In Iowa Fight, Kerry Waves Corn, Bush Eats It Raw

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Iowa is the No. 1 corn-producing state in the nation, and Bush and Kerry are campaigning here with promises to help the state's farmers.

Kerry declared his enthusiasm for corn by sticking his head out the window of his campaign bus. He waved both hands with corn.

After their simultaneous rallies in Davenport in eastern Iowa, Bush stopped at a farmer's market in nearby Bettendorf and bought some ears of sweet corn.

The president took a bite of one on the spot. "Oh yeah. You don't even have to cook it. It's really good," Bush declared.

Raw corn is typically fed to livestock, but Irvin Anderson, a professor of corn physiology and biochemistry at Iowa State University, said some people liked it raw.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040804/ts_nm/campaign_corn_dc

Reuters must not even bother to listen to the speeches anymore.

[mike_c]

1. eat it, eat it...

...raw, raw, raw.

It had to be said. </sophmoric>

[Bozvotros]

2. That's the spirits!!

Because we need more students for more science at More Science High....

F*** you. (muttered)


Nothing like Principle Poop and a little Firesign Humor huh?

[Ferretherder]

33. Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers!

...one of the great comedy albums I STILL enjoy listening to!

[mom cat]

3. Thank you for saying it first... Submit that one to Raw Story!!!!

[TaleWgnDg]

6. LOL . . .

maybe he'll go "Cheney himself!" too . . . oops, did I say that?

[rocktivity]

9. Georgie eat corn, but I don't care

Georgie eat corn, but I don't care
Georgie eat corn, but I don't care
My vote goes Kerry's way!

:headbang:
rocknation

[trogdor]

14. Bush eating raw corn.

[MO_Dem]

16. The look on his face

suggests he was lying when he said it was "really good". That is the sort of expression I have when I taste something revolting and am getting ready to spit it out.

[Lisa]

35. Looks like he wants to spit it out in this other pic ...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040804/480/mnpm12608042353

[MO_Dem]

37. Maybe he had to

spit out his chewing tobacco so he could take a bite of the corn. He is reported to be such a "good ole boy" that he surely must chew tobacco, eh?

[Thor_MN]

43. Awwww.. He was using his big boy plate... How cute.

Not getting all his nutrition out of a bottle, like usual.

[aquart]

4. He ate it raw?

More and more I'm coming to believe Barbara kept this boy locked in a barn.

[Rose Siding]

5. You can when it's fresh and perfect

sun-warmed, it is good- not like you'd get at the market.

But look how lost the press is here- It's politics as shallow, process-ONLY, entertainment. Now just isn't the time.

[Sugarbleus]

11. C'mon..geez, of course you can eat it raw. he bought it at a

farmers market, just like the ones around my community. Especially organic sweet corn. It's soft, sweet and good. Nothing wrong with it except it's not hot. Taking a bite out of fresh sweet corn is how we test whether it's ripe yet...

[Lizzie Borden]

42. Wisconsin here...

we eat it raw too.

[grannylib]

12. raw sweet corn is great, but IMHO it's only good right off the stalk.

gets pretty tough after only 20 minutes or so.
But your're right, nothing substantive about that; same with reporting what TERESA ordered for lunch along the campaign trail...
WTF??? goddam, these reporters must all be either whores or the repugs have somethin' on every one of 'em.
Liberal media, my aunt fanny...

[LynneSin]

28. You're right - it is good off the stalk if it's freaking sweet corn....

...in Iowa, they don't grow that stuff by the fields, they grow the crap corn they use for livestock feed. So unless an ear of corn was brought in for props, that's what Bush probably had.

[Blue Gardener]

38. Iowa has a lot of sweet corn

We don't grow just field corn for livestock in Iowa. There are sweet corn stands all over the place this time of year. A lot of people just sell it out of the back of their pickups in the parking lots. But, I have never seen anyone eat it raw right there at the stand. We had a pretty good laugh about Bush and his sweet corn at work today, so at least it provided us all with a good chuckle.

[TaleWgnDg]

8. ROFL . . .

"Hey Bush! We wish your mother had a choice!"
-- William Saletan, April 22, 2004, referring to Roe v. Wade,
the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing abortion.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2099359/

[rusty charly]

7. corn?

when did i eat corn?

[TaleWgnDg]

10. the damn thing sounds way too corny for me . . .

(that just had to be said, sorry!)

[KamaAina]

13. Bumper Sticker Idea: "Bush Eats It Raw"

Think of the puzzled stares you'd draw with that one...

[rocktivity]

15. I'm going to assume that Kerry drew the bigger crowd

because Reuters would have written an actual story about it otherwise.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Cocoa]

17. everyone knows how Bush likes his corn

[Citizen Daryl]

18. Three words come immediately to mind ...

"Biskits and musterd."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Livestock?

