Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Don't Know or Won't Say?

From an article about Democratic Georgia Sen. Zell Miller endorsing President Bush written by Jeffrey McMurray, AP writer:

"I think he has sold his soul for a mess of pottage," said (Democratic Rep. John) Lewis, in a reference to a speech Miller gave as a congressional candidate 40 years ago in which he argued that President Johnson was "a Southerner who sold his birthright for a mess of dark pottage" because of his support for the Civil Rights Act.

Pottage is defined as a thick soup or stew of vegetables.

So, is he unfamiliar with the story of Esau and Jacob or does he just think that defining the word "pottage" gives more context to the quotation?