It is a familiar pattern. Media outlets pick sides in a legal dispute and then distort the merits of the claims in favor of that party. In the fight between Disney and Florida, the media not only misrepresented a popular Florida parental rights bill (including falsely calling it the “Don’t Say Gay” law) but heralded Disney’s decision to enter the political fray to oppose the law. It then portrayed Disney’s legal moves to block state efforts to regain regulatory control over the company as brilliant and overwhelming. Some of us disagreed on all of those points, including the prospects of Disney’s ill-considered litigation strategy. Last week, that strategy collapsed with a settlement in which Disney decided to just “Let it go” and these same media outlets simply shrugged and moved on.
In a raw muscle play, Disney had its hand-picked board (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) effectively transfer authority to the company just before it was disbanded. Many in the media were thrilled by the move despite the unlikelihood of its being sustained legally.
As I wrote at the time, it would be ridiculous for a court to rule that a company could stop a state from removing special treatment for a corporation like Disney. Even as the company racked up losses in court, the media and legal experts heralded its brilliance and toughness.
In the meantime, as Disney itself admitted that it was losing money due to its political agenda, the media heaped praise on the corporation.
When it came to the lawsuits, the media portrayed the moves as brilliant and mocked Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., as outgunned as some of us struggled with how Disney could possibly prevail in the long term.
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd insisted that Republicans had “better be careful going after Disney.” MSNBC host and former 2020 Biden campaign aide Symone Sanders-Townsend agreed and said “Oh, my money’s on the Disney lobbyists, honey. My money is on the Disney lobbyists.”
On a “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough insisted “you can’t beat Disney.” MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch agreed: DeSantis is “fighting a fight he can’t win, and this, to me, is a precursor of him on a bigger national stage. And he’s just stupid. It’s a stupid, stupid play.”
Vox wrote that “Disney is proving to be the foe that will not die.” Another Vox headline read “How Disney just beat Ron DeSantis.”
The problem is that Disney was never winning, but viewers were not told that. The company was gushing money while losing in court. In the end, the Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act continued to garner overwhelming support in the state. DeSantis wrestled control away from Disney’s handpicked board and now Disney has dropped its challenge after suffering a series of losses in court. The Florida changes will be enforced, the new board will continue to regulate Disney, and the transferred authority from Disney’s board is null and void. So what did Disney gain?
The response from the media? Crickets.
For Disney’s part, it spent millions of dollars, alienated millions of customers, and created precedent against itself. It literally achieved nothing material from its litigation against the state beyond driving up its own costs and reinforcing the regulatory authority against the company. It then walked away.
The order from the top was clear, if belated:
Let it go, let it goCan’t hold it back anymoreLet it go, let it goTurn away and slam the door
The media long ago stopped reporting on the news. It seeks to shape the news, and more importantly, elections.
It was never designed to withstand scrutiny, for the Left to support a major corporation to be free of state regulation and taxation, and to simply oversee itself. Obviously, this makes no sense to the generally anticapitalist Left. Voters, however, have become trained to accept double standards, and apply selective amnesia, to the point that cognitive dissonance comes naturally.
Likewise, it makes no sense to claim that the Jan 6 protest against election interference, that turned into a riot, was an attempt to overthrow the entire country. It makes no sense that the nationwide riots, arson, and the anarchist CHOP/CHAZ, should be ignored, while all Republicans should be called “insurrectionists” because of Jan 6. It is absurd that Democrats deny every election they lost, but Republicans are “election deniers” and a “threat to democracy” if they claim election interference.
None of this is meant to make sense. It’s just a prompt for Democrats to repeat talking points, and angrily rebuff critics who ask them to make it makes sense.
Karen S said: “The media long ago stopped reporting on the news. It seeks to shape the news, and more importantly, elections.”
I think that it is important to remember that this kind of behavior on the part of media, while it may be nearing a recent peak, and may be more coordinated amongst media outlets than in the past, is nothing new. In 1898, Joseph Pulitzer and WIlliam Randolph Hearst successfully instigated the Spanish American War by means of inflammatory headlines (“Remember the Maine”) mischaracterizing the sinking of the US battleship Maine in Havana harbor from what is now firmly believed to be an accidental shipboard explosion, as a deliberate attack and act of war by Spain.
Yes, absolutely, propaganda has always been utilized. I would say perhaps with the internet, the scope and pervasiveness of propaganda has exponentially increased, and false message can proliferate with lightening rapidity.
I believe it was Winston Churchill who said, “The truth can get halfway around the world before the truth has the chance to get its pants on.” That’s never been more true that today.
In the past, some media outlets made great effort to give impartial news reports. Nothing but the news. Certainly, there were people seeking to put their thumb on the scale, which is exactly what straight news would have reported.
