Why Conservatives Are Wrong To Punish Disney

Plus: the ethics of civil disobedience

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Why Conservatives Are Wrong To Punish Disney

In the latest Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie discuss the broad implications of the unfolding DeSantis vs. Disney saga.

1:26: DeSantis vs. Disney continues. 

33:39: Weekly Listener Question: I'm wondering when it becomes ethical and even required under one's belief in liberty to begin enacting civil disobedience? In this case, I was thinking about riding the U-Bahn maskless, as a forty-something man publicly disobeying the most visible of the restrictions might invite others to question the wisdom of the policy. It's relatively low-risk as I'm triple-vaxxed, as is 75 percent of Hamburg, so I wouldn't be unnecessarily risking others' health, and they can wear a mask anyway. It's also a 40-euro fine, but I'd be willing to eat that cost for the statement of principle.

I acknowledge that state power is strongest in a time of emergency, but we're two years in at this point and have had vaccines for almost a year. And I realize that I could cause myself visa headaches. But, aside from that, is there any ethical reason not to begin a personal campaign of civil disobedience if I object strongly enough to the rules that look like they'll never go away or, at least, that the people in charge hope will never go away?

44:51: Media recommendations for the week.

This week's links: 

"Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business" by Milton Friedman, John Mackey, and T.J. Rodgers

"DeSantis Calls for End of Walt Disney World's Self-Rule" by Scott Shackford

"DeSantis Understands the Best Defense Is a Good Offense" by Jon Gabriel

Send your questions to [e-mail]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

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Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

What are we consuming this week?

Matt Welch

• Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt

Katherine Mangu-Ward

• A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles

Peter Suderman

• The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

Nick Gillespie

• Studio 666 by the Foo Fighters

---

Comments

[Moonrocks]

But muh corporations!

Fuck em. They shouldn't have been getting special tax breaks and carveouts in the first place. The only thing Florida Republicans did wrong was wait so damn long to do this.

And I still haven't gotten an answer to why Disney should get special treatment to build a theme park but sports teams shouldn't get special treatment to build stadiums.

[IceTrey]

They did pay taxes they just paid them to themselves. The county has no responsibility in the district now they have to provide services which I'll bet are going to be very expensive for them. Reedy Creek often ran at a loss and Disney had to cover it.

[Briggs Cunningham]

It won't be expensive at all. If the county needs money, Disney will have to cover it. That is how taxes work.

[Mother's Lament]

Thanks to paying taxes Disney will still have to cover it.
Don't fall for the rhetoric.

[con_fuse9]

Why would they have to cover it? Disney would be accessed a certain amount of property tax, and they would pay their share. They will pay corporate tax to state and federal like they always have.

Apparently there is also a $1Billionish bond that the local governments will have to take over.

[NOYB2]

Why would they have to cover it? Disney would be accessed a certain amount of property tax, and they would pay their share.

The county assesses how much Disney's property is worth. They can have special tax rates for the kind of business Disney represents. They can privatize roads and not maintain them. And if all else fails, they can find thousands of violations of regulations and fine Disney for it. In other words, they can start treating Disney like they treat other tax payers.

[NOYB2]

The county has no responsibility in the district now they have to provide services which I'll bet are going to be very expensive for them. Reedy Creek often ran at a loss and Disney had to cover it.

Oh, that's cute: you think counties actually have to provide services to residents in return for taxes. The real world doesn't work that way.

The county can easily transfer ownership of most of the road network back to Disney. They can also have special assessments and special taxes for large corporations.

In other words, the county can treat Disney the same way they treat many home owners.

[Brandybuck]

It's not the same thing as a sports stadium. Disneyworld operated as an incorporate city, a sports stadium is just a pure handout.

The problem with this whole episode is NOT Disney, but DeSantis and the Republicans choosing to retaliate merely because of a disagreement over a bill. Remember, Disney did NOT violate any law, was NOT teaching CRT to kids, was NOT saying "gay" in its schools. Because Disneyworld has no public schools. Duh. They are merely being punished for not being on board the kulturwar bandwagon. That is all.

Now you can argue about their tax status all you want, but I notice that LITERALLY NO ONE was talking about it last year. So thsi is not about their tax status, it's about the stupid ass can't-say-gay kulturwar. Fuck DeSantis, Fuck Biden, fuck every goddamned politician.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Now you can argue about their tax status all you want, but I notice that LITERALLY NO ONE was talking about it last year.

While you're technically correct, no one was talking about it last year, a lot of people were talking about it 30 years ago.

From the Florida Keys to Portland, Oregon, cities are increasingly turning to tourist taxes as one way to solve problems that come with being a top travel destination.

In the Keys, a portion of the taxes paid by hotel guests have built more than 1,000 affordable housing units. Portland is tapping into similar funds to help the homeless. Las Vegas uses part of the money for schools and transportation. And Honolulu is building a 20-mile rail system with some of the funds from its tax.

