Andrew Zimmern has earned national fame (if not envy) for his highly entertaining Travel Channel gig. (If you haven’t seen Bizarre Foods, it revolves around Zimmern eating anything and everything likely to freak out conventional American diners.)
But Zimmern touched off a firestorm amongst his Twin Cities readership late last week with a post on Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Chow & Again dining blog. Before launching into a thoughtful exploration of the thriving scene on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue, he drops the following thought bomb upon his unsuspecting readers:
I have been in a major funk ever since the book-banning scourge of Wasilla, Alaska, was nominated for the Veep seat on the GOP ticket. She is a Bush clone of the highest order, and her selection shows that her running mate is no maverick, just a brain-dead moron for selecting her as his potential second in command—or maybe he is the smartest man alive based on her resonance with some of the voting public. Are Americans that easily swayed from what has gone on for the last eight years?
Comments ranged from intensely grateful:
Goodness! I love your show and reading your blog… I didn’t realize you were so opinionated politically until now. Good for you! Now I like you even more! :)
To intensely critical:
I didn’t realize you were a snob besides a food critic. The fact that your candidate is not up by 10+ points in the polls and is sputtering with an idiot president, a poor economy, a creaky old man Repub nominee, and a hick Veep candidate, says something about B.O. Or maybe as you imply there are a lot of stupid people. Surprised you can see that well from your lofty elitist perch.
To, well, Minnesotan:
Andrew, please don’t make fun of others religion and politics. It’s not polite and distracts from the real reason we have been coming to your site.
As per usual with this sort of thing, the comment thread is almost as much fun to read as the original, incendiary post. One thing’s for sure: Zimmern is about as averse to controversy as Julia Child was averse to cooking with butter.
Just because he’s got a show doesnt mean his opinions are more important than the avg joe. It also doesnt mean that he can’t voice his opinion. It also doesnt mean that other people cant tell him that he is full of crap.
Well, good for Zimmern! I am not of the opinion that “celebrities,” be they chowish or what, should stay out of the public arena when it comes to political opinions. I appreciate their thoughts most if they’re well articulated…
stick to eating anus, zimmern!
Why on Earth would anyone takes what that moron has to say seriously? Isn’t there an editor at his publication? Does anyone fact-check there? Gov. Palin didn’t ban a single book, nor ask for one to be banned.
I think it was Bourdain who infamously ate warthog anus during his trip to Namibia. That’s a bizarre foods low-water mark that I don’t think even Zimmern wants to emulate, what with Bourdain getting deathly ill.
BTAT, Governor Palin’s actions in regards to the to town librarian when she was mayor of Wassila are a matter of hypotheticals, to some extent. What is clear, however, is that after asking the librarian’s position on book banning on three different ocassions, then Mayor Palin asked for the librarian’s resignation stating the reason that she didn’t have her “full support.” Now, while the language is decidedly ambiguous, I am pretty sure that none of the 5000 residents of Wassila doubted why she was asking for her resignation. (I live in a small town, about the same size. We all know how people feel about each other, especially those who talk during city council meetings.) Let’s get real–Palin likes to float ideas before seeing whether they are publicly supported. She’s a savvy politician. When there was a recall movement stemming from her actions with the librarian, she knew to back off. Any smart politician would.
“Mayor Palin asked for the librarian’s resignation…”
Along with the six other department heads at the time. Do your homework.
The librarian served at the pleasure of the mayor. The librarian publicly supported Palin’s opponent in the election…bad move if the election doesn’t turn out your way.
BTAT, I like to hope that our elected officials don’t merely fill positions with supporters, but evaluate on the basis of performance. Especially in the case of a city librarian.
Have you ever looked at the Cabinet of the President of any party?
Are you just going to ask me a condescending rhetorical question? Thank you, no. I will bow out of this discussion, because that’s not constructive.
amyzan, your foolishness (and unthinking partisanship) and been exposed. So, yes, I agree–there is no use in you continuing.
If you’re interested in civil public discourse, rather than derision, I’d be happy to continue. I don’t get teh feeling that’s of interest to you, however. My feeling is that mayors of small towns don’t wield the same power as chief executives of the nation. There are limits to power, even at the mayoral level of a small town in Alaska! I think you lack perspective, BTAT, perhaps because of partisanship? I think for myself, thank you, and hope we all do the same. Just because my perspective is different from yours, I am not entitled to treat you without respect. I would appreciate the same from you in return.
The fact is, amyzan, it was withing the Mayor’s power to ask for the resignation of all six managers, which she did. Note: All six.
If you’re trying to run a city efficient and effectively, you need to have managers that are on your side, otherwise they will undercut you any time they have a chance. The librarian had cast her lot with the Mayor’s opponent and, therefore, did not have the confidence of the mayor–totally reasonable.
To drag a couple of general questions about the process of book removal from the library from over a year earlier into the subject borders on the absurd. Even the librarian doesn’t claim it had anything to do with what happened.
Let’s keep the discussion based in reality and we’ll do fine.
Just because you deem matters of public record to be insignificant doesn’t make them so. The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, has simply said she can neither confirm nor deny the story and that she would like her privacy respected. It seems Palin was putting her opponent’s supporters to a test, which she is entitled to do, certainly. Palin relented, however. Let’s not imply that one of us is delusional because we disagree about Palin’s approach. We look at the same historical facts and while you don’t see any issue of concern, I do. I don’t argue that you are foolish, ignorant, or deluded, which are all terms you’ve used just because I see things differently. Stop with the vitriol, please. You can have the last word, but please have it with some dignity.