There is little straight news today.
Speaking of Don’t Say Gay – apparently President Biden did not know that he declared Sunday Tranny Worship Day, or whatever!
Point in case, when asked about proclaiming Easter Sunday “trans day of visibility,” Biden flat out denied it.
“I didn’t do that,” Biden reportedly said when asked about the proclamation, RealClear Politics’ Philip Wegmann reports.
When asked about Speaker Johnson’s claim that he had, Biden replied, “he’s thoroughly uninformed.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-didnt-do-biden-reportedly-has-no-idea-he-issued-trans-day-visibility-proclamation
He may have meant that he did not decide to have it coincide with Easter. It’s been March 31 since first declared in 2010, and Biden didn’t do that. The proclamation just recognised an already scheduled day. I don’t know if there is a proclamation every year, but if there is, then Biden’s response was a fair one.
“. . . a proclamation every year . . .”
The *first* such presidential proclamation was in 2021, by Biden. For some reason, his administration felt a need to reissue that proclamation every year since then.
“The standard definition of Easter is that it’s the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, then Easter is the next Sunday.”
Royal Observatory
Greenwich, U.K.
Gotta love our pagan roots.
Jonathan: It must be one of your pranks on this April Fools day–trying to convince us that one questionable poll in the Washington Times is proof of “overwhelming support” for DeSantis’s fight with Disney.
I say a “questionable poll” because the WT is not noted for its objective reporting. It is a tabloid, like the NY Post, which you also often quote, that has a long history of hyping stories, shoddy reporting and failures to correct errors. The poll you cite was conducted by Robert Blizzard, a self-identified GOP pollster. Even assuming the accuracy of Blizzard’s poll, it was taken just a month after DeSantis signed the bill. Just one snapshot in time because more recent polls show a quite different picture.
For example, the FL Sun Sentinel cited a poll in mid-2023 showing 43% of FL voters opposed the governor’s fight with Disney. It is Dems who overwhelmingly oppose DeSantis and his fight with Disney. A survey of nationwide polls shows DeSantis’s approval rating was at its highest in Jan. 2023 with a 46.7% approval. Since then his approvals have gone down. An ABC/Ipsos poll in early Jan. of this year shows DeSantis with a 48% unfavorable rating. Other nationwide polls show similar results.
So trying to make the case that DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda has “overwhelming support” in FL and around the country is just an April Fools joke. Right?
Sorry Dennis – it is NOT one poll.
Disney has REALLY lost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Anheiser Bush may not have gone bankrupt – but they have lost a fortune that they are never getting back.
Plannet Fitness lost $400M is a few days.
This is NOT about LGBTQ+ – it is very much about pissing people off by sexualizing their children.
NO you many not “trans the kinds”.
Sleep with whoever you please. Dress however you please, take whatever pills and surgery you wish.
But do not attempt to inflict your delusional nonsense on other peoples children.
Yes, overwhelming majorities of people oppose that.
I do not care if you want to F#$K rabbits (with their consent),
Do not do it infront of other peoples kids.
Super majorities of people have problems with that.
We do not allow teachers to show “Deep Throat” to 3rd graders.
Conduct that the majority of us may support as your right in private,
almost none of us support when you start doing it to our kids.
Hear, hear!
YOur ranting about polls – aparently every poll you do not like is somehow biased.
You seem to be oblivious to the fact that few pollsters – left or right actually deliberately seek to produce polls that are WRONG.
Blizzard is paid to do polling. Just like McDonalds is paid for hamburgers.
If McDonalds sells hamburgers that taste like dog schiff – no one will buy them.
If Blizzard produces polls that persuade politicians that positions that are unpopular – aren’t – those politicians LOSE at the poll that counts the most, and Blizzard does not get hired in the future.
If As you claim DeSantis is out of touch with the people of Florida – he would have soundly lost the 2022 election.
If as you and myriads of legal commentors that Turley is Gleefully telling “I Told You So” in this post
were not shoveling legal schiff – Disney would not have “settled” – or more accurately phrase “capitulated”
Disney has taken an unpopular stance – which has cost them BILLIONS.
They have also been deluded – like you into believing that a privilege was a right, that could not be taken away.
Estimates are that error will cost them Trillions over the course of a decade.
And you are not honest enough to admit you got this wrong.
This is NOT an LGBTQ+…. issue.
This is not a free speech issue.
The courts, voters and disney’s customers have weighed in – we do not want those of you on the nutjob left sexualizing our kids.
That is NOT free speech. That is child abuse. That is Peodophilia. That is not about LGBTQ+ rights that is a about perversion.
You are free to do as you wish with other consenting adults in private.
You are NOT free to sexually propagandize other peoples children against the will of their parents.
