DBWI: George H.W Bush Doesn't Get Food Poisoning

[Plateosaurus]

January 8, 1992 marked a shocking day around the world, where during a banquet between George H.W Bush and Kiichi Miyazawa, when Bush suddenly became ill, vomiting into Miyazawa's lap while letting out flatulence, then fainted and was taken to hospital, where after weeks, he died. It was determined that the food wasn't prepared properly and left out longer then needed.

This sent ripples throughout both leaders' countries, not the least being the coinage of the phrase "Busshu-shi no tame no shokuryō" or Food for Mr. Bush as a slang for a seemingly small problem that brings heavy and terrible consequences, Dan Quayle's subsequent presidency, and a noticeable increase in violence against asians throughout the rest of the decade.

But what if this didn't happen? What would the butterflies Bush finishing his presidency or even winning a re-election bring? Would we still get the Gore then the Bush Jr. presidencies?

 

[Deleted member 141906]

George Bush Jr. was a very boring President wasn't he. In 2008, he was defeated by Mayor Weiner, who got impeached, in July 2012, and the 2004 VP Candidate, James Clyburn had to replace him after President Pelosi wouldn't run.

Bush would of won in 1992 for sure, Quayle since he is Quayle lost the popular vote.

 

[ASUKIRIK]

Bush's unfortunate bacterial-born food poisoning and death sparked the now-infamous American Ban against Raw and or Undercooked Fish and Seafood and also caused American Fish markets to suffer greatly as American consumers moves their usual Fish consumption to Beef and Poultry.

No, the myth that Bush Sr was served Fugu is a definitely a false news, what poisoned him is actually Raw Tuna. The later also explained the informal "Tuna ban" in the US too.

 

[dw93]

If Quayle could eek out a win in 1992, Bush would've been re elected had he not had food poisoning, Jerry Brown was that easy of a candidate to beat. The GOP may even be able to ride a 5th consecutive term if the economy held in a Bush second term, As we know, it tanked with Quayle and Al Gore crushed him in a landslide in 1996 and sailed to another term in 2000, only to have Jr. "win" in 2004 and tank the economy again. The fact Clyburn won in 2012 after Weiner's impeachment says that a majority of the public agrees, Republicans are bad for the economy.

 

[Whanztastic]

Given the fall of the Berlin Wall under his watch, his sudden “martyrdom”, and the Iraq War, I wonder if Bush would be less revered if he lived and ran again.

The economy was starting to drift and Bush wasn’t particularly on good terms before the Iraq War with the right, having broken his pledge to not raise taxes. If he lived, he might be more or less successful, but he couldn’t be the symbol of American victory over Russia and the first real military win since Vietnam. Perhaps some more of this reverence would be placed on Reagan, who certainly gets some but was overshadowed in the moment by Bush’s death. Certainly many of the of the figures who rallied around him after his passing, Gingrich for example, were not the loudest fans when he was alive.

 

[ASUKIRIK]

Perhaps some more of this reverence would be placed on Reagan, who certainly gets some but was overshadowed in the moment by Bush’s death.

Well, Reagan was still somewhat fondly remembered, but his 90-2000's gaffes (that only now known to be caused by undiagnosed Alzheimer's disease) caused his image to be tarnished as a "Senile Retired President Who Yells At Things", even if him being the first (and as now, only) ex-President to reach a Centenarian status, who died at the venerable age of 102.

Now, if only Reagan is the one who unfortunately died during the early 90s, and Bush Sr being the one who lived long enough to be known as "The Senile Old Man", I would bet that their reputation would be reversed as well, with Reagan being revered as the man who orchestrated the Fall of Communism, while Bush Sr would be 'merely' revered as an elder, but otherwise senile old man.

 

[samcster94]

President Quayle was an embarrassment. He barely beat an opponent who had cheated on his wife, who herself was a polarizing figure.

