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The online propaganda arms of the Democratic Party — from Hollywood to the liberal print and online media — have begun preparing for possible reprisals from Trump and his administration, where staunch opponents of “wokeism” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) hold sway.
Analyst Tyler Durden explains the essence of CRT on the Zerohedge blog as follows: «The destruction of all human traits and uniqueness, as the demonized individual is reduced to a stereotypical, faceless member of the collective».
One of the reasons for neoliberal anxiety is Trump’s repeated promise during his campaign to put an end to what he called «transgender lunacy». The soon-to-be twice-elected president of the United States plans to ban gender reassignment and cut federal funding (a legacy of Joe Biden) for «gender transition» programs.
In addition, according to the Times, which cites insider sources at the Pentagon, Trump may sign an order on his first day in office to discharge all 15,000 transgender personnel from the armed forces.
In a telling coincidence, it has emerged that Disney and Pixar studios have begun rejecting scripts for multi-episode animated series that overtly or covertly promote transgender transition in America.
«When it comes to animated content for younger audiences, we recognize that many parents prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and at a time of their choosing», said an official Disney representative.
According to Breitbart News Network, considered a «far-right» website, this significant statement «marks a sharp turnaround for Disney, which has been inserting the theme of transgenderism and other forms of gender deviation into its entertainment products aimed at children».
A Rasmussen Reports poll revealed the public mood: over 70% of adult citizens want Disney to stop pushing the LGBTQ agenda. In the words of the Breitbart writer, «Disney may finally be starting to listen to consumers».
The reason for this sudden shift is quite prosaic: Americans have begun voting with their feet and hitting the owners of the once «dream factory» in the wallet. The heroization of transgender characters in the shows The Acolyte and Willow prompted such a united backlash from audiences that production was halted after the first season. New releases like The Little Mermaid, Strange World, and Lightyear, all heavily laced with the promotion of gender deviations, resulted in nearly a billion dollars in losses for the heirs of the once wholesome Walt Disney.
In the past, Americans — avid moviegoers — would count down the weeks until the release of a heavily publicized movie. Recall the scene in Lethal Weapon when Danny Glover finds himself in the crossfire with Mel Gibson. The black cop utters a memorable line: «I can’t die yet — I haven’t seen Star Wars Episode III».
Today, movie theater attendance is down by a third compared to 2019. Incredibly, even the once-iconic Academy Awards ceremony — watched live by hundreds of millions of people around the world — has been devalued to the point that its brand owners are on the verge of bankruptcy.
The venerable Hollywood studio Warner Bros., which in 2021 was producing as many as 500 movies, TV series, soap operas, and other cinematic products a year, is now producing just over half that number (260). Disney’s numbers have dropped by roughly the same proportion, from 280 to 170.
A true earthquake in the liberal media community was triggered by a court decision regarding a fake story aired by ABC News that falsely claimed that Donald Trump was a «rapist», forcing the network to pay $15 million in damages.
Following the verdict, Trump suggested at a press conference that the outcome had inspired him and that he might file new lawsuits against media outlets that he felt had treated him «unfairly». Using words with an inherently positive connotation, Trump stated, «I’m doing this not because I want to. I’m doing this because I feel I have an obligation». He also stressed the importance of having a «fair media» in the country.
The next likely target for a lawsuit could be the Des Moines Register, which published fake polls favoring Trump’s rival in the election, Kamala Harris, claiming she had Iowa «in the bag».
Almost simultaneously, CNN’s reputation took a hit when a supposedly heroic figure — featured in one of the network’s news stories after being freed from a Syrian prison — turned out to be a former member of Assad’s intelligence service. Once a powerful propaganda megaphone, CNN is now struggling in vain to retain its audience and is facing an epic failure: its daytime broadcasts attract no more than 360,000 viewers.
«The trendsetters today are podcasters like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, each with millions of followers», notes political scientist Malek Dudakov. «Meanwhile, the mainstream media market is dying, and they are quite effectively killing themselves with endless fake stories and scandals».
…The lavish inauguration has not yet taken place; newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet sworn on the Bible or uttered the ritual phrase «So help me God», but neoliberals are already in a mild panic. Trump and his team of like-minded allies are ready to expunge the hyper-politicized Critical Race Theory (CRT) from public school curricula. CRT adherents argue that all U.S. laws and current government institutions are imbued with the racism of the Founding Fathers and designed to preserve «social, economic, and political inequality between whites and non-whites, particularly African Americans».
Tyler Durden, referring to the new abnormality in the United States, reasonably asserts that «justice in our Orwellian world is not equality, but retribution. It is the idea of making the present generation pay for the alleged sins of people who died long ago in past centuries».
The promotion of the neoliberal dogma that the current generation of white people must «pay and repent» — even given that racism is indeed a shameful page in America’s history — also serves to undermine social cohesion and erode national unity.
One could say that the conflict between Trump and his opponents is not only, and not so much, about factional rivalry, but about ideological confrontation.
Who will ultimately prevail? For sensible traditionalists in America and around the world, this is a fundamental question — perhaps not an existential one, but there’s no doubt that a Trump-led America, rid of the scourge of «wokeism» and the CRT, will become less toxic and possibly less expansionist.