It is a legitimate right of states to protect children from peodophiles.
Gay or straight or Trans – you MAY NOT perve the kids.
That is not free speech.
That is not freedom.
Opposing it is not anti-LGBTQ+
It is anti-child abuse.
John Say: Sorry, but book banning is a quintessential “free speech” issue. A good comparison is what happened in Nazi Germany. Books were not only banned but burned by the Nazis in public ceremonies–books that did reflect Nazi propaganda. It has always been the practice of authoritarian regimes–try to control the minds of citizens by controlling what they read. But you seem to think the same practice here is OK.
Here’s another example of how book banning is so pernicious and why it ultimately fails. When I was about 12 or 13 my male friends and I got copies of “Playboy” and other books with explicit sexual content. Our parents tried to stop that by confiscating the material we were voraciously reading. Didn’t stop us because we always found a way to read what appealed to us. It wasn’t “perversion”. It was just what heterosexual boys do as they reach puberty.
It’s no different today when 12 or 13 yr. old boys recognize they are gay. They want to read books with gay themes –books that confirm their own identity. But in FL school districts they can’t find books that appeal to their interests. Doesn’t stop them so they go to book stores or online to read and buy what interests them. It’s a futile exercise to ban books. It usually results in the opposite effect!
But you seem to think banning books with LGBTQ+ themes is acceptable. That’s because you want to exaggerate and distort the issue. You falsely claim that books with those themes is “sexualizing our kids”, it’s “child abuse”, it’s “Peodophilia”(sic), it’s “perversion”.
You are the one with a perverted view of what it means to be gay or lesbian. You seem to think LGBTQ+ identity is just a “life style” that can be prevented. That’s contrary to the science and what we know from our own experiences. Gays and lesbians don’t “choose” to be who they are by reading books. The books they read with LGBTQ+ themes only confirm what they know already.
And it’s even more perverted for you to claim that the authors of LGBTQ+ themed books are “pedophiles” who are out to “convert” kids at an early age. The authors of these books aren’t trying to “convert” anyone. They are simply writing books for kids who have already “come out”, telling them about their own experiences and it’s Ok to be gay or lesbian. Anyone who has a gay or lesbian kid in the family, as I do, knows the truth you want to deny. You apparently don’t have a gay or lesbian member of your family. Otherwise, you wouldn’t make such spurious claims about people you know nothing about!
Dennis says some really smart things sometimes. HA, April Fools day!
Dennis looks at several polls to gauge their reliability and credibility. HA, April Fools day!
Dennis is able to ascertain political spin from reality. HA April Fools day!
Dennis seems to beleive that defaming the person conducting the poll, makes the facts that the polls measure go away.
This is one of many winning issues for republicans.
How can you tell that the polls are correct ?
Because republicans continue to push these issues.
Disney has been losing money for some time, as parents reject its woke agenda. Its movies keep bombing. I used to assume that any Disney movie would be kid friendly, but it’s been a long time since I have felt that way. Disney even managed to destroy the wildly popular Star Wars franchise, turning Luke Skywalker into a cowardly hermit. It has just been announced that Disney will reboot the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, without the beloved, iconic Captain Jack Sparrow, even after he narrowly escaped from a mad woman from Atlantis. I assume the next Captain will be non binary, or a woman with superhuman strength. They seem incapable of a single original thought, bent on checking boxes, either by rebooting beloved older movies, or new films that are like Mad Libs of far Left propaganda. Their movies are more lecture than entertainment.
Instead of recasting Scandinavian folklore as black, they should look to actual black history. How new and fresh to create movies on folklore from Africa. We had Moana, with some Polynesian folklore. Mulan of China. Instead of authentic black mythology, we have Black Panther, written by white guys, where superhuman female warriors wielding spears call firearms primitive. How about actual African and Caribbean folklore?
I read a series by Patricia Briggs, which regularly has just a bit of Native American mythology woven throughout, mainly through Old Man Coyote, as well as Fae mythology. How absolutely charming would it be to create movies faithful to this series of books? Since the main character, Mercy Thompson, is half Native, and half white, she doesn’t know her roots, so the books have an authentic reason to explore Native heritage, a trickle here, and a trickle there. The character Mercy broke cliched gender roles at a time when the message was, women can be dolled up and pretty, or work in traditionally male jobs, and both are perfectly acceptable. Mercy’s character rather accidentally became a VW mechanic, after her degree in history didn’t exactly launch a profitable career. She didn’t pick up a wrench and magically become proficient. She badly needed work, was taken pity on by the son of the owner of a shop, and began helping out under the tutelage of a very old German fae. She earned mechanical proficiency, and had trouble making ends meet like any business owner. She took karate for years, yet gets injured all the time in the series. If this series was written by AI today, Mercy would be trans, would easily be throwing men twice her size through doors, and would be preternaturally expert at automobiles repair the first time she entered a garage, assembling a Batmobile from a bucket of spare parts.
