Yes, I watched it, and TIVOed it. Guess that makes me public enemy #1 around here at the moment, but if you'll bear with me for half a second, I'll lay out the barest of bare bones of why.
In short, I'm an oppositional researcher- it's what I do. I've been studying the tactics and cognitive undermining work done by those who are determined to gut the America we know and love for several decades at this point.
But tonight? Well, the Mouse must pay. Rat-fucking of this order must trigger consequences- and that means arguing from a position of strength and knowledge- not just blowing smoke out one's ass.
Follow me over the flip.
Arguing from the facts is nothing new for me. And yeah, in the course of trying to get facts, I've ended up some pretty strange places; such as actually ending up on some temporary version of 'Disney's side/supporting Disney's position' back when they were attacked by Operation Rescue/Operation Save America over Gay Days back in 1998. Disney was targeted, just as clinics, and bookstores, and other institutions and aspects of culture that have supported 'us' have been through the years. For more on that period and the interesting timing on the 'end' of the wingnut boycott, see
the diary I wrote yesterday.
I was also in Jersey City on 9/11, seeing the smoke and aftermath with my own eyes, and then later returning home to the DC area and seeing the destruction at the Pentagon as well. No, I've not been to the field in PA, yet.
My position on Disney/ABC, far from a fixed stance, has to reflect current realities. So tonight, having just endured part 1, I'm just going to put a single meme out there to chew on.
Yes, I could write a massive blow by blow on the details of this migraine inducing butcher's hack of pseudo history, and in time, I'm sure some of us will.
But for tonight, I want to simply give you one very important key- this was about restructuring an entire cognitive framework, and it was done carefully, through the details of not only what was completely fabricated out of thin air, but also what details from actual history were and were not included.
This was about creating impressions and making associations in the mind of the viewer.
Just one of many important genuinely historical details they left in in service to that?
The recreated scene just prior to the millennium wherein Ahmed Ressam's arrest at the U.S./Canadian boarder is portrayed.
Yes, according to the 9/11 commission report (that is, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States) website, Ressam did indeed produce a Costco ID as part of the lead in to his arrest.
But, considering all the history that did not make the propaganda piece, this is an interesting choice of a history tidbit to leave in.
So quick, average American walking away from this, what is the IMPRESSION left?
'Terrorists shop at Costco'.
It may leave the impression of everytime someone were to walk into a Costco, a little cold shiver of having just 'crossed the trail of a terrorist' tingling down the back of their neck. While that may not be as clear for some people, living here in Maryland, and sometimes driving past places the 9-11 hijackers stayed etc can generate exactly those kinds of feelings- having on some level just crossed the path of a series of events and people that led to profound badness.
It's a familiar, everyday brand (and BLUE at that!) that makes Americans nervous at the notion of having had 'something in common with the terrorists!'.
And it piggybacks with other 'Costco/terrorist/fearmongering such as this- Costco/Terrorist candy scare urban legend or the recent trial of Ali Asad Chandia in the DC area, a former Costco employee.
The cumulative effect? The Costco brand over time and through repetition becomes associated almost unconciously for some Americans with 'terrorism'. The effect, whether intentional or merely as a byproduct of repeated rumours, inuendo, and continually bringing out details like Ahmed Ressam producing the Costco card in crap like this Disney/ABC filth is one of undermining a brand that is about as BLUE as we can seem to find these days.
My point? There's crap in this on so many levels, and most viewers simply soak in it.