At the Intersection of Entertainment and Politics

Or: "Damn! This is a Tough Job Market."

Walt Disney World just hired a new Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Worldwide Government and Industry Relations.

That's quite a title. In practice, the function of the position will be to issue statements on behalf of the corporation that the person who claimed to have been molested by an employee dressed as Goofy has since changed his/her tune. Or to coordinate with local law enforcement and prosecutors to quickly sweep under the rug any other nastiness that might give our Mighty Mouse a bad image. Or to secure a renewal of Disney's "no-fly zone" policy long ago granted by the FAA. Disney owns this town, and any potential dirt the press can dig up is always very quickly silenced by the efficient workings of Disney's highly-connected machine. Disney is the mafia and everyone knows it. They have the money, they make the jobs, they buy the influence.

In my crazy day-to-day applications to all positions that I think I might even be remotely qualified to perform, I may have submitted a resume to Disney for this job. In hindsight that was silly, but as they say, "you never know." Well, I lost out to Brian Besanceney. Brian has a resume that trumps the hell out of mine and all others.

From the press release issued by Disney:

"Besanceney has been with The Walt Disney Co. since February 2009 as vice president of public affairs for business development, and will retain those duties. Prior to joining Disney, he served as deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and assistant secretary of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and deputy communications director at the White House."

That makes total sense, since Disney is the de facto fourth branch of power in this country.