When a Former Iowa Governor Appeared on South Park
I'm a huge fan of the show South Park. It's my favorite show of all time.
I mean, ask my roommates, buddies from college, and closest friends from high school, and they'll be able to tell you that on a plethora of occasions I'd start a sentence with "There's this episode of South Park..."
It's raunchy, they cross the line regularly, and they make fun of anyone and everyone. It's hilarious.
How the hell they've been able to write 25 seasons of the show and keep it relevant all the while is completely beyond me -- writers and creators of the show Matt Stone and Trey Parker are nothing but pure geniuses.
With that said, I was watching an episode of the show last night on HBOMax, "Gluten-Free Ebola," Season 18, Episode 2.
The episode came out in 2014 when both of those things were on everyone's radar. It couldn't have been more perfectly timed.
In the episode, one of the characters, Mr. Mackey won't stop going on about how he's cut gluten from his diet and he 'feels so amazing.' With the annoyance, the school brings a scientist to educate the locals on just how safe eating the proteins found in wheat actually is.
After the scientist ingests raw gluten and experiences some rather comical side effects, the townsfolk freak out, and a terror of gluten spreads nationally.
In steps former Iowa governor and then USDA 30th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. He's been tasked with saving the day.
I'd love to share a few actual portions of the episode where Vilsack appears, but that probably wouldn't be a great idea. Here's a NSFW link.
Vilsack is now the United States' 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture