You Say “Pimento,” He Says “Palmetto,” I Say “Rockaway”

We hope this lays to rest one of the biggest non-Pope stories swirling around Washington today: What exactly did the President eat yesterday? Both Wonkette and Dan Froomkin’s White House Briefing reported on the back-and-forth in the White House pool yesterday in South Carolina (site of the “peanuts” remark).

Here’s the story in a nutshell (pun intended), as reported by poolers Jim Lakely of the Washington Times and Time’s Matt Cooper (he of Matt & Judy) as the President stopped off at the Rockaway Athletic club in South Carolina for a burger:

POTUS, glancing at the pool, said “You would think these people would be ordering something to eat.” (laughter) He then ordered the cheeseburger. “I’m getting the pimento cheeseburger. It’s what everyone recommends.”

– First Pool Report (known as the ‘first rough draft of history’)

Correction: “Palmetto cheeseburger” not “pimento cheeseburger.”

— Second Pool Report (known as the ‘slightly more polished draft of history’)

CORRECTION TO EARLIER CHEESEBURGER CORRECTION: Your official poolers, the Jim Lakely and Matt Cooper tag-team, had it right the first time. Mr. Bush ordered a “Pimento Burger,” not a “Palmetto Burger” when he stopped at Rockaway for lunch. Another member of the pool convinced us that his driver — who insisted that it was a Palmetto burger — was right. Mr. Lakely regrets the error of going against what Mr. Cooper saw with his own eyes. (The Pimento burger fact was also confirmed by an writer for Columbia’s “The State” newspaper who eats at Rockaway regularly).

– Third Pool Report (otherwise known as ‘Good Enough for the NYT’ or alternatively ‘two more pool reports than I wanted to write today’)

Oops. All three were wrong. Turns out, as Froomkin explains, the local newspaper’s ace political team has the right name: It’s the Rockaway Burger, which includes pimento cheese.

Memo to the WH Pool: We expect more from you guys.

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