John Y. Brown, III: Politicization of Fast Food

I just went through Chick-fil-a off Shelbyville Rd in Louisville. Mainly because it’s after 9 pm and most their clientele are home for the night —praying, talking about heterosexuality and getting ready for bed.

At least that’s the media stereotype I have in my mind

I figure, between 9-10pm each night the city’s liberal and hypocritical underbelly slithers through the Chik-fil-a drive through wearing sunglasses and masking their real voice as they order. And not making eye contact as they ask for extra ketchup for the Waffle Fries before careening out of the parking lot before someone else from Bardstown road recognizes them and turns them in to Rainbow Blossom.

But the food is so good at Chik-fil-a, otherwise idealistic Ashley Judd Dems are, during a weak moment (between 9-10pm Mon-Sat) willing to risk everything they stand for to munch on a Spicy Chicken Sandwich.

Is that really so wrong?

Of course it is! Rand Paul was willing to talk 13 consecutive hours last week (4 1/2 hours longer than his typical interview and floor speech) because of what he believed. And no to-go order of Dan Dan Noodles from the ultra liberal and multicultural PF Changs would have caused him to waiver.

Shame. Shame. I know your name! John Brown!

But at least I had the decency not to park and eat in Chik-fil-a parking lot. I drove across the street and parked in the Taco Bell parking lot where I noticed two other cars parked with Chik-fil-A bags on the dashboard with incognito drivers wolfing down a chicken pot pie.

But then I saw something truly shocking. It was, if true, reminiscent of the moment when Sen Joe McCarthy was castigated by the Army’s General Counsel, “At long last, sir, have you no decency?” Only worse because it was more brazen and nakedly hypocritical.

It was local PR maverick and former Republican political operative and friend of Karl Rove, Scott Jennings (or someone who looks just like him) wearing dark sunglasses in a corner booth eating a Bacon Club Chalupa inside Taco Bell. As he chewed blissfully he simultaneously gave the lie to his party’s rigid policy position on immigration, symbolically anyway.

Sure,I was outraged and wanted to lash out at his hypocrisy. But I thought to myself, maybe all this hyper partisanship has gone one step too far. What would Democratic Patron Saint US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan do if he were alive and found himself in this identical situation ? Easy. He would discreetly walk inside Taco Bell and quietly offer Scott his now empty Chick-fil-A bag to disguise the rest of his order.

But Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a better man than I am. I left the scene and am writing this blog post for The Recovering Politician. And doing so because the fast food we choose says more about out political principles than our tastebuds. And our nation’s future –and its future’s future along with menu choices—hangs in the balance.