Hillary Clinton’s Chipotle trip has inspired a tidal wave of think pieces exploring every detail and possible interpretation of the presumptive nominee’s fast-casual lunch. Here are five in particular that put way, way more thought into someone eating a burrito bowl than I would have ever thought was possible:
1. “Hillary’s flawless Chipotle choice: how campaign meals can make or break a politician’s image,” The Guardian
This piece hailed Hillary’s lunch selection as a “masterly move.” If you Google “masterly move,” it produces results like “to preserve the eurozone was a masterly move,” “a masterly move that saved the country from a disastrous default,” and a piece discussing a “masterly move” Nelson Mandela made “toward racial reconciliation” in South Africa in the ’90s — all comparisons that suggest Hillary’s choice to eat a burrito bowl must have been a pretty big deal.
2. “Sign of the times: Hillary goes to Chipotle, Not McDonald’s,” CNN
According to this piece, “Hillary’s trip to Chipotle says more than just a little something about her dietary habits. In many ways, it’s a sign of the times — both in presidential politics and the dining world.” Yes — a sign in many ways across multiple disciplines. Sounds pretty monumental, so hopefully a sociologist will delve a little deeper into it at some point. After all, there’s no way the 500 words in this article could be enough to cover everything.
3. “Humble Hillary Takes a Page from Justin Bieber,” Breitbart
#related#This piece explains that “Justin is known for loving his fans (‘Beliebers’) and, on occasion, going out of his way to surprise them,” and that that makes him more likeable despite his legal troubles — just like Hillary’s Chipotle visit makes her more likeable despite her “‘smart power’ approach to Russia” troubles. Of course, discussions about the connections between musical artists and politics/culture aren’t uncommon — like with John Lennon and the anti-war hippie counterculture and the Sex Pistols and the anarchist punk counterculture — so I guess now we can just add Justin Bieber and Hillary’s lunch to that list.
4. “The ‘everyday people’ who made Hillary Clinton’s burrito bowl,” Politico
With an event as important as this one, it wouldn’t be enough to just talk about Hillary herself — we also must examine all of those that played a role in it. So, thank god for this piece, which describes the people who were involved in making that historical burrito bowl, complete with details like their ages and how many roommates they have. Of course, it also interviews them about what it was like to actually be there at that fast-casual restaurant that day. You know, kind of like how we might ask people what it was like to be there for the fall of the Berlin Wall.
5. “Hillary-at-Chipotle Headlines That Suggest Maybe We’re Reading Too Much Into Hillary at Chipotle,” National Review Online
Yes — a think piece about think pieces about Hillary at Chipotle. Apparently, this lunch was so serious that one journalist felt the need to get meta.