Back when I was a kid living near Disneyland, Disney gutted the Mission to Mars ride and replaced it with a 3-D short movie adventure thingy called Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson in all his one-gloved moonwalking glory. It was a big flashy attraction that really didn’t have much in the way of substance — kind of like many Disney attractions. Fun, but fluffy. Captain EO was a scrappy freedom fighter who fought the Supreme Leader for the safety of the galaxy. You get the idea.
Although he’s the flip side of what the original Captain EO character stood for, this morning it occurred to me that we could redub the guy in the White House “Captain EO” — for Executive Order. How many illegal orders has he already signed? How many are piled up waiting for his signature?
Word has it that his next move is going to be stripping GLBTQ folks of our federal rights — maybe as soon as tonight. My husband and I are wondering what we might have to do in order to file our federal taxes this year if that happens. Will we have to go back to filing as married in our state (which will continue recognizing it; California’s the main firewall state trying to stop Capt. EO’s moves) and as single people with the federal government? Quite possibly. And of course there’s always the worry that we’re headed for camps and extermination if we can’t find an exit strategy to get out of this country — we’re both Jews. (Unlike the idiots in the Tea Party who freaked about “FEMA camps,” that’s a real and valid worry for us both. We’ve seen this before.)
I worry about my students, some of whom are already affected by the Muslim Ban. I worry about my colleagues who have out-of-the-country travel plans for conferences and research that may have to be canceled due to their dual-citizen status. I wish I had the physical strength available to stand in an airport for hours and protest what’s happening (I don’t — I’m still recovering from the Women’s March more than a week ago, now).
But I can report on what’s happening. I can monitor Twitter and alert people for new developments. I can at least do that, by God. And I will.
Get up. Get woke. #resist with all your might. Politics doesn't give one blue damn what you want or care about - and its reach is long and its claws are sharp.
And if Captain EO wants to take away my rights, he’s in for one hell of a fight.
