My daughter Karen became enthralled with the Food Network decades ago, but it took me until the past few years to become similarly hooked!

While I usually don’t like food competitions because most competitors on Iron Chef America or Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives or Beat Bobby Flay, etc., are so equally talented that it actually hurts when one sumptuous dish wins out over another mouthwatering entry. But this is what gets ratings. Oh well.

Among the things that attract me to these programs are:

1. The interesting “characters” who chose to create appetizing food as their life’s work, most of them tattooed from head to toe, and one of them with blue hair!

2. The almost-impossible challenges the hosts “cook” up.

3. The impressive credentials of not only the contestants but also the judges, many of whom have been awarded the prestigious James Beard Award, written multiple best-selling cookbooks, and run several high-end restaurants of their own both here in America and abroad.

But what rivets me the most are the ingredients!

Who would think of combining mango with feta cheese, of adding lavender to a salad, of throwing a chili pepper into bolognese sauce, of mixing pound cake squares into a fruit compote, or black garlic into pasta? You’ve gotta love it!

RELEVANCE?

It must be why I’m so intrigued by the ingredients that make up our body politic.

For instance, I can’t figure out what ingredient inhabits an aggressive capitalist who runs a thriving company or a successful medical practice or a promising startup, but who votes for Democrat candidates, almost all of whom detest capitalism! It is necessary to mention, however, that many of those candidates are proudly and unapologetically immensely wealthy themselves.

This appears to be yet another variation on the snobbish “good for me but not for thee” meme.

What ingredient inhabits an educated Democrat who has studied the history of our country, including the Emancipation Proclamation, but still thinks that the Democratic Republic we live in is “unfair” to regular working-class citizens in spite of the mountain of benefits and support every such needy citizen receives?

This appears to be yet another variation on the Democrats’ attempt to conceal the real modus vivendi of the Democrat Party’s rancid driving philosophy: The victims vs. the victimizers!

What ingredient compels most Democrats to revile the U.S. Constitution and throw their full support––and money––to radical, hate-America groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter when they all know the Democrat Party is the most racist organization in America!

This is clearly a case where Democrats have elevated amnesia to an art form, conveniently forgetting that Democrats opposed the abolition of slavery, were key participants in creating the Ku Klux Klan and the Jim Crow laws, and steadfastly voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Acts of 1968, and the Equal Opportunity Act of 1972?

Oh, not to omit the fact that then-Senator Joe Biden gave an impassioned eulogy-cum-hagiography for his good friend, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, who had been a high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan––Exalted Cyclops and Kleagle – and had also recruited 150 of his friends to start a new KKK chapter, as well as using the N-word on live television in 2001.

And now we have not only one or two or three elected officials in the highest seats of the United States government proudly and aggressively throwing their impassioned support to the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah, who have waged a truly genocidal war—it’s in their public statements and their Charters for decades—against our longtime and faithful ally, Israel….the ONLY democracy in the entire Middle East.

WHAT WE WITNESS EVERY DAY

There are certain Democrat ingredients that are displayed every day––on TV, radio, the print media––and all we need is our own eyes and ears to witness.

• Consistent negativity. The sky is always falling, the glass is always half empty, the worst is right around the corner, and there are victims––of racism, sexism, economic injustice, etc.––literally littering the landscape.

• Dependence on Big Government. In short, Democrats at heart are really needy and scared children who feel at a loss to function adequately in the adult world, so they project their longing to be taken care of onto people they believe have the same infantile needs, offering them care and support––provided by taxpayers––from cradle to grave.

• Behaving like infants/children. Democrats are known for their frequent temper tantrums, spewing obscenities and vulgarities at public rallies, and the arch example of a pure lack of class (and the behavior of an angry child), Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s tearing up Pres. Trump 45’s State of the Union speech in front of the entire world.

• Anger on Parade. When was the last time anyone, anywhere, saw or heard a Democrat not angry or aggrieved about something? This is because they believe that America is too strong, too rich, too powerful, and therefore the envy of the rest of the world. This is why Democrats hate strength and wealth and power… except if they’re the beneficiaries!

• Jealousy is humankind’s second-strongest emotion, after fear. This is why Democrats invented the Cancel Culture, because they are simply jealous not only of Conservative influence and success, but particularly President Trump 47’s crushing victory in 2024. And their irrational hatred of little, tiny thriving Israel––and Jews everywhere––well if that ain’t jealousy, nothing is!

• Victims R Us. To liberals/leftists/progressives, the world is comprised of helpless victims and cruel victimizers (read Conservatives), only to be saved by compassionate Democrats. To this end, they have rejected the values of accountability and the central role of law and order in society instead of Big Government dependency.

• Conceit is a central ingredient, the notion that they, liberals, are morally and intellectually superior to those cruel people––read adults––who set limits, demand accountability, expect empirical results, fight their enemies, and also make judgments about what is good and bad and right and wrong.

• Intolerance has become the calling card of Democrats who created the Cancel Culture, who refuse to engage in civilized debate, who introduced the world to gratuitous insults, foot-stamping, routine vulgarities, and fantastical lies.

IS PTOMAINE POISONING REALLY ON THE MENU?

If the judges on the Food Network considered the ingredients of today’s Democrats––liberals/leftists/progressives––I’m guessing that they would not hesitate to recognize the toxic nature of all these ingredients, the danger they posed to the public, and the need to reject them out of hand.

No doubt, the American public will be as smart in throwing all the Democrat bums out of office in the midterms on November 3, 2026, and voting in the MAGA candidates who are continuing to make America genuinely Great Again, Safer again, Saner again!

Joan Swirsky is a New York–based journalist and author. Her website is www.joanswirsky.com, and she can be reached at joanswirsky@gmail.com.

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