Mickey Mouse v. Putin in a Cage Match for the Soul of the USA? Who Wins?
Trick question. The Mouse trumps all others. Even Trump. He has the slickest team of writers this side of Homer . He knows what wins hearts and minds. He knows how to sell merchandise. Challenge Him and you will regret it---witness former Representative Mark Foley and the 2006 midterm elections. The GOP threatened the Mouse's Empire. The Mouse Roared. The GOP went into the toilet for six long years.
Can Disney/ABC do it again? We had better hope so. Because going in to the midterms, the only major economic force in the world on the side of the American people is the American entertainment industry.
What about our other traditional allies? What about China? China needs us to be prosperous enough to buy their crap. Surely China will save us! Except...
As long as Putin has Trump deporting all our workers and shutting our borders to replacement workers, China will have the edge when it comes to manufacturing cheap goods to sell in the USA to a middle class that finds its own disposable income rapidly shrinking. So, China isn't going to pull us out of the fire. Hell, they are more likely to help the Russian hack the 2018 election.
How about our allies in Saudi Arabia? We have propped up their corrupt regime for decades. They owe us! But then again...
They want oil prices to rise as much as Putin does. They won't lift a finger to stop Russian (and maybe Chinese) hackers from stealing another election if it means that the U.S. will shut down the alternative energy industries and halt production of electric cars.
Surely our cultural allies in Western Europe will come to our aid? Statue of Liberty and all that.Except....
Western Europe makes a ton of money selling U.S. seniors overpriced pharmaceuticals and durable medical goods. They want us to become as sick as possible before we get our universal health insurance at age 65, so we will continue to spend twice as much per person on health care as they do. Plus, they hate us for being their boss for so long. A lot of people in the UK and France and Germany would be a lot happier if we started acting like the colony we once were. With Putin's help, they can pull our strings again.
The other American states that might have been tempted to show solidarity with us now hate our guts. Japan is itching to be free from U.S. control. Everyone on the whole planet (except maybe Australia) thinks we are bullies who deserve to be taken down a notch. There are even self styled U.S. liberals (who may or may not be Kremlin moles) who speak about Putin as if he is doing a good thing. You know, saving us from ourselves---
Which brings me to my point. It isn't a democracy if you expect someone else to save you. Americans need to do this for themselves. They need to get out to vote in such overwhelming numbers that no amount of voter suppression or Russian hacking can change the outcome of the 2018 election.
How do we get Americans off their couches and into the polling places? We appeal to the hearts and minds. Mostly their hearts. And that is what the entertainment industry in this country is all about.
Trump made a major blunder when he pissed off the Mainstream Media. The MSM is part of the much larger U.S. Entertainment Industry. Disney owns Marvel. That means Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk all hate Trump and Putin, who plan to seize control of the press (and the entertainment industry), telling us what we can watch. They hate Trump/Putin who plan to seize all our middle class wealth for themselves, leaving us just enough to pay for food and rent--with nothing left over for Disney merchandise. They fear Trump/Putin who are conspiring to nip our hopes for a better future for our kids in the bud. Because hope for the future, creative thinking, new ideas--these are the bread and butter of the entertainment industry, especially that geared towards children. And so, the U.S. Entertainment Industry is in full rebellion mode as Trump/Putin try to put their tiny little authoritarian boot on our necks...
Because DC and Marvel and Universal and especially Disney are all about The Brave Little Tailor and the Little Train That Could and the Mouse That Roared and the huddled masses of the old world that came to the new world for a better life. You know. An American Tail.
What? You don't think a tiny 100 year old mouse is any match for Trump/Putin? You forget. The Mouse owns the Hulk.
Hulk Smash!