"Sudden thoughts and second thoughts..."
(That phrase originated I believe with a Philadelphia Inquirer code sports, columnist named Bill Lyons, who use that title for his Saturday column of short vignettes and pithy sayings. The problem was that he did not annotate the pithy sayings and many people believed he wrote them himself instead of his obvious opening and copying of Bartlett’s Quotations. I wrote him a letter, a friendly letter, to this effect, and I do believe that that was one of the reasons he stopped utilizing this methodology for quickly writing his Saturday column.
So by way of a long explanation, I gave a reference his column, and gave credit where credit was due.)
As I was driving in this morning, I was listening to Joe and Mika, the happy couple, discussing DeSantis and Disney and I couldn’t help but think that in my 70+ years of existence, there are very few companies fundamental to American culture. Most of the publishing houses as I knew them have disappeared or been absorbed, there are a few movie studios , such as MGM, Paramount, Columbia, and a few others. Many industrial companies which were part of the American Culture have vanished or been absorbed, the one which always amazes me is Westinghouse, which was gigantic in its day. When I was young, Americans would refer to some of these behemoths as the substructure and well and underpinnings of the society.
I would venture to say that the number of Americans who have not been affected and to a fair extent shaped by the Disney corporation in some fashion during their lifetimes approaches zero. Whether it be their theme parks for these recent generations, the TV show, the cartoons, the movies, which, even if dated are classic, not to say incredibly innovative, and I’m not even going to refer to the companies of which Disney is a parent such as ABC Broadcasting. By attacking Disney, what the DeSantis group has done is hacked away at the underpinnings of our collective civilization. For those of us born after 1940, the present day Disney is and will remain a monumental fixture in the culture of this country. What the radical conservative movement however is attempting to do is to destroy America as we know it and that includes annihilating the popular culture which has evolved and replacing it with God only knows what. The Disney corporation is the most prominent and powerful of this foundation.
I am not singing the praises of Disney, I have never been to one of the theme parks, because I refuse to be Economically exploited in that fashion, a relative of mine, retired as a very high, ranking member of the Disney family of executives and is somewhat cynical about the leadership, and I have taken issue with many of the stereotypes as they were presented over the years. Of course, these were the common stereotypes of the civilization at the time which were reflected in popular culture. The gestalt here is the reflection of America as portrayed in the Disney companies output. DeSantis and Company wish to erase all of this and bring the equivalent of the Fourth Reich to America.
I can only hope and metaphorically pray that the young people in America realize what these people are trying to do to them, and rise up in every way, including electorally, and defeat this monster which is in my opinion, best characterized by the Blob in the old Steve McQueen movie from the 50s. It seems to gain energy from everything it touches, and yet can be defeated by freezing. (Of course, at the end of the film, they drop the remnants into the Arctic and it says “The End” on the screen with a big “?” If I recall correctly.) The republican party Has been pronounced dead numerous times in my lifetime only to arise with greater impetus and popularity. The next 5 to 7 years may tell all, at least for now. And then again, even if defeated, it will rise simply because fascism is the preferred method of governance for a fair percentage of any population, no matter what the prevailing humanitarian, intellectual, or political opinions may be.
The other day I was speaking to someone who is like-minded, and I said to her that I believe this country was torn beyond repair and whatever winds up being reconstituted will not resemble the nation into which we were born. She, being a thoughtful, optimistic, somewhat religious person, said “I think that we have a chance to repair this disaster, and I hope and pray that we do.” I replied, “I wish I could share your optimism, I really do, but we seem to have so much ingrained hatred and resentment of what the United States really is that it will be nearly impossible to continue with that which I have termed “the Norman Rockwell illusion”. She shook her head sadly.
What we really require is the equivalent of the deus ex machina. Perhaps a Disney movie could provide some inspiration. That is if Governor DeSantis permits it to be made.
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