 

[Dolan]

President Quayle was an embarrassment. He barely beat an opponent who had cheated on his wife, who herself was a polarizing figure.

can't blame Quayle, he choose to run on domestic economic issues instead of using the momentous foreign policy due to fall of Communism.

Wasting potential? Obviously, but the guy himself is just a mediocre, throughly average President after all is said and done.

 

[JRogyRogy]

Not sure if anyone here remembers the Simpsons, but there was an episode where the main character Homer eats poisoned seafood and believes he has only 24 hours to live. It was a pretty funny/heartfelt episode, but it was pulled from airing for a while after the President's death (probably wishful thinking to believe Bush Sr. surviving his term would lead to the show surviving past 1996...)

 

[Plateosaurus]

As I mention in the OP, there was an uncalled for wave of anti-asian sentiment in the US in the wake of Bush's death, at most blaming the entire country of Japan for killing him. The FBI reported a 12% increase in hate crimes not seen since the WWII era, such as assault, vandalism and even a couple of shootings, most notably the Modesto Shooting. Meanwhile in the entertainment industry, you saw asian roles either diminished, put into the antagonist role or written out entirely. Just to name one,one TV network got cold feet in regards to adapting a Haim Saban series adapting a japanese show called Super Sentai, only relenting in late 1993 when the show The Power Rangers aired on Nickelodeon. Just imagined if it aired earlier.

It can be presumed this was also in part a knee jerk reaction to the japanese export era.

Bush's unfortunate bacterial-born food poisoning and death sparked the now-infamous American Ban against Raw and or Undercooked Fish and Seafood and also caused American Fish markets to suffer greatly as American consumers moves their usual Fish consumption to Beef and Poultry.

No, the myth that Bush Sr was served Fugu is a definitely a false news, what poisoned him is actually Raw Tuna. The later also explained the informal "Tuna ban" in the US too.

Hate to sound like PETA, but this actually led to fishstocks rising and improved ecosystem health. It also led to the vegetarian and vegan movements also gained traction.

 

[Dolan]

Hate to sound like PETA, but this actually led to fishstocks rising and improved ecosystem health.

Yeah, the North American Coasts, Sea, and even Freshwater Ecosystem did recover and thrives greatly as early as the early 2000s, due to a simple fact that US fish consumption plummeted. Sure, there are disturbingly racist reasons behind this trend, with seafood being seen as streotypical Asian (esp Japanese) food being the chief contributor. But well, having such a pristine underwater ecosystem is still definitely a boon in the end, even if the extremely strict quota US placed on fishing caused much problems with the Carribean nations, the return of Florida Reefs to their former glory, as well as how the US coasts become the largest Dolphin and Whale sanctuaries in The World, might made us realizes in the end that, the previous practices of ocean fisheries are simply unsustainable in the long run.

Not that the US population actually cared about ecology and nature now, as on the American hinterlands, 21st Century factory farming are intensely developed to match US demands for meat and poultry. Eating Red Meat is simply taken to the extreme as a much safer, AMERICAN WAY, and eating well-done steaks and pork chops, as well as fried chickens are pretty much American staple nowadays, thanks to the massed factory farming who really brought down the price of meat and poultry.

 

[Plateosaurus]

@Dolan, of course, this does have the consequence of global warming and more freshwater pollution, and obesity did reach a big peak back then.

The same things also did happen in Japan, albeit on s smaller scale.

 

[Dolan]

obesity did reach a big peak back then.

Secretary of Health Michelle Obama once tried to campaign that eating well-cooked, hygienically prepared fish and seafood is safe, and healthy, as well as arguing that the current meat-heavy American diet is bad for long term health.

She was condemned as "Fishmonger" by the sadly irrational American public, Democrats included, and forced to resign despite her otherwise stellar track records. Which shown that Bush Sr's tragic death still left a deep scar inside the collective American Psyche.

