Purely anecdotal.
In no way do I pretend that this is statistically significant or scientifically precise. But being in Disney World for the last week with my family, no less than 3 times – standing in line for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, shopping at the Magic Kingdom's Emporium, and hanging out at the Saratoga Springs High Rock pool – I overheard conversations among my fellow park guests of Disney's sudden public surge to the radical left.
Obviously, the word "sudden" isn't meant to imply that the company has ever been anything but friendly to left-wing politics and California causes, but rather that until recent days they have at least attempted to shroud their activism with family friendly platitudes and overtures to traditional American idealism. But no more.
Company executives have made it patently clear that they are no longer content to merely raise their own children as "pansexuals" and "transgender," they now view it as their company's mission to ensure your children see such moral confusion as normal and well-adjusted as well.
If the conversations I overheard this last week are any indication, plenty of families who prefer to shield their kids from America's unfolding sexual Armageddon have gotten the message. And they aren't pleased.
To be clear, I'm not predicting or even anticipating a full-scale Disney boycott. Sports fans will still watch Disney-owned ESPN to see the Manning boys on Monday Night Football. And an abundance of families like ours will still visit Disney parks to make memories riding Dumbo with their kids.
Personally, my wife and I bought into the Disney Vacation Club right after getting married in order to have our contract paid off before our kids were born. So, if we choose to boycott the resorts out of principle, we hurt only ourselves since they already have our money. I'm quite sure we aren't alone.
So again, I fully understand that Disney owns enough that it is highly unlikely any attempted boycott would significantly undermine the corporate monster's bottom line. But it's long-guarded reputation and safe, wholesome image is another matter entirely. It's impossible to deny the obvious reality that is forever tarnished.
Don't shed any tears for the House of Mouse over this development, however. It is a path of their own choosing. That's why I couldn't help but snort when I read these corny hot takes from the increasingly clownish world of journalism.
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While I expect nothing less but unvarnished absurdity from the opinion pages of The Times, and while Robert Tracinski has proven himself willing to plunge to death-defying depths of illogic so long as it advances whatever the progressive cause of the moment is, both Charlie Sykes and David French (who, as seen above, "liked" Tracinski's buffoonish tweet) know better.
Sure, there may persist some confusion and disagreement over the finer points of what officially constitutes "cancel culture" and what doesn't. But an overarching point of agreement is that it involves a mob-manifested public humiliation and ostracism of an individual due to that individual's betrayal of the spirit of the age.
Intent doesn't matter - if one's words are construed by an aggrieved party to mean something offensive, that is cancelable. Further, there is no statute of limitations. In line for a big promotion at your law firm? You'd best hope your closest competitor doesn't have access to your Crayola masterpieces from kindergarten when you drew the neighborhood garbage man with skin that was a little too tan. If so, you're going to find yourself working in waste management in no time.
But multinational corporations who own half the culture themselves, that choose without provocation to threaten an entire state over a piece of legislation unrelated to their business? That's a whole different ballgame, and lawmakers responding to the aggression by ending that corporation's preferential treatment is not "cancel culture" and it's not an abuse of power.
It's telling the bullies wearing their rainbow mouse ears to lie in the bed they willfully – and foolishly – made for themselves.