I am going to give you the benefit and infer that you don’t live in Florida and have never read either the Sun Sentinel or the Orlando Sentinel.
That family of papers makes Media Matters and Breitbart seem like unbiased publications
Steamboat Willie Diplomacy
@Darren
😂 Thanks for maintaining your sense of humor. It is much appreciated in this day and age. And thank you for taking such great care of the blog. I appreciate all of you.
thank you!
From over 20 years ago, but still a good analysis. Quo Vadis Disney (where are you going Disney)?
https://decentfilms.com/articles/quovadisdisney
In other news, the former head of Planet Fitness, reveals that a self-admitted pedophile is head of HR.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1773806864427348060
Next up for promotion and compulsory acceptance, NAMBLA!
It is kind of ironic when one thinks about the situation. Disney is one of the all time best when it comes to Fantasy. They have become so immersed in this world of fantasy that actually believed they could control a state. They even won according to the media and doing a remarkable job of standing up to the big bad right. However, we do not live within a fantasy world, but reality and reality made itself very apparent. Giving into Florida was the outcome, but losing money actually means more. NEVER MESS WITH THE MONEY MEN.
I personally will not criticize Disney for their film choices, I will leave that to the general public that has spoken quite loudly. But, I do offer this bit of wisdom. Do what you want, but remember you are nice, but not necessary. When you insult your customers, you just may lose them and some of them will not come back.
@Quiet Man
No, they *were* that; somewhere around 2008 they became something else entirely. Obviously a company needs to make money, but at the time they flew so in the face of what people wanted in a series of very bad corporate decisions designed to *tell* people what they wanted (boy did millennials, almost universally, at least in this strata, misunderstand the words of Steve Jobs back then 😐); Roy was not super terrific for the company in terms of relevancy, though they made a lot of money; Pixar, when it was still separate from Disney was spanking them, and rather than innovate and uplift, they did everything we are discussing, and after jobs died, they absorbed Pixar (which is why their most recent offerings suck, just like everything else Disney has done in the past 15 years). Another posted that this could be a master class in how to ruin a business or a legacy, and I agree completely. Stop hiring these fools, and absolutely stop putting them in prominent positions. Said it earlier, but if the Disney machine survives this, it will take an entire generation at least, to repair the damage done by a handful of entitled little sh**s with the right blood and connections and no self-awareness in their DNA whatsoever.
May this be the first of a great many smackdowns on the people that think they are untouchable. It is very sad to me that everything boils down to $$$ in the 21st century, but silicon Valley 2.0 kinda made that a foregone conclusion. The people on these boards don’t give a toss about our ethical concerns, only their bottom lines, and for these younger woke people to pretend they represent anything but filling coffers is extraordinary. Do you think Bud Light would have severed ties with Mulvaney had they not feared their brand was in peril of being obliterated (FYI: boycotts work), particularly ironic considering partnering with him made them think their braindead, millennial representatives thought it would encourage the same? There are too many issues to address from the past 30 years in this particular conversation, and all of them lead to the same place. Wake up, don’t woke up.
Disney earned every bit of this defeat, and I hope there are more to come. If they manage to survive, it’ll take a generation for them to repair their reputation. I have to say: I was involved in a project with one of their subsidiaries just before certain management decisions were made, and virtually *everything* that was on the docket was cancelled in favor of the beginnings of the woke catastrophe; this is karma in so, so many ways, and it goes back at least 15 years at this point. I personally think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of wokeness as a plague, and in the future those involved will pretend that it never happened or they were not a part of it, just like former members of the National Front try to do in Britain and elsewhere. We didn’t *quite* get to the point of the former Nazi sympathizers, but we were/are damned close.
I posted an opinion regarding the definition of woke indoctrination earlier; it may not be explicit fascism, but it is most certainly what LEADS to fascism, as history has recorded, time and time again.
Disney surrendered. The State of Florida won. All the quibbling trollery does not change that.
I asked this question in my earlier post.
Why did they go woke.
Well… I think it gets back to the idea that there are two types of adults that want to work for Disney.
Pedophiles or the LGBT community that like to live in make believe fairy tale world.
I’m sure that there are others… but you get the idea.
And over time… they influenced their corporate policies.
-G
Well… I think it gets back to the idea that there are two types of adults that want to work for Disney.
Pedophiles or the LGBT community that like to live in make believe fairy tale world.
I go back to something I read ~ 5 years ago.
