Daily Beast: How the CIA Helped Disney Conquer Florida :

[Faryn Balyncd]

Interesting read.

Is there clearer example of what Mussolini termed "corporatism"?


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/14/how-the-cia-helped-disney-conquer-florida.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet

With advice from former CIA operatives and lawyers, Disney bought up the land for Florida’s Disney World and orchestrated a unique legal situation—and set up an unconstitutional form of government. An excerpt from TD Allman’s Finding Florida : . . . . . Starting in the mid-1960s when Disney set out to establish the Disney World Theme Park, they were determined to get land at below market prices and Disney operatives engaged in a far-ranging conspiracy to make sure sellers had no idea who was buying their Central Florida property. By resorting to such tactics Disney acquired more than 40 square miles of land for less than $200 an acre, but how to maintain control once Disney's empire had been acquired? The solution turned out to be cartoon-simple, thanks to the CIA.

Disney's key contact was the consummate cloak-and-dagger operator, William "Wild Bill" Donovan. Sometimes called the "Father of the C.I.A," he was also the founding partner of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, a New York law firm whose attorneys included future C.I.A. director William Casey. Donovan’s attorneys provided fake identities for Disney agents; they also set up a secret communications center, and orchestrated a disinformation campaign. In order to maintain "control over the overall development," Disney and his advisers realized, “the company would have to find a way to limit the voting power of the private residents" even though, they acknowledged, their efforts "violated the Equal Protection Clause" of the U.S. Constitution. Here again the CIA was there to help. Disney's principal legal strategist for Florida was a senior clandestine operative named Paul Helliwell. Having helped launch the C.I.A. secret war in Indochina, Helliwell relocated to Miami in 1960 in order to coordinate dirty tricks against Castro. At a secret "seminar" Disney convened in May 1965 Helliwell came up with the approach that to this day allows the Disney organization to avoid taxation and environmental regulation as well as maintain immunity from the U.S. Constitution. It was the same strategy the C.I.A. pursued in the foreign countries. Set up a puppet government; then use that regime to do your bidding.

Though no one lived there, Helliwell advised Disney to establish at least two phantom "cities,” then use these fake governments to control land use and make sure the public monies the theme park generated stayed in Disney's private hands. On paper Disney World's "cities" would be regular American home towns—except their only official residents would be the handful of hand-picked Disney loyalists who periodically "elected" the officials who, in turn, ceded complete control to Disney executives. . . . . . In early 1967, the Florida legislature created Hallowell’s two "cities,” both named for the artificial reservoirs Disney engineers created by obstructing the area's natural water flow. When you visit Disney's Magic Kingdom, you are visiting the City of Bay Lake, Florida. The other was the City of Lake Buena Vista. In both “cities,” in violation of both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions the Disney-engineered legislation established a property qualification for holding elective office, requiring that each candidate for office there "must be the owner, either directly or as a trustee, of real property situated in the City" in order "to be eligible to hold the office of councilman." . . . . . .



complete article at:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/14/how-the-cia-helped-disney-conquer-florida.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet

[Dawson Leery]

1. Disney was a bastard.

[octoberlib]

2. Wow. nt

[byeya]

3. I'm pretty much an old guy and I knew a lot of this story before this. I've always hated Disney

products even as a little kid. There was always a subtext of authoritarianism which I thought I caught wind of(I was correct) and his animation was poor compared to the Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, et al, cartoons. I would never consider spending my money to purchase anything DisneyCorp produced and have generally avoided him and his legacy my adult life.
The more one learns about Disney and his company, the more one wants to avoid it.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

4. Disney's long-term connection the Federal government precedes WW II.

In 1941, for example, Disney and Disney employees traveled to strategically important countries in South America to gather information. It was called a goodwill tour. The artists were able to make friends with important people and get information by entertaining them with their drawing skills.

Some of the activities in the "goodwill" tour is illustrated in a DVD entitled Walt & El Grupo:

It was 1941, a critical time for the world and for the Walt Disney Studio. When the U.S. Government asked Disney to be a cultural ambassador to South America, the stage was set for Walt's very own real-life adventure. With a group of handpicked artists, later called "El Grupo," Disney's WWII road trip achieved the impossible: goodwill. And in the process paved the way for two classic Disney films, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Brought to life through rare footage and enriched with never-before-seen bonus features, Walt & El Grupo is a story of inspiration, joy and hope you won't soon forget.

http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/walt-el-grupo.html

It may also be worthwhile to Google "Operation Mockingbird" which shows how the CIA backed various important persons in the media. Even the celeberty TV cook Julia Childs (and author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking) worked for the CIA and hosted dinner parties for important and influential people. When that was later revealed, she trivialized her role with the CIA and brushed it off by saying that she was a low-level employee who really didn't do anything. A number of TV pundants and newscasters have also been on the CIA payroll. The information can be found for those who want to look for it.

After the existence of "Operation Mockingbird" was revealed, the CIA said that they discontinued it.

[Octafish]

5. Capitalism's Invisible Army

Wonder what other countries, er, companies they've helped get a leg up on the citizens, er, competition?

Thanks for a great article, Faryn Balynced.

[Octafish]

6. CIA, ABC and the rise of Rush Limbaugh

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-libmedia.htm

PS: And people wonder why the mass media are so right wing.

[AverageJoe90]

7. Interesting theory, but, TBH, it's probably no more based in truth than your average UFO sightings..

.....or the "the moon landing was faked" craziness.

(That said, though, there is definitely some strange stuff going on down there.)

[HiPointDem]

9. not a theory.

[AverageJoe90]

10. Well, as I read it initially, it sounded like it implied that the CIA was actually involved.

.....forgive me if I misread something. It does happen.

[HiPointDem]

11. it was. and?

[HiPointDem]

8. kr

[AnnieBW]

12. My Great Aunt and her husband were one of them

My grandfather's sister, Margaret, lived with her husband in the Kissimmee/Orlando area. They had a moderate-sided orange grove there. One day in the late '60's, someone with a shady-sounding company was going around buying land. My great-uncle apparently sold out for a substantial amount. Enough for them to move to New Port Ritchie and buy a car dealership. They later found out that the company was a front company for Disney, and their orange grove is probably under Space Mountain.

[Nye Bevan]

13. They "sold out for a substantial amount"? Good for them.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out who the victims were here. As far as I can see, nobody was forced to sell, and nobody was forced to sell at a below-market price. Seems to me that Disney bought up a boatload of crappy Florida swampland and turned it into one of the best tourist attractions in the world.

[AnnieBW]

14. I think the complaint is that Disney wasn't honest

And yeah, some of the land was swampland. Others were farms or orange groves. I think that the main complaint that people have is that they used front companies and deception to buy up the land, rather than just being honest. I don't quite recall that my great-aunt and her husband got screwed. They seemed to make out on the deal pretty well.