But in Orlando, home to the most iconic theme parks in the world and more than 129,000 hotel rooms, elected officials and industry leaders have preserved nearly all of the $300 million from a 6% levy on hotel rooms to aid the industry.

When Florida lawmakers have attempted to loosen the restrictions on the tax, they’ve run into major roadblocks.

Former state representative Matt Gaetz tried in 2015, asking the state to let counties use hotel tax dollars to pay for lifeguards, police officers and ambulances — public services stressed in his home district by big crowds that flock to the beaches.

But Gaetz, now a U.S. representative, said he was forced to rewrite his bill so it only applied to Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties in Florida’s Panhandle.

“There’s a saying in Tallahassee that your bill is dead if it has a rodent problem,” said Gaetz, referring to the Walt Disney Company’s vast influence in Florida politics. “In the end, I punted for a very parochial outcome ... so I got mine.”

[Fats of Fury]

Ahh! So Disney operates it own Ratican state.

[Dillinger]

Sell the Ratican!

[Dave Boz]

"They are merely being punished for not being on board the kulturwar bandwagon."

Disney is being punished for driving the damn wagon. They could have explained why they, as a family-friendly company, strongly favored teaching 5-year olds about transgenders and homosexuals. They have declined to provide that explanation, leaving it to our imaginations.

[Mother's Lament]

Pretty gutsy of Disney in a way, since their former Vice President was sentenced to prison for nearly seven years for child rape in 2019.

I guess the anti-grooming measures hit a nerve.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/bainbridge-island-man-a-former-disney-executive-convicted-in-portland-of-sexually-abusing-girl/

[mad.casual]

I guess the anti-grooming measures hit a nerve.

Hit a nerve ...One more time?

[con_fuse9]

Technically the law also forbids teaching about straight people. All sexual orientations.

[Mother's Lament]

No it doesn't. Put down the CNN and stop being gullible.

[damikesc]

It does not permit classroom discussions about sex and gender with kids.
Which is good.

I would oppose a teacher telling a kindergartner how she gave her husband ass-to-mouth that weekend.

[raspberrydinners]

The way you dumbasses keep parroting lines that people give you makes me think you have zero agency yourself.

Have you ever stopped to THINK about what is going on? Have you questioned all these stupid culture wars for one second?

JFC- stop being a braindead baby bird who is lapping up the shit that is being fed to you.

[damikesc]

...says somebody neckdeep in the culture wars...

[Mother's Lament]

"They are merely being punished"

Some fucking "punishment". Having to have the exact same rights and responsibilities as any other company in Florida.

You don't know what "punishment" means. If I'm getting free reign in an apartment block, and I shit on the landlord, so he says I have to be like any other tenant, it's not a "punishment". It's a loss of exceptional privilege's.

[raspberrydinners]

Except more places than Disney have these arrangements.

Fucking idiot.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s so cool you are standing up for the big corporations. Are you a shareholder or a republican?

[R Mac]

“Disneyworld operated as an incorporate city”

No matter how many times you say this, it doesn’t make it so.

[Mickey Rat]

Disney had been initially neutral on the subject, until a minority of their employees, mostly California based (and perhaps having other motivations, like being against Disney moving certain operations to Florida from California) raised a stink about Disney not being a kulturwarrior for their views.

[The Encogitationer]

Neither should get them. And DeSantis should have proposed a "Don't Say Or Do Compulsory Schooling Act" if he really cared for the well-being of kids.
Next question.

[raspberrydinners]

You clearly have no idea how the setup worked in the first place.

Not to mention this is done in more places than just Disney.

You can argue against it but acting like it's a "tax break" is just poorly thought out bullshit.

[ThomasD]

The People of the State of Florida did a "nice thing" to help bring Disney to do business there by giving them a special exemption from otherwise applicable law. It mostly worked out well for both groups until Disney decided they could wade in and pick a political fight with the very same legislature that established that very protection.

Stupidity should have a price.

[Agammamon]

How many states does the CA government prevent it employees going to on official business?

How many other companies had the special carve out Disney had?

Why does Reason not talk about extending that carveout to everyone instead of just talking about how wrong it is Disney lost it?

Why are we extending sex Ed into third grade?

[IceTrey]

Did you listen? There are 1280 carveouts in Florida alone.

[Longtobefree]

Six which may be affected by the bill.
It is all tangled up in the "new" constitution passed back in the dark ages.

[Agammamon]

Why is it wrong to subsidize a sports stadium but it's ok to keep subsidizing Disney?

[IceTrey]

They weren't subsidized. They had to pay for all the infrastructure themselves. They got nothing from the county.

[Brandybuck]

Bingo. There is a difference between a subsidy and a tax exempt status. In one you get taxpayer money handed to you, in the other you don't pay all the taxes.

