Presidents Eat Arugula

Enough with the arugula jokes already. Even when we might be mulling over the pros and cons of Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate, there are still people who seem to obsess over Obama's liking for arugula. Get over it.

The man is an attorney, has been a law professor, and a legislator for his entire adult life. He's not a prole. We haven't nominated a true prole for President in either major political party since... LBJ? Can we accurately describe him as having personal prole class experience? He didn't work as a department store elevator operator and high school teacher for "breadth" or a lesson in humility (if it was the latter, it sure didn't take).

So the man eats greens in his salad and on his sandwiches that aren't iceberg lettuce. That means he isn't like the average, working-class American. Well, duh. Neither is John McCain. We do not, as a rule, pick leaders who eat Easy Mac for dinner all that often. Here, then, is my central point about Obama and his bitter weeds:

We pick our Presidents from the elite class.

Elite people eat elite food.

This is a bipartisan behavior.

Besides, arugula tastes good. It is pungent, flavorful, and satisfying; more like spinach than lettuce, with more fiber than either. If you could eat arugula regularly, you just might like it. And should the man be elected President, he's going to have all kinds of state dinners and diplomatic functions to go to. Those sorts of affairs are filled with elite food, including arugula. Liking arugula is a qualification for a job that involves a lot of high-class social mingling, and President of the United States is such a job.

If you're the sort of person who is offended that Barack Obama eats bitter weeds in his salad, chances are good you can identify something in his policy platform that you also can't stomach either. Focus your criticism of the man on the policy, please, not on the salad.