Of course you know, this means war #WIUnion

Or would, if our opponent wasn't lying on the ground, bleeding to death from a self inflicted wound. 

You know, if you had asked me in November what the direct future held, I would have said that the Democrats were on the verge of committing mass suicide, the party would die and a new Progressive party would take its place-- but only after the Republican party pretty much destroyed the planet.  Imagine my surprise to see that the GOP has recently signed their death certificate.

Actually, not so surprised.  In the back of my mind, the part of me that is most in tune with Ordarnis kept asking me what the rules of the universe are.  And I would reply "Good is dumb and evil only loses because of its overconfidence." 

Looking at this whole thing now, it's like something right out of a sci-fi or fantasy story.  Benevolent king-- well meaning but overall a wet noodle (sorry Obama)-- is verbally assaulted to the point of ineffectiveness by the greedy and ruthless advisors.  And they're in the perfect position to take over the kingdom completely.  Citizens United was big for the GOP.  So big that the GOP dominated in the 2012 election.  The democrats were all but dead.  The king was on his knees, capitulating to their every demand.  Victory was certain.  All the GOP had to do was wait.

But they didn't wait.  Instead they burned down the farm and murdered the aunt and uncle of a young farm boy put forth a bill stripping unions of their rights.  They didn't wake a sleeping giant, they shattered the ideal world of a naive farm boy.  And now he's angry.  Now his eyes have been opened to the injustice in the world.  Now he knows that it's his destiny to join the good fight and do battle against the GOP Evil Overlord GOP. 

If the world has taught us anything, it's that the farm boy always wins. 

That's why I'm so full of hope after the GOP in Wisconsin held their dark of night vote to strip union rights last night.  When they presented the bill, they burned the farm and murdered the farm boy's aunt and uncle.  That got us mad.  That started us on the path of the Hero's Journey.  Last night, they axed the mentor.  Everyone knows that the hero gains a huge, decisive victory right after the mentor is killed.

This is it, folks.  I know a lot of us have been fighting for a long time-- against the war on women's health, against the tax breaks for the uber rich, against hatred and the racism the GOP has spewing.  And it's been a long hard fight and we're tired and not even sure if we can win anymore.  But we can.  Because Unions are our farm boy.  And we need to throw all our support.  Because they are the chosen one(s)!  They will bring us victory.

Also, as someone who has spent a lot of time studying the antics of villainy (If you're going to write a story about an Evil Overlord who wins, you have to know why all the others lost), I have to pose this question to the GOP: Do you even want to win?  I mean really.  The way you were going about it before-- I didn't like it, but at least I could be impressed.  You were sneaky bastards and the way you managed to make the entire country believe everything was the Democrat's fault even when it was all your fault- brilliant.  But this-- bills to strip unions of their rights, bills to strip away the entire democratic process (see Michigan), bills to strip away women's rights and your blatant support (almost worship) of the wealthiest of the wealthy?  You can't be any more obvious about your evil ways.  And no, you're long past the need for t-shirts, evil cackling or armies of Fox News Broadcasters mutant monsters.  Compared to what's going on right now, that stuff is subtle.  And the first rule of being a successful Evil Overlord is be subtle.  If you're loud and obnoxious it, farm boys will come and kill you (see above).

Personally I am waiting for the GOP to scream "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!  I AM INVINCIBLE" so I can watch #24 work its magic.

Lets... Get...Dangerous!

Hey look-- a blog post where I'm not angry at the republicans. Or anybody. How strange is that, folks?

Actually, I'm super happy. Like, floating on a cloud happy. Today was the first time I was caught up at work since November, it's supposed to be 40 tomorrow and my book was waiting for me when I got home and having finished it in an hour, I can honestly say it was everything I was hoping it would be.

I had been eyeing this book for months and finally decided on Tuesday that I had to have it and ordered it from Barnes and Noble. It's titled 'The Duck Knight Returns'. That's right-- I bought the comic book continuation of Disney's Darkwing Duck.

I love Disney. Yes, they have a lot of problems but I've always loved what I've felt is their overall message in their movies and cartoons (in the early 90s, not now)-- never stop dreaming and teamwork can accomplish anything. Darkwing Duck doesn't have much to do with the first (because DW's ego is the size of a small planet and his dreams of fame and fortune getting crushed are good for him), but the second one is huge. Darkwing always does better when he's working hand in hand with his sidekick Launchpad McQuack and adopted daughter Gosalyn (and with various members of the Justice Ducks- Stegmutt, Morgana, Neptunia, Gizomoduck...).

While I loved all of the Disney cartoons from the 90s (Ducktales, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Talespin, Bonkers, Aladdin the Series and the Little Mermaid Series), Darkwing Duck has always held a special place in my heart. I dressed up as Darkwing for Halloween one year. I own Darkwing action figures and a felt poster. I own the books, videos and comics from the early 90s. As soon as the first two DVD sets were released, I snatched them up (Please, please Disney! Release the third one for Pete's sake!).

As I've gotten older, I've started to really think about why I love Darkwing Duck. Why has this character and this show stayed with me for so long? Why is Darkwing Duck elevated above all of my other fictional heroes? Why do I feel so happy when I reconnect with this show? Once I started thinking about it, I came to the answer pretty quick.

Gosalyn.

At the end of the two part series premiere, Darkwing Duck adopts Gosalyn. And to my five year old self, adopting Gosalyn was the most heroic thing Darkwing could ever do-- because I'm adopted.

As an adopted child, you don't get very many positive role models to look up to. Instead you get the TV shows and movies of adopted children who were demons or sociopaths or were throwing out the 'you're not my real--'. Or even better, shows where the worst insult you could through at your sibling was 'you're adopted'.

That is not something a five year old adopted child wants to hear or be picking up. It's not healthy to be receiving messages that you're going to turn into a monster or that your relationship with you family isn't real or insulting to other families. This was why Darkwing Duck was so huge for me (even though I probably didn't realize it at the time). Gosalyn was awesome-- nothing monstrous about her. But more importantly, from the moment Darkwing adopted her, he was dad. She never, ever used the 'you're not my real dad'. Her relationship with Darkwing was never looked down upon as less by any character in the series. She was his daughter, in every sense of the word. Like my parents and my brother are my family.

Darkwing Duck gets heralded for a lot of things. For being a super clever Batman parody. For being a modern mirror into the silver comic book age. For being one of Disney's best cartoon shows. Nobody ever talks about its hugely positive portrayal of adoption. More people should talk about that. Because even now, reading my comic book, seeing Darkwing and Gosalyn have a father/daughter moment ("I'm sorry dad, but I've been waiting a year and a half to say this-- ARE YOU CRAZY?") makes me ridiculous happy. I love this show and I love that it's being continued in comics.

So, I'm going to enjoy my book and my weekend because come Monday, I'm going to be way behind again at work. And I’m sure the republicans will do something to make me angry again. Bleh.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the classic rock act that never retires. I am DARKWING DUCK!"