Now of course the line between the two can be fuzzy because money is fungible. Like the Mortgage Interest Deduction. But they're still on opposite sides of a fuzzy line.

But it is amusing to see partisan Republicans demanding that corporations need to pay more in taxes. It's like they lost their playbook and had to borrow one from the Left.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s funny to see guys like you standing up for big companies.

[Nardz]

Brandy's never stood for anything in its worthless life. It lives on its knees begging for establishment approved praise

[NOYB2]

They weren't subsidized. They had to pay for all the infrastructure themselves.

That looks like a subsidy to me; after all, they don't have to use inefficient and costly county services, they can use efficient, free market mechanisms for their infrastructure.

Now they have to pay for the massive overhead of going through the county, like everybody else.

[Social Justice is neither]

You think advantageous loans and being able to ignore a good chunk of the law isn't a subsidy? How much is avoiding bad press worth when you own the cops?

[Agammamon]

Disney the company is subsidized by both FL and CA.

[Mickey Rat]

They were also able set much of their own regulatory standard within the district.

[damikesc]

...except avoiding zoning issues. Environmental issues. You know, the usual red tape that all of their competitors had to deal with.

[ThomasD]

"They weren't subsidized. "

Ok.

But then they they aren't being punished either.

[con_fuse9]

Sex Ed was already band below 5th grade.

The issue was discussion of sexual orientation. Read a book when Bobby has two dads....

Oh, but the law says discussion of sexual orientation - that includes being straight. So....
Read a book when Bobby has a mom and a dad....

[MaxBlancke]

The law itself bans sexual instruction that is not age appropriate. So the teacher is not allowed to teach 7 year olds about blowjobs.
But the main point of the legislation it that schools cannot have a policy of keeping issues related to the health or well-being of students secret from their parents.
None of that should be controversial. And it is bizarre that a family friendly company feels like they need to make their stand supporting people who want to show pictures of penises to little kids, and keep it secret from their parents.

[DeAnnP]

Who was showing teaching 7 year old about blowjobs and showing pictures of penises? So what happens if a 6 year old boy turns up at school wearing a pink shirt, and the other kids tease him and call him names, is the teacher not allowed to tell the children, Boys can wear pink too? I guess I just do not get the purpose or need for this law, other than to have some new boogeyman to moan about, for Desantis to score cheap political points, and for people to smear LGBTQ people by insinuating they are pedophile groomers.

[JasonT20]

The law itself bans sexual instruction that is not age appropriate. So the teacher is not allowed to teach 7 year olds about blowjobs.

Given how many conservative commenters here are constantly harping about how the law's critics are misstating or misunderstanding what it say and does, this is ridiculous. The law doesn't concern "sexual instruction" or sexual acts at all. It only refers to "sexual orientation" and "gender identity". It is complete bullshit to say that it is about protecting little kids from being taught about sex acts or shown pictures of penises or the like.

[Agammamon]

Then another question would by why is sex Ed taught before 5th grade?

[IceTrey]

Is it a punishment? Apparently the county can reestablish the special tax area it's a bad deal for them.

[BestUsedCarSales]

That's interesting. I haven't heard too much on it. I do expect this to actually not take place for many, many reasons.

[Brandybuck]

Civil Disobedience question: I would suggest reading Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience. It's a great treatise. He may have been a wanker when he wrote Walden, but he was at the top of his form with On Civil Disobedience. It is required reading in my Libertopian schools.

The act of civil disobedience necessarily invites punishment by the state. Fines or imprisonment, for example. That's half the point of the disobedience. Not masochism, but the public declaration that your morality is more important than the avoidance of punishment. It's the moral equivalent of putting your money where your mouth is.

But be warned that the goal of civil disobedience is not immediate change, or even change itself. Just one dude, and a middle aged white dude at that, isn't going to effect change all by himself merely for not wearing a mask. One must ask himself is this is the molehill you wish to die on.

In the past people engaged in civil disobedience in the cause of abolition, or peace, etc. Thoreau engaged in civil disobedience by not paying his taxes to support slavery, genocide, and war. Does not wearing a mask rise to that level? The answer varies from individual to individual, but the odds are it does not. You're certainly not on the same moral plane as Rosa Parks. But it's your choice to make, knowing that your micro-protest will change nothing.

[grrizzly]

Whine some more! If I had your looks I'd be masking for the rest of my life too.

[Longtobefree]

It depends on your personal health history.
Wearing a mask for extended time periods can cause some people more health issues than it is claimed the mask 'prevents'.

The molehill is called individual freedom. And it is worth dying on.

Particularly since the mandate is to do something with little benefit.
Would you comply if the CDC issued an edict that everyone had to get up at 5AM, go outside naked and dance in a circle for 5 minutes each morning?

[Idaho Bob]

"The molehill is called individual freedom. And it is worth dying on."

