27 April 23
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The latest in the case of Happiest Place On Earth v. DeSantis.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida came the same day the governor’s handpicked board declared a Disney-friendly deal null and void. Disney and DeSantis’s office have been tussling privately for the past year, but the frequency and intensity of their sparring has intensified dramatically in recent days.
In its filing, Disney reminds us all that the whole dispute started because DeSantis is a thin-skinned petty tyrant manque, and Disney failed to respect DeSantis' authori-tah!
The standoff, which could have major political and economic consequences, began in early 2022 when Disney leaders criticized a controversial education bill advanced by DeSantis and other Florida Republicans. Disney’s resorts in Florida are some of the state’s prime attractions, but DeSantis expressed outrage that the company dare criticize the education bill and he began attacking the company, saying it had received preferential treatment for too long.
So far, Disney has outmaneuvered DeSantis at every turn, not that it's necessarily difficult to do so. (DeSantis was considered to be a big bag of hammers during his days in the House of Representatives and has not improved noticeably since he's been governor.) Now, he's managed to get crossways with perhaps the most successful media empire on an issue of protected speech. I wouldn't hire this guy to mulch my yard.
In its legal complaint, Disney accused DeSantis of punishing it for protected speech, threatening its business operations, jeopardizing its economic future in the region and violating its constitutional rights.
“Having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution,” the complaint said, “the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
That part of the case seems ironclad. DeSantis went after one of the most important private institutions in his state for an opinion its executives expressed on a purely political issue, and he used the powers of his office to do so. Apparently, he thought there was a political upside to having done so. Unfortunately for the governor, as somebody, somewhere once said, a dream is a wish your heart makes.
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