 

[Plateosaurus]

Secretary of Health Michelle Obama once tried to campaign that eating well-cooked, hygienically prepared fish and seafood is safe, and healthy, as well as arguing that the current meat-heavy American diet is bad for long term health.

She was condemned as "Fishmonger" by the sadly irrational American public, Democrats included, and forced to resign despite her otherwise stellar track records. Which shown that Bush Sr's tragic death still left a deep scar inside the collective American Psyche.

Pardon? At least half of the democrats did agree with her and at least 56% of the american public did so too, not just limited to seafood workers. Not to mention Bush was already starting to sour on his handling of both Panama and the Gulf and the people of both nations. Meanwhile, comedy had a dark field day. Unlike most presidents who died in office because of assassinations, he all but died of infected food while letting off a farting fit, an undignified death straight out of Airplane! on par with Taylor's and Harrison's if there ever was.

 

[ASUKIRIK]

Pardon? At least half of the democrats did agree with her and at least 56% of the american public did so too, not just limited to seafood workers.

It's a pity that she still gets shafted because of public pressure though, and save for private fishing through fishing rods, those Democrats basically do nothing to increase North American fish consumption.

And remember this, re-opening North American sea fisheries to their former scale will make Sea Mammal Lovers, as well as ALL Marine Biologists, scream bloody murder. America's unique public revulsion against eating fish and seafood did account for the now recovered ocean ecosystem in North America. Remember that what she proposed is actually endangering the lives of 50000 Blue Whales, 50000 Manatees, 100000 Orcas, and two million Bottlenose Dolphins, all of those who are either already extinct or severely dwindled in the other parts of the world. Also not counting the Great Lakes that has become home to the recovering River Dolphin population (but they are not as successful compared to their sea-dwelling brethrens). And let's not forget about the largest, and still the fastest growing coral reefs system in the world.

American back into consuming fish would reverse all the good things that happened in North American ocean, it would be a tragedy.

 

[Dolan]

Remember that what she proposed is actually endangering the lives of 50000 Blue Whales, 50000 Manatees, 100000 Orcas, and two million Bottlenose Dolphins, all of those who are either already extinct or severely dwindled in the other parts of the world.

Well, and practically countless ocean fish that sustained the North American Ecosystem on both Atlantic and Pacific sides.

British-Canadian fisheries are the only one allowed to operate on the Atlantic parts (with extremely strict quota at that), while the Pacific side has almost no fishing activities thanks to early overzealous attempts to kick out Asian fishing boats out of American territories (that unfortunately includes several Japanese fishing and whaling boats being sunk, the former did cause formal protests at the international scenes, but nobody shed a tear for the later). Just keep North American Ocean became Marine Sanctuaries, there are more good with that than restarting large-scale fishing activities there.

 

[glenn67]

Guess it is no surprise that several state legislators in Hawaii, California and Florida were elected as Greens.

 

[Plateosaurus]

I like how this thread has become a sea life thread for the better or worse rather then about George Bush. The ban wasn't even against eating fish period, just raw or undercooked examples.

First off, there are still a fair chunk of people who do eat seafood, just relying on imports from Europe and Oceania, albeit with pretty small numbers allowed. And asian relations have improved long before the 2010's under Gore's administration, where SOC Ernie Chambers and George Takei's campaign payed off well.

Heck, animosity towards asians among most people, especially those under 30 are a lot smaller then those above.

 

[Dolan]

I like how this thread has become a sea life thread for the better or worse rather then about George Bush. The ban wasn't even against eating fish period, just raw or undercooked examples

You could say that... It's the most bizarre correlation ever in history, but yeah, naming California Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary Laws (that would soon expanded to cover basically all US in less than a year) as George H.W. Bush Sea Mammal Laws might played larger role than expected.

Yeah, the "Whale Sanctuary" things was, in hindsight, motivated by racism against Japan, especially with all the sinking of Japanese whaling ships that veered into American territorial waters... But even broken clock would be right twice a day, so...