IHOP Cheesecake-Pancake Stackers: Apocalypse Now?

Are you the type of person who thinks this stack lacks cheesecake?

​International House of Pancakes has jumped into the disgusting food combo sweepstakes with a new Pancake Stacker consisting of a crustless cheesecake between two buttermilk pancakes -- topped with strawberry, blueberry, or cinnamon apple compote and whipped topping. You can order it a la carte or as part of a combo with eggs, hash browns, and breakfast meat. That combo meal runs 1,250 calories -- half the total calories adults should eat all day, and double that of KFC'S horrid Double Down chicken sandwich (540 calories). It also includes 2,750 milligrams of sodium; The Institute of Medicine recommends adults not exceed 2,300 milligrams per day. The pancakes will be available through June 20 at participating IHOPs -- which includes most if not all of the Miami and Miami Beach locations. The price is $3.99, with tax $4.35.

Seems as though American gastronomy is following the path of American politics: A disappearing middle ground drowned out by passionate spokespeople with starkly opposite viewpoints.

On the one hand, you've got the Double Down/Pancake Stacker/fast food/agri-corporate/ Meatist/more-is-more/quantity-over-quality bacon wing. On the other hand, you've got the Alice Waters/Michael Pollan/Whole Foods/organic back-to-the-earth sustainable raw vegan less-is-more/quality over quantity soy milk fringe. And political preferences tend to be predictive of how one feels about food: Most in the healthful eating group tend to be politically progressive; those who like to stuff their faces with greasy crap tend to be politically...um, not progressive (this latter part of the claim admittedly including many many millions of exceptions). Read into it what you will.