FAKE CONSERVATIVES EMBRACE CANCEL CULTURE

    So we suppose that everyone has heard how the Media Cartels are blacklisting Dilbert Comics author Scott Adams and censoring popular novelists like Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming. It shouldn't surprise anybody when the Whacko Left Wing does anything like this. They've been building up to this for a long time and it's only going to get worse. 

   Since the Putsch of 2020, the Neocon Right has tried to absorb elements of the 'Alt-Right' into mainstream Republican politics as a way of isolating the pro-Trump elements while maintaining the illusion that they really are different from the Left. As we've said all along: both the Neocons and the Alt-Right are not Conservatives: they are the Reactionary Left. They're actually more dangerous to Democracy that the real Left, because they often hide their anti-freedom agendas behind facades of concepts which are actually good things: faith, family, freedom, patriotism, free market, etc., while the real Left is open about its revolutionary intentions. Both Bush Administrations and Congresses led by the likes of Trent Lott and Mitch McConnell are recent historical examples of what happens when these types actually get into power. So far from defending the Constitution, they sliced it to ribbons and entrenched the Deep State even further. They got away with it, too, because too many so-called 'Conservatives' actually agree with their agendas, and like to hide behind the same cloak to carry out crimes that they'd never get away with in a transparent and democratic society based in the Rule of Law and personal responsibility. 

    Many on the Right---well-meaning but naive---are hoping that the Deep State is somehow going to allow the President-in-Exile to return in a fair election in 2024. I think that President Trump actually believes this himself. The problem is that---like many of his generation---Trump is living in a political climate shaped by Nixon's speeches about "the Silent Majority" and Reagan's discourses on "the Big Tent." They are correct in their faith in our system, but they don't realize that the sociopolitical landscape has changed radically since the 1970s and 1980s. Since King George announced the New World Order in 1990, the American people have mostly been governed by an every man for himself mentality: punctuated by 'woke' Liberals who want change for the sake of change, and selfish Conservatives who want to protect their own enterprises at any cost. These compete against a backdrop of a 'silent majority' which is too drugged-out and distracted to care one way or another about the future and a tiny handful of financial and economic powers which actually run the whole show and laugh in their sleeves at all of it. 

   Nonetheless, the President-in-Exile's followers present a problem for the Elites. They haven't forgotten 2016 when they grossly overestimated their ability to manipulate the public; which led to 2020 when they had to expose themselves more openly and expend considerable effort in Public-Relations and Damage Control to deal with the problem. Since then, the Elites have been propping up stalking-horse candidates on the Right who combine Bush Machine Corporate Fascism with Alt-Right faux populism. In Virginia, this gave us Glenn Youngkin. Since 2022, however, the leader of the Bush Pack seems to be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

      With the aid of Madison Avenue shylocks, DeSantis has engaged in numerous publicity stunts and self-serving propaganda that's been capturing headlines both the MSM and Controlled Opposition Press. Tuesday he was in the headlines again; this time centring on his ongoing (and largely ineffectual) feud with the Disney Corporation. 

     The backdrop to this story is that the State of Florida granted a section of land to the Disney Corporation in the mid-1960s when Disney World sought to built a second theme park. The jurisdiction was about the size of a county and Disney paid all of the property taxes and administration of the area, which now has a small town or two there. Disney recently opposed some of DeSantis' policies, and like any good Liberal, the Governor immediately sought out revenge. The focus of his ire became the land ceded to Disney and he determined to strip Disney of the property (the fact that many of his donors are developers assuredly had nothing to do with it). 

    So, the outcome came out today, as reported by Politico, was this: "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday appointed members to a new board that oversees much of Disney World’s operations, settling a long-running conflict with the entertainment giant over Florida’s 'Don’t Say Gay' law. DeSantis announced the five appointees, all political donors and loyalists, at a ceremony where he signed legislation that, in large part, creates a board to run the special district that previously granted Disney a wide range of freedom to self-govern... 'There is a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day,' DeSantis said at a press conference in the special district in Lake Buena Vista, Florida."

   Now it's time for an impromptu quiz. Conservatives please take a moment to reflect and see what is wrong with that picture.

      OK, there are several things wrong with it, but if we play a little game of Word Substitution, everyone will see the main problem.

      "Gov. Jack A. Woke on Monday appointed members to a new board that oversees much of Chick-Fil-A’s operations, settling a long-running conflict with the company over its opposition to homo equality laws. Woke announced the five appointees, all political donors and loyalists, at a ceremony where he signed legislation that, in large part, creates a board to run the special district that previously granted Chick-Fil-A a wide range of freedom to self-govern... 'There is a new sheriff in town and political correctness will be the order of the day,' Woke said at a press conference in the special district in San Francisco's Tenderloin Neighborhood."

    If that were the story, there would be no question about it. 

1.) The residents of this community had no say in either the decision to abolish the district or choose its leaders;

2.) Setting up a political inquisition board over a private company's ideology is hardly consistent with Free Market economics;

3.) It's about as blatant an example of 'Cancel Culture' as anything dreamed up by the Left---at least the Left confines itself mostly to boycotts and media campaigns. The only thing comparable is some of the strong-arm tactics engaged in by BlackRock, and even that is, at least, nominally not government-enforced.

  The article states that Disney is not going to challenge the decision, and why should they? They just got a massive property tax cut and relived of a huge and expensive holding that they haven't known what to do with since they got it. DeSantis thinks that he's going to get Disney to pay some sort of 'reparations' (another real Conservative concept---not) which will never be enforced since it amounts to an ex post facto law. Disney, incidentally, hasn't shown any signs that it's any less woke today than it was last week; and their Board is probably doing high-fives over this unexpected windfall and the free publicity. 

   "State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat who has been a leading critic of the changes, blasted the new board. 'It’s absolutely wild to see a self-proclaimed capitalist like DeSantis celebrate the government takeover of a private board which is exactly what the governor did today,' she said. She specifically noted that Garcia’s company gave $50,000 to DeSantis and his name appeared on records tied to the administration’s search for local state attorneys who espouse progressive political beliefs. The search ultimately led to the suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren. 'It’s important to note that the bulk of today’s appointees are extreme and political donors,' Eskamani added."

   I hate it when I have to agree with a Democrat, and this is not even the first time in DeSantis' case. 

   How would a real Conservative deal with Disney? One way might be to start enforcing antitrust laws against Media Cartels like Disney is part of. Another might be to encourage Florida's tourism industry by giving incentives to competitors who might offer more family-friendly entertainment. Florida voters might want to consider sending representatives to Congress who fight to abolish Corporate lobbying, unlike those prize RINOs, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.  

   But, nobody foresees any of that happening. Competition would cut into Disney's profit-margins, which more than a few Conservatives have an investment. Competing theme parks might cut into the rising property values in Florida. Of course, parents could do things like boycotting Disney; but since the 90s we all have taken the it takes a village approach, and it's easier just to have the Government take charge; we just need "a new sheriff in town" to police what our kids do and think rather than taking any actual responsibility for it ourselves. 

   As we've said since 2020, we need to be thinking more in terms of building a counter-culture and parallel communities outside of the Mainstream and stop looking for these phony political messiahs who are going to come in and fix everything for us. If that were realistically possible, Trump would be in the third year of his second term right now. We need to focus on the long-term future and not on these quick-fixes offered by Alt-Rino charlatans.