OPINION:
While the country drowns in Democratic hypocrisy on everything ranging from the open border to the economy to crime and the collapsing stability of the international order, there’s something about how tightly unhinged leftists hang on to their hate.
Despite the disasters unfolding, their hatred of conservatives and their obsession with rage and destruction has become an existential binky.
The most recent case in point is brought to us by the Penzeys Spices controversy. This is the spice company owned and run by Bill Penzey Jr., a hate-filled man who decided mixing leftist political vitriol and smears would be a good business plan.
He’s finding out that’s not necessarily the case.
Mr. Penzey sent a rambling missive to his company’s list of customers declaring Martin Luther King Jr. Day as “All Republicans Are Racist” Day. Somewhat ironic considering King’s message of hope and unity.
He wrote in part: “Remember how Republicans, going against a mountain of evidence to the contrary, once again lied and said BLM wasn’t a peaceful movement, but instead terrorists inciting violence throughout the country and then raced out to buy a crapload of guns because maybe they were finally going to get their chance to shoot a Black person? What a bunch of racists.”
This was his pitch as he promoted three spices and a sheet of Black Lives Matter stickers.
The response was at least 40,000 customers abandoning his list and Mr. Penzey resorting to begging those who were left to buy gift certificates to make up for the loss.
And what are Mr. Penzey’s mottos throughout his website and on social media? Encouraging people to choose love and kindness. You can’t make it up. The company’s Facebook page is filled with pictures of hearts with messages about love and cooking. If a marketing strategy ever needed medication, this would be it.
One generous assessment is that Mr. Penzey was having a bad day.
But that’s not the case. For years his public marketing has been about disparaging Republicans and former President Donald Trump. He has spent over $750,000 in ads attacking Mr. Trump and supporting impeachment over the years.
With Mr. Trump not in power, what’s a hater to do? Switch to Republicans in general!
We can’t be sure about how many customers he actually lost, as we rely on his own statements. We know that over the last several years, he has closed at least 15 retail outlets.
Appealing to the worst in people may have worked for him briefly as the Democrats had their meltdowns over Mr. Trump. But times are different now as Americans across the spectrum are suffering through the shocking catastrophes brought to us by Democrats who promised a “return to normalcy.“
Americans, in general, are tired of the hate and demonizing, especially when people are using it to gain something for themselves.
Disgusted by the hateful approach, The Daily Mail reported the reaction of some Democrats who posted comments on the company website:
“‘I’m a Democrat and liberal, and all that, and I know not all Republicans are racist. I think this is going a bit too far with the generalizations,’ one customer wrote on the Penzeys website. Another said: ‘I am a Democrat. But, I find this bad business.’”
The newspaper also noted this remark from a state politician: “Republican Wisconsin State Senator Julian Bradley slammed the company, telling FOX 6 News, ‘Penzeys has been grifting off terrible political takes and low name-calling for a decade, so the reporters will give them free media. These lies are news?’”
With the BLM scandal of millions of dollars unaccounted for while leadership buys millions in real estate and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s astounding stock market success and the Biden’s questionable income sources, it’s not unusual for liberals to monetize their hate and influence. But something else may be afoot with Mr. Penzey. His rage moves into an area that crime shows call “overkill,” indicating something more personal is at issue.
In 2016 Rod Dreher at The American Conservative was reporting on another screed of Penzeys and discovered Mr. Penzey’s parents had left the original family spice business to his sister Pam and her husband, apparently leaving Bill Jr. out in the cold. “The Spice House” company is Penzys primary competition. It manages its successful business with great products, actual kindness and genuine appreciation.
We don’t know the politics of the Spice House purveyors, and that’s a good thing. I can tell you, however, Mr. Dreher reported as an update after his 2016 article on Penzeys had posted: “The Spice House folks have kindly written to invite this blog’s readers to become new customers …”
That’s the way to run a business. At this point, Mr. Penzey might want to consider mixing up a spice called “Apologies and Regrets.”
• Tammy Bruce, the author, host at Fox Nation and contributor at Fox News, is a radio talk-show host.
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