Nothing personal, but the Mouse must die. Oh wait, it is personal, especially for people with little kids who this giant corporation has targeted at the behest of the minority of blue-haired, nose-ringed strange-os in its employ. That Walt Disney is likely turning over in his cryogenic chamber beneath the Disneyland Castle is irrelevant. The man who created an American institution is gone, as is said American institution. It’s now a global institution, and the America part is vastly outweighed by the Chi Com component. We used to trust Disney to take care of our kids, not take them over. Well, it made its choice, and it’s time to make ours.
The Republicans must figuratively post Mickey’s soon-to-be public domain head on a pike. This is what happens to corporations that cross us.
And cross us Disney did. It did not have to stick Donald’s beak into Florida’s fight to keep grooming perverts from messing with first graders’ heads. But stick it did, mewling and howling about the unfairness of Ron DeSantis taking the bullseye off our little ones. It promised to use its power to change the law, not just by advocacy but with contributions and veiled threats to pack up and go.
To which Ron the Avenger replied, “Pack your Schiff.”
DeSantis understands the use of power. He’s got it. Disney thought it did. But what Disney really has is a vast array of special breaks that helped make it the hulking monopolistic monstrosity that it is today. Look at Disney World in Orlando, a zillion-dollar resort city made possible by a huge spate of special laws that effectively make it a government unto itself. And look at the copyright laws – Mickey should have fallen out of protection decades ago, but the expiration of the 1920s cartoon rodent IP just kept being pushed back by Congress. It is now going to be open season on Mickey in 2024 unless another extension gets granted.
It better not be.
Once, it was understandable, if a bit cronyish, that Disney got what it wanted from various governmental entities. Disney was, well, Disney. Disney World was a place Republican senators loved to take their grandkids to as much as anyone else. And if expanding copyright periods let them keep Mickey in the cage, sure. Disney was beloved. It was trusted. We all grew up on it.
And then Disney treated decades of trust like Pluto the dog treats a fire hydrant.
Disney used its power not for good but for evil. And, more specifically, to screw with us normal people who don’t think sex pests should get free access to school kids. And then threaten us with its power.
No.
Not even.
DeSantis should strip Disney of its special bequests in Florida. It’s not like Disney can move its city elsewhere. Congress should laugh Disney’s lobbyists out of the Capitol when they come begging for a new copyright dispensation. And we should not be shy about letting Disney know why.
You screwed with us. Now you have to pay.
For too long, conservatives did the bidding of the big corporations. But until recently, the big corporations generally used their political power only to carve out special breaks and deals. That was kind of obnoxious, but we were not the target. Corporations rarely dared turn their power on us on social issues. That was the deal.
Then they broke the deal. They decided to take a side against us. Disney was not alone. Now even Oreo is trying to sell us cookies with creamy woke filling. Unacceptable. Now they must pay.
Some conservatives cry out about the unfairness of the government acting against a company for using its power to affect politics and the culture. But our power is through the government and the politicians we elect. We are not morally obligated to be powerless in order to satisfy ideological stickler’s arbitrary dictates. Why does Disney get to use its power, but we cannot? How is that right or fair?
Now, the arrangement before was that we would not use our political power against companies, but also that companies like Disney would not use their power against us. Disney changed the rules. Why are we somehow obligated to pretend that never happened and that the old rules are still in effect?
Well, we aren’t. While David French might not like it, we are never going to accept being told, “We are going to use our political and cultural power to promote the sexualization of children, but you are morally foreclosed by using the one tool you have to stop it.”
Of course, we certainly encourage Disney to whine about how we are being mean by responding to its attack on our kids, but only so we can laugh at it.
Disney picked this fight, and luckily we had Ron DeSantis instead of a Kristi Noem or an Asa Hutchinson there to defend what is right against the Chamber of Commerce contingent that never met a big corporation it didn’t slobber over. The GOP needs to understand that big corporations have thrown in their lot with the enemy and that the old rules that once held us back are canceled, repealed, and kaput.
It is time to use our political power to deny those who side against us the breaks and benefits that used to be available when the corporations were culturally neutral. Let them beg the Democrats – hell, they give Dems all their money nowadays, so they might as well get something for it. And to those reticent about flexing our muscles, here’s the thing – the corporations taking aim at our kids are getting off lucky. Ron DeSantis could be passing the “Informed Resort Customer Information Act” requiring that any company cavorting with the Chi Coms disclose in every theater and resort with big signs “XXXXX Company does business with the genocidal communist Chinese regime.”
Come to think of it, he should do that too. And other corporations, take note. Next November, the party of people you have been screwing with will have majorities in both houses.
Hey, aren’t those old rules looking good right about now?