Like rodents?

[enki23]

20. this is so unbelievably silly

i was an iowa farm kid (well, born just over the border in minnesota, but raised almost exclusively in iowa.) and... well, yes there are stupid people in iowa like about anywhere else. why else would it be a swing state this year at all? but jesus... both of them should feel sheepish for the corn thing. really. not many will be impressed.

[mountainvue]

21. "Raw corn is typically fed to livestock,

but Irvin Anderson, a professor of corn physiology and biochemistry at Iowa State University, said some people liked it raw."

There is a joke waiting to be told somewhere in that statement. Someone please make it.

[LiberalFighter]

22. Typically fed to livestock?

Do they really? Or in extreme cases?

Absolutely raw? or after the moisture content has been reduced?

[enki23]

23. this is all so... stupid

"raw" corn is used for all sorts of things. the majority of field corn, that is... the corn that is grown in iowa (not counting the sweet corn in people's *gardens*) is used as livestock feed. and... i suppose, yes, it's... "raw."

but bush was eating sweet corn, not field corn ("corn," corn) and raw sweet corn tastes just fine. it's a pandering, and stupid photo op, but it tastes just fine. it's also *not* really grown in iowa, in any large amount, and it's seldom used for animal feed in any significant quantity. (yeah, we used to chop some of the stalks by hand, after it was past its prime, and feed it stalk, ear, and all to the few cattle we kept--but that wasn't for anything serious.)

[daleo]

24. Are chimps considered livestock?

That might explain it.

[Shallah Kali]

25. Reminds me of Gerald Ford eating a tamale husk and all

:p

[Judi Lynn]

26. So when is Bush going to Kansas

to admire the World's Largest Ball of Twine?



http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/towns/Cawker/twine.html

Jeez. You'd think he'd never BEEN anywhere, wouldn't you?

[LynneSin]

27. This is the corn they feed to the pigs, seriously - that's what Bush ate

I'm from the farm originally and most of the corn you'll find in Iowa isn't going to end up on anyone's kitchen table. It's going to be used to feed animals.

Believe me, I've had the stuff but by accident and it's the worse crap you'll ever eat. During college break I went to a party at one of my college friend's home. Her brother was having a big clam bake and wanted corn for the party so they went to a local field and stole a couple dozen ears.

I took one bite of this stuff and knew it was livestock feed but I really didn't say anything to anyone else because it was a bunch of rich snooty primadonnas eating this livestock feed and having no idea that's what it was. They just figured it was overcooked or something. Oh, I did tell my friend and even she kept her mouth shut.

[Bullshot]

30. Was it sweet corn or field corn?

Sweet corn is the corn sold in produce stores for human consumption. Field corn is what farmers produce primarily for livestock feed.

[BiggJawn]

36. Looks like an ear of bi-coloured to me.

Bi-coloured sweet corn. some kernels are white, some yellow, and last week I got some that WAS sweet, right off the stalk. I would not want to eat my usual 3-4-5 ears that way, though. The cramps wouldv're been excruciating. After roasting it on the grill until it started to carmelize a little and was oh-so hot....Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[Tippy]

41. Well I grew up on a farm also...

And we ate what we called field corn as opposed to sweet corn...And if it is picked at the right time it to, is sweet not quite as sweet as sweet corn but very good...Now we also cut sillage which was fed to livestock and that too was sweet the stalks are similar in taste to sugar cane but not as sweet...

What you ate was either probably to mature or as you say over cooked...

[VoteDemocratic2004]

29. Do Zoo's feed Chimps raw corn?

I hope that he got diarrhea off of the pesticides from the raw corn.

[susu369]

31. I'll eat ANYTHING and say it's good....

if it helps my photo op, sez bu$h*, The Potemkin Village Idiot.

Definitely joke material.

[tlcandie]

32. I wonder what he used the cob for AFTER he cleaned it?

Hmmmmm :think:

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. It would be a hoot

to find out where that prop, ah excuse me, ear of corn really came from. They probably flew it in from another state.

[Blue Gardener]

40. We have plenty of sweet corn in Iowa

No need to fly it in from another state. Farmers have to earn a living somehow, growing fresh produce to sell at Farmer's Markets is becoming ever more popular, as is organic farming.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

39. Would've been sweet if a couple chompers got knocked out this way.

[Mortos]

44. To bad they didn't go to a manure plant

Bush: I like poop from Iowa. It helps things grow. (stuffing some in his mouth). Mmmmmmmmm! Good poop.

[glitch]

45. He probably thought it would taste like it was cooked. Hate to say it

But he's probably never actually cooked corn, or seen it cooked. Just thought it naturally grew all sweet and buttery.