Very early on, Shakespeare, and before, entertainers, those traveling troupes, were largely homosexuals and whores. Its hard to look back over the last 500 -700 years of history and not see this truism. Even today, the decadence exhibited to those in the entertainment industry is in clear view.
You know it’s a bad day for free speech when a left-wing Trump hater is set to deliver anti-Trump remarks on a college campus, and is effectively cancelled because even farther-left-wing protesters heckle him and won’t let him speak.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/2947291/when-a-difficult-conversation-threatens-free-speech/
One more reason it’s a bad day for free speech: In Scotland you’re now guilty of a criminal offense – I’m not kidding – if you refer to a man as “he” or “him” when that man would jolly well prefer you refer to him as “she” or “her”
J.K. Rowling is daring police to arrest her.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13259981/Furious-protesters-stage-rally-outside-Scottish-Parliament-anger-SNPs-new-hate-crime-laws-JK-Rowling-dares-police-arrest-calling-trans-women-men.html
All grassroots Scottish stuff…nothing to do with the homosexual cabal in the Hague. Disgusting.
DeSantis’ war against Disney was stupid from the start and did not work in the sense that it was supposed to propel him to the Republican nomination for President and he fell far short of that. Now, returning to Florida, he is facing declining approval ratings in his state. he settled with Disney to take the public’s attention off of this silly effort.
?? You really are in favor of corporate government?
Let it go, Lars …
DeSantis’s has declining approval ratings in his state? Really? I live in Florida and his approval rating is through the roof! He settled with Disney to take the public’s attention off of this silly effort? Really? Crushing the “Woke” movement was not a silly effort. I love the fact that Florida’s motto is, Florida is the place where “Woke” goes to die. DeSantis may very well be the President in the future, one can only hope, because when it comes to his policies in Florida, (and the rest of the country) they couldn’t be more popular.
Americans enjoy the freedom of speech, opinion, and discrimination comprising the constitutional method of shaping society, as opposed to the “dictatorship of the proletariat.”
That is the very nature of freedom in the land of the free.
All men are created equal.
After creation, men create their own success or failure, their own acceptance or rejection.
People must adapt to the outcomes of freedom.
Freedom does not adapt to people…
Dictatorship does.
In the not distant at all past, America had a universal underpinning of right versus wrong.
The bursting of our rights using COVID have essentially put everything in question.
Depending purely on political manipulation.
Walt is probably rolling in his grave with all the insanity the woke agenda has brought to his creation.
Just a reminder for Disney:
https://youtu.be/QpM9-zkK4OM?si=bFeJogKP3qwsPIFW
Used to love that place, went there many times with the kids, then they started to go off track and forgot it was all about Family. They started to skew their movies as well from the originals, Snow White and the Seven Whatever’s didn’t exactly float did it? Hopefully they’ll remember what Mr Disneys idea was about and return to Normal, right now the majority of the nation is seeking Normalcy.
Margot: “normalcy”? What is “normal?? A presidential candidate who is a spoiled brat narcissist that brags about getting away with assaulting women, who pays hush money to a porn actress and nude models, and then lies about the payments being legitimate “campaign expenses”? AND, after being prosecuted for lying on campaign finance documents, attacks the Judge and his daughter? How about a presidential candidate who praises white supremacists as “fine people”, who egregiously lies on financial statments and loan applications to borrow more money and at a lower interest rate than if he told the truth about the value of his assets, and instead of admitting fault, attacks the Attorney General? How about a presidential candidate who couldn’t accept the will of the American people when he was voted out of office, and who went on “stop the steal” campaigns to stir up his followers to try to prevent his opponent’s victory, all based on lies about nonexistent fraud? How about a presidential candidate who took classified documents after being told he couldn’t, who refused to return them, returned some and lied about retaining others, and who forced the government to seize the documents? What about a “presidential candidate” who refuses to abide by gag orders, who can’t stop ranting and raving about anything that displeases him and who is a grifter–anything for money–selling everything from urine tests to athletic shoes to Bibles? What about someone who is on his third marriage, having cheated on all 3 (so far) of his wives? What happened to the traditional values of the Republican Party–i.e., respect for law and order, for the family? Does any of these seem “normal” to you?
Do you think any previous Republican candidate could be described in these terms–like Eisenhower, Bush, Reagan…any Republican?
Gigi, I don’t see where Trump is even mentioned in this legal blog. I thought it was about Disney.
Normalcy is not not having adults talk to little children about sex.
Gigi, you are a useful idiot. First of all, go read the actual transcript regarding “fine people”–you’ll see he excludes white supremacists “who should be totally condemned”. Second, these “gag orders” are ridiculous. Since when does getting prosecuted take away your First Amendment rights? He’s not being prosecuted for campaign finance violations–you may recall that the Hillary campaign violated disclosure laws–but there was no prosecution. He’s being prosecuted for recording blackmail payments as legal expenses, which is, by the way, technically true. I could go on and on, but you get the picture–have you always been this stupid, or did you have to work at it?
