The 'Satan Sandwich' Congressman Is Getting Carried Away

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver coins a new demonic food metaphor

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's peculiar quest to attach satanic food metaphors to President Obama's debt ceiling bill took another strange turn this morning when the Missouri Democrat appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to explain that it takes a "demon drink" to wash down the "sugar-coated Satan sandwich" (i.e. the debt bill) that the president signed into law yesterday. Now, when Cleaver first coined the "Satan sandwich" metaphor on Sunday, the expression's colorful finesse was properly lauded and subsequently immortalized with its own Twitter account. But his latest inclusion of a "demon drink" is a bit much (especially given his mirthless, deadpan delivery of the term). Observe:

You’ve got a little bit of sourdough on one side of the sandwich for poor people and then you have some onions for people who are on unemployment benefits and realize that’s not going to be in the deal... It’s got a lot of stuff in it. Very few things that are good. You serve it, of course, with a demon drink.

The seriousness with which Cleaver extended the metaphor to the sandwich's sourdough bun and onion garnish could only be matched by his initial justification of the metaphor to MSNBC on Sunday. Watch as he and the anchor ignore that inherent silliness of the term:

Anchor: You have been quoted coming out of your caucus as calling this agreement a "Sugar-coated Satan Sandwich." Was that indeed your quote? Is that how you feel about this deal?

Cleaver: It's a very accurate quite. What I'm saying is if you lift the bun, it's antithetical to everything the great religions of the world teach which is take care of the poor, take care of the aged... On the surface, it looks like a Satan Sandwich."

To show the quote was no extemporaneous overreach, Cleaver followed the broadcast with the redundant tweet:

Give it up, Cleaver! What's next, a "Prince of Darkness dessert"?