The Smoking Gun has some documents showing the John Kerry's demands when staying at hotels when he was campaigning for President. On the first document, there's a list of various foods, and then "Note: JK Hates Celery!" But then on the fourth page of documents, we see that he wants "Vegetables -- preferably organic, not the precut ones" and the first thing on the list of vegetables is "Celery." He's flipflopping on celery.
UPDATE: I can see I'm being unfair. The intro to the documents indicates that the later pages include things for his wife, so the celery is for her. Sorry! And let me add that I have no problem with people making detailed requests like this. His staff should be taking steps to preserve his health and mood. And I'm impressed by how healthy these choices are.
March 28, 2006
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While funny... and I'm loathe to admit any similarity between myself and Kerry... I think I can provide some insight into this.
From the context of the request... It sounds like he hates celery mixed in with things like soups, but likes fresh celery on its own. I'm exactly the same way. I hate chopped celery mixed in with things, but like it on its own.
With that said... I can't imagine actually taking the time to write all these things down to give to hotels. How pretentious can you be?
As much as I hate to defend John Kerry's hotel pickiness, the first celery comment was clearly aimed directly at people doing food for John. The second mention of celery was in a document listing things they should have around the hotel. Which would include things that his spouse likes to eat, presumably.
In for a penny, in for a pound - I don't see anything particularly persnickety or mock-worthy in these documents. If I was living in hotels and had the level of wealth where I had advance staff, I'd have a lot longer and pickier documents in their hands. ("Robert needs a steadily reliable wireless Internet connection...ensure that it functions well on the patio/balcony as well as in the halls of the hotel...")
I am second to few in my distaste for all things Kerry, but I have to defend him on having such a list. If you are on the road and in hotels as often as a national political campaigner, I would think some kind of list would be very important to minimize the inevitable variability and hardships.
What is most interesting to me on the list is the "No Evian" water bit. Is it the taste? Or is it that it is somehow perceived as "effete" water, something that the campaign wouldn't want him to be seen with?
Well at least he chooses to dislike something almost as bland as he is........
I think it's fine to have lists like this, and the staff should be concerned about preserving the candidate's health and good mood. I was impressed by the high-quality diet. I just thought it was funny about the celery.
Nick has a good point. I used to feel that way about green pepper. Nice to eat raw, but disgusting cooked into things.
With that said... I can't imagine actually taking the time to write all these things down to give to hotels. How pretentious can you be?
I doubt that he took the time personally to write these things down. More than likely he was asked by one of his aides (or someone asked one of his aides) about his food preferences and they made a notation which they forwarded on to hotels. It’s the kind of thing I’ve seen administrative assistants do for executives around our office when they travel not because their bosses get upset if they don’t have exactly the right kind of beverage but because they want to do whatever they can to make their trips as pleasant as possible.
Put it this way – if you were responsible for arranging your boss’ travel plans and the hotel s/he was staying at asked if s/he had any food preferences, wouldn’t you give them all of the information you had on their likes and dislikes?
What is most interesting to me on the list is the "No Evian" water bit.
At least he didn't write, "I only drink FIJI water!" (That's for those who saw Sarah Silverman's movie last year.)
Is it the taste? Or is it that it is somehow perceived as "effete" water, something that the campaign wouldn't want him to be seen with?
It's because Bill O'Reilly's Boycott France campaign got to him! I seem to recall O'Reilly specifically recommending Poland Spring over Evian, and sure enough Kerry says his preference is for Poland Spring. However, real Americans drink Vermont Pure -it's got a big American flag on the bottle. :)
why is this news? And actually, it makes him sound fairly reasonable.
I'm surprised there isn't a demand for a safe place to put his magic hat.....
Yes, David, because reasonable people don't feel they have to stick to their premonitions, even when proved wrong, to prove something.
His first preference for dinner is meatloaf! If more people would have known that, he might just have carried Ohio.
Sheesh, I must be pretty easy going then. I only hate broccoli, cooked spinach, asparagus, califlower... and especially mushrooms.
And until the past couple weeks (I'm dieting) it would have also said, "Stock with lots of cold Pepsi."
Evian makes me (and a couple of my friends) puff up, especially around the eyes. Okay for my life, but you can't run for Prez on puffy eyes!
Celery, in large enough quantities, has been shown to lower blood pressure.
Peace, Maxine
All famous people have lists like this.
I've worked backstage at concerts, and all musicians have very detailed lists about the food they want served.
Kerry didn't put this list together. His aides did. He's probably not even aware it exists. He probably just makes comments on the side like "Don't have them bring celery next time, it just goes to waste" and the aide translates that as "No celever EVER".
"Evian makes me (and a couple of my friends) puff up, especially around the eyes.
That would signal to me a high level of sodium. Out of curiosity I looked at the mineral composition of Evian compared to Poland Springs and while I always find these labels difficult to decipher, the Evian sodium level was not shown but bicarbonates seem extreme leaving me to wonder if this would be inclusive of sodium. Any chemists or nutritionists out there?
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