Here’s what “Newsweek” says about the “very fine people” statement:
Following the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Trump did say that there were “very fine people on both sides,” when speaking about those who attended the rally in support, and those who demonstrated against it. But the meme misrepresents Trump’s statements, because he did not say directly, “There were very fine people on both sides, & I’m not talking about the Neo-nazis and white supremacists because they should be condemned totally.” The two statements were separate, the second part coming later, after further questioning from reporters. During the first presidential debate, both Wallace and Biden referenced Trump’s “very fine people” comment but did not say he applied it to neo-Nazis.”
So, Trump tried to clean it up later, but his initial, unqualified comment was there were “very fine people on both sides”, just like I said. Stormy Daniels was NOT blackmailing Trump–he paid her off to shut her up about having sex with her at the time Melania was giving birth to Barron, so the Evangelical “unborn baby savers” wouldn’t find out what kind of person he really is.
When it comes to a “gag order”, the purpose is to protect the integrity of the trial process–to ensure a fair trail and to prevent contaminating the jury pool, and, in Trump’s case, to prevent the looney tunes element of his fan base from attacking and harming the judge and/or members of his family.
It’s readily apparent, Gigi, that you have no idea what “normal” is… Yes, it is a broad and encompassing term, vague perhaps, but can be boiled down to this — normal people treat each other with respect and don’t constantly lie to and gaslight each other.
You are a propagandist, which is, by the historic standards of most Americans, far removed the from the “normal” conduct a vast majority of citizens expect from their fellows. Ultimately, the sad and simple fact is, our republic requires honesty and integrity, which you lack, even between adversaries to survive and function in the best interests of all citizens.
So congratulate yourself, and your fellow propagandists, past and present, for destroying the underlying basis of American political society in your single-minded pursuit of absolute power. But however slow to respond to your provocations we may be, don’t be surprised when we fight back.
Gigi says:
April 1, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Here’s what “Newsweek” says about the “very fine people” statement:
First, not interested in “Newsweek’s” opinion
Second, Biden did the EXACT same “very fine people”. in Palestine. after the slaughter and rape of women and children. So you have the very same explanation as you have for Trump?
Biden is calling those subhuman marauders that attacked women and children “very fine people”
He didn’t brag about hurting women, he bragged about hurting black guys – ‘cornpop.’
More GIGO
Oh, she meant Trump (you knew that but likely stopped reading after the first bit of lies), and by “getting away with assaulting women,” you mean touching women that let him touch them. Not like aborting them or killing them in gaza and eastern europe or trafficking them with Epstein and hillary or weinsteining them or laurering them or whatever other like-minded sicko you champion.
Only a depraved and pathetic human would hide like you and the rest of the dnc filth do.
I give you one thing, Gigi. At least you have the cojones to post with a name, even if it is a first or nickname. I have only contempt for those who spew BS as Anonymous. At least your point of view carries a name, whether I disagree or agree.
What is normal ?
Not having so many idiots like yourself spouting absolutely total nonsense and worse still – believing it.
Turley’s article is NOT so mcu a crioticism of Disney – as all those like yourself who actually thought Disney had a case.
Of those who thought that that states granting enormous privildges to big corporations was some how irrevocable, or at the very least not revokable as a consequence to idiotic woke behavior.
Of those of you who think that sexualizing children is an actual right protected by the first amendment.
As to your Trump tyrade – that is NOT about Trump – it is about YOU.
It is not “normal” to weaponize the legal system against political opponents.
If your political opponents are actually spoiled brats you will have no difficulty defeating them at the polls.
If as is the case YOU are the spoiled brat, that is not going to work so well.
Normal is NOT prosecuting your political opponent for what YOU believe are “lies”.
Whether you like it or not – it is VOTERS that get to decide what is and is not a political lie and how consequential it is.
It is VOTERS that get to decide if they care about the distant past sex lives of political candidates.
Apparently the majority are more OK with a president who has bedded a porn star than one who can not find the bed.
As to your financial nonsense – please tell me when anyone has been prosecuted for spending their own money as they chose ?
You do understand that political candidates are free to spend as much of their own money on their own elections as they please.
Nor are they required to tell YOU how they spent their own money.
But this idiotic case is worse than that.
30 years ago the FEC – and the courts decided that it was perfectly legitimate for a political candidate to use political contributions to pay “HUsh money” – or atleast it was when DEMOCRATS do so.
As is typical – you seek to change the rules to suit your politics.
