Opinion: President's stance is not forgotten

While it’s an important event to mention, it’s probably not breaking news to anybody reading this that former President George H.W. Bush died Friday night at age 94.

It’s probably not a surprise to anybody either, given the last few years of our 41st president being repeatedly rushed to hospitals for things I could treat with a bottle of NyQuil. As bad as those final years of failing health must have been, I’m glad President Bush squeezed a lot of life in while he could. He made his final skydive at age 90; I’m still putting off my first.

There are plenty of policies I disagreed with from the Bush administration, and some I agreed with. But my favorite memory is perhaps his most non-political and personal statement of his term.

March 22, 1990. Bush on the White House lawn. A forceful Bush said:

“This is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli. But wait a minute, for the broccoli vote out there, Barbara LOVES broccoli. She’s tried to make me eat it; she eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in.”

I was in junior high, and it was a viral moment before viral moments existed. Some of my classmates found it stupid. I found it empowering.

He stuck to his guns over the years, even when cute kids tried to intervene. A 5-year-old boy named Cooper sent President Bush a letter two years ago that he loves broccoli, so much so that he ate his share and his brother’s share. Bush’s response: “Proud of young Cooper’s interest in healthy eating. His declared love of broccoli is genuine, if also unpersuasive.”

Stand proud, sir. You don’t have to like certain foods and certain foods don’t have to like you.

I’m probably closer to Cooper than Bush on the broccoli spectrum. Never had a problem with it, and look forward to it if cheese and/or seasoning is involved.

But man, did I hate potato salad as a kid. I still don’t like it today. Oh sure, somebody will always tell me, “Oh, my recipe is different,” and the plate they hand me is a trash heap of potatoes, mayonnaise and at least one item that makes no sense like marshmallows or raisins.

I do not like potato salad. And I’m editor of the Eastern New Mexico News, and I’m not going to eat any more potato salad. I’m not a picky eater. I’m being presidential.

Rest in peace, Mr. President. Your stance is not forgotten.

Kevin Wilson is editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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