow up conservatives. I'm sorry that you can't pronounce complex words like "balsamic" or "calico," but maybe you should take that problem up with your local adult literacy center rather than CNN. Personally, I would find something like that to be too embarrassing to broadcast to the entire nation...[Open in new window]