Johnathan Edwards payed far more money – money that was NOT his own to keep an ONGOING affair with a pregnant paramour secret While his wife was dying of cancer in the hospital. The FEC said 30 years ago – that was legal. Jackie Smith fumed that they were WRONG, and was soundly thumped IN COURT for his error.
This is a dead issue, raised hypocritically by a dead party, in the hopes of resuscitating a dead campaign.
It is the abuse of political power at its worst.
If your beleifs about someone LEGAL conduct – personally offend you – Vote against them.
Where do you get off deciding that long ago established as legal conduct is magically now criminal – because you do not like the fact that Trump is going to win.
Turley’s article is specifically about the inability of those on the left to have a CLUE about the law.
What constitutes the rule of law is NOT determined by YOUR whimsy or YOUR idiotical and hypocritical delusions.
People ARE allowed to have affairs with porn stars. It is perfectly legal.
They ARE allowed to pay them for their silence – Perfectly legal.
Individuals ARE allowed to spend their own money however they please – it is not only not a crime – it is NOT your business or Alan Braggs or politically corrupt NY Judges.
It is also perfectly legal – even a constitutional right to note that the daughter of the judge who is engaged in lawless persecution of you works for a prominent democratic law firm.
We have listened to YOU rant about Ginnie Thomas’s politics – somehow attacking Justice Thomas, and his wife and demanding they recuse themselves is not only acceptable but a virtue in left wing nut world. But criticism of a judge who is allowing a fraud on the courts for political reasons is NOT ok in left wing nut world ?
It is called free speech.
Trump is as free to criticise Judge Merchan as you are to criticize Justice Thomas.
Trump is as frree to point out the conflicts created by Merchan’s family as you are to point out Ginnie Thomas’s.
There is not some “Only democrats can criticize jusges and they families” rule.
Alas, Alas for you hypocrites that you be
You snakes, You vipers, You devils brood,
Its getting very late,
Vengance does not wait.
you can not escape being devils food.
Blind Fools. !
Margot,
Normalcy.
That right there.
This may seem like a “win”, but this is no time to celebrate. Make no mistake about it, this is just one successful defense against an unrelenting enemy that is hellbent on destroying western civilization as we know it.
And it’s not fully over. While the state law case has been settled, seemingly to Disney’s detriment, the 1A case in Federal court is being appealed. In that the District Court held that Disney had no standing against DeSantis, because he had done what he was required to do under the legislation and an injunction could not undo that. In the challenge to the legislation itself, the Court held that in a free speech case, the motives of the legislators could not be examined if the statute was constitutional on its face. The court found this law to be constitutional because it was general in its terms, applying more widely than just to Disney, and was an exercise of a constitutional power.
I hate to bust your bubble, but Disney is going to fail in its appeal. It probably will drop it within the next six months. It already is postponing it, per the state suit settlement, using the excuse that it needs to negotiate a new development agreement with the special taxing district. Once that is done, I am pretty sure it will quietly drop the suit, as it is doomed to failure, anyway. Mark my words.
Florida’s Disney World did not exist when we were kids and went to Disneyland (California). It wasn’t “Woke” out there yet because it was three hours earlier (PST) compared to EST where we lived, and Sleeping Beauty was still sleeping, wholly oblivious to politics and in-your-face agendas. We (not having to ask Mom or Dad why Tinker Bell had morning shadow whisker stubble), – were just allowed to be KIDS. I miss those days.
Lin,
Well said.
We could also ride our bicycles into town. We played in the street. We got dirty. We had an occasional scrape. Teachers did not ask us 1st graders what our sex was and if a teacher did, they would get arrested. The library was full of age appropriate books, not pornography. We played cops and robbers, had cap guns. No one thought anything of it. Some of the neighborhood girls did not like playing sports. Others did. Cartoons were “Duck season! Rabbit season!”
Lin & Upstate – this is what 50 years will do (written almost 20 years ago) . . .
++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack
1956 – Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack’s rifle, goes to his
car and gets his to show Jack.
2006 – School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and
never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized
students and teachers.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1956 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up
best friends. Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.
2006 – Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge
them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts other students.
1956 – Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal.
Sits still in class.
2006 – Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School
gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father’s car and his Dad gives
him a whipping.
1956 – Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college,
and becomes a successful businessman.
2006 – Billy’s Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster
care and joins a gang. Billy’s sister is told by state psychologist that
she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy’s
mom has affair with psychologist.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school.
1956 – Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking
dock.
2006 – Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car
searched for drugs and weapons.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1956 : Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006 : Pedro’s cause is taken up by state Democratic party. Newspaper
articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a
requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit
against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned
from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing
lawns for a living because he can’t speak English.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July,
puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1956 – Ants die.
2006 – BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic
terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home,
computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is
never allowed to fly again.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee.
He is found crying by his teacher, Miss Jones, who hugs him to
comfort him.
1956 – In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2006 – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She
faces 3 years in state prison.
Kansas Elder, 🙂
lin–here is how CNN describes the conflict between Disney and DeSantis:
“Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set up the Central Florida Tourism District to oversee the area in which Disney operates nearly two years ago, amid a growing conflict between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant.
The war of words between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the controversial bill that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Opponents have labeled the controversial law “Don’t Say Gay.” Chapek called the bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”
Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.”
I find the hypocrisy over Trump’s claim that he enjoys “freedom of speech” to lie about his nonexistent “victory” being “stolen by fraud”, and the retaliation against Disney, when its CEO opposed DeSantis’s war on gender identity and sexual orientation. I also find amusing the hypocrisy of Trumpists like you who claim that the governemnt is persecuting Trump by bringing him to justice for his established crimes, but don’t see the irony in DeSantis trying to punish Disney for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation by terniminating the longstanding agreement that allowed Disney to build Disney World in Florida. Why doesn’t “freedom of speech” apply to Disney, that creates thousands of jobs and brings millions in tourism dollars to the State of Florida?
Some of you Trumpsters speak of Disney World as a “family” place. Disney employs all sorts of people in its theme parks, including LGBTQ folks, and it is a “family value” not to discriminate against people who are different. Tinker Bell is a “fairy”–an insulting term used by some ignoramuses to describe gay men, so I don’t see your point if you’re complaining about Tinker Bell having a 5 o’clock shadow. And, kids really don’t care either way–just like they don’t care what’s under the skirt of a drag queen. They just like to be entertained.
If you have to use CNN as a source, you are even dumber than I thought.
Parents care if a drag queen is trying to groom their children. Parents care if a company is using their product to push an agenda on children the parents do not agree with.
The fact you try to cover up or support these efforts shows how sick you really are.
Drag queens don’t “groom” anyone and don’t have any “agenda”–they entertain people with their over-the-top costumes, singing and dancing and celebration of femaleness. If parents don’t want their kids to see a drag queen, then don’t take them where drag queens are.
Quit making the muslims seem sane
LOL. How do you know that? Did you ask them all? Do they have a head tranny that represents the group? Are you saying that no trannies are pedophiles? Are you saying that there is no agenda by the lgbt community, now that gay marriage is legal to spend all that lgbt wealth on some manufactured grievance in order to keep those fundraising and ngos operating? LOL. It’s another boondoggle, but it does hurt kids and sane communities. It also normalizes mental illness. But you go ahead and pretend it’s just a bunch of normal folks.
anything for money and power – by any means possible. Sickos.
Drag queens don’t “groom” anyone and don’t have any “agenda”
First, EVERYONE acts through motivation/agenda
Fixing that huge problem with your post.
What is the agenda of a man, dressed up and made up like a woman to work so hard to get infront of kids under 10 years of age.
If the man has no reason, then banning the practice injures no one.
But the simple agenda is plain.
Sexualize children. Because no matter how you care to rationalize the behavior, it is 100%, a sexual fetish. The men need an audience of children to become sexually aroused.
The professor well highlights the sorry state of journalism. If the news outlets would return to objective reporting, rather than spinning “woke” narratives for the left wing, people would believe what they report.
Wolfman,
To support your assessment, Media Tailspin Continues As Public Trust In News Outlets Crumbles: I&I/TIPP Poll
https://issuesinsights.com/2024/04/01/media-tailspin-continues-as-public-trust-in-news-outlets-crumbles-ii-tipp-poll/
UpstateFarmer said: “Media Tailspin Continues As Public Trust In News Outlets Crumbles”
Those results surprise me very much. Not the ratings for the MSM, those are about what I would expect. But the ratiings for “alternative media”, which, according to the examples given, lean significantly right, are worse, even among the groups that I would expect to have greater trust in those outlets. Also very surprising is that those alternative media also enjoy greater trust among Democrats than Independents or Republicans, and by about the same margins. I’m not going to try to dig into the survey methodology now (I don’t know if it is even cited), but applying Occam’s Razor suggests that the survey itself could be seriously flawed. Perhaps that involves some wishful thinking on my part, because the alternate explanation truly scares me, and that is that there is essentially no trust left for any knowledge or information organization; even by “Group A” of an organization that convincingly portrays itself as aligned with that group’s core values. That would be a very strong indication that our society has decayed far further than I had suspected, and poses the question of where those poll respondants hope to find reliable information. It’s well and good to say that we should just research questions for ourselves, rather than relying on any “authority” at all to summarize the answers for us, but there are obvious limits on how much time each of us has to conduct broad research from first principles. Worrysome!