And worth killing for.

It's only a mask, a seat belt, a helmet, a vaccine, CCTV, etc. The tyranny of "safety".
These fuckers will never stop selling fear and embracing the control affiliated with it.

[Ersatz]

typical of how our freedoms are eroded and also how the state grows...
Ever hear pols proposing a new social scheme saying.. 'its only a coffee a day, or week or whatever...'
The thing is - the costs of everything they propose is trivialized like this but noone ever looks back and says - you've got us paying 60 coffees a day for your wonderful programs that dont benefit us.

[The Encogitationer]

You'll notice they never say that shit in the morning on The Today Show, Morning Joe, or Fox & Friends. It's always on the later programs when it's 3-martini lunch or night-cap time.

[Don't look at me!]

But be warned that the goal of civil disobedience is not immediate change, or even change itself.

Tell Rosa Parks all about it.

[con_fuse9]

Oh, like one exception breaks the rule... Err wait.

[The Encogitationer]

How many times do I have to tell y'all: She was just tired! 😉

Barbershop (2002) | Barbershop Talk: Rosa Parks | MGM Studios
https://youtu.be/ZTiE34oJz5I

[Agammamon]

Dude, get over it. Most of the country stopped wearing masks over a year ago.

[Dillinger]

>>In this case, I was thinking about riding the U-Bahn maskless

not masking when required is probably as close to civil disobedience as we're going to get in the here an now.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Tell that to the arsonist who burned himself up at SCOTUS.

[The Encogitationer]

Real Libertarians don't take public transit or anything with " Bahn" in the name.

[Kristian H.]

Shorter Why conservatives are wrong:

If you refuse to live up to your principles, the Alinsky left can't make you. That's bad, mmkay!

Really, this is yet another call for preemptive surrender / disarmament to the left. You know, the people who sick the IRS, destroy J6 protestors (while allowing actual terrorists to go free, use operation chokepoint to destroy LEGAL businesses. Y'all can FRO with 'conservative should be better than that' BS. Go have carnal relations with David French.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I won't listen to this, but whatever Suderman said, I think the opposite.

[Mother's Lament]

Like Overt said earlier today, "when you go public, you have a fiduciary duty to your shareholders. It is no longer YOUR company."

Disney execs. didn't seem to realize this. I hope the shareholders burn the Board and Management alive for this.

[perlmonger]

$50B in market cap drop since March 1. Kinda wish I'd known to short it.

[Think It Through]

Ah yes, yes my dear chap, Queensbury rules. Tap gloves. Fair fight and all. May the winner show good sportsmanship. May the loser fight another day. Congratulations all around and share a beer after work.

FUCK THAT. That's not how the left operates any more.

[Longtobefree]

"Kill 'em all and count the bodies"
If it was good enough for Vietnam, it's good enough for us.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Reason suckbags are just terrified that people are finally fighting back.

[SteveSc]

They wasted way too much time on Disney.

[AaronBonn]

Regarding the email question that compared DeSants' move to Masterpiece Cakeshop and likened it to unilateral disarmament, here's a response I would have liked to have heard: responding to culture war proxy-harassment with more culture war proxy-harassment doesn't hurt anyone but the innocent people you are choosing to harass as proxies in your culture war. Which is to say, punishing Disney as a proxy for the left more broadly doesn't actually punish anyone but Disney.

I'm only about ten minutes into the podcast, so if this is addressed later on, mea culpa. But if not, I am disappointed that none of you chose to highlight what I see as the most basic and glaring flaw in the "unilateral disarmament" argument itself.

[AaronBonn]

I listened to a bit more of it. KMW kind of addressed this. Mea culpa.

[The Encogitationer]

Can I at least finish watching all the X-Men Cartoons I missed in the Nineties? And search for more NatGeo specials with that cheerleader of humanity at it's best, Jason Silva?

[jdgalt1]

This is disinformation. DeSantis did not abolish Disney's district to punish the company. He abolished it in order to take away Disney's control of the local police there, who have used their powers to cover up and make disappear an unknown number of cases where Disney employees were accused of having "groomed" or abused kids. A separate police force will enable the public to hear about any cases like that going forward.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Thanks for pointing that out as I have a few times here. Disney's private police were clearly either corrupt or incompetent based on the number of sexual assaults on children by Disney employees. That's enough reason to revoke their governance status it seems to me.

[The Encogitationer]

Now do religion, especially The Roman Catholic Church.

[Social Justice is neither]

How many police forces does the Roman Catholic Church operate in the US? Stay on point comrade.

[The Encogitationer]

They claim they can "police" themselves and keep Priests from sexually abusing children and yet try to evoke the confidentiality of the Confessional when investigated for their crimes. They also evoke Sanctuary to try and harbor illegal aliens, including those who sex-traffick in children.

The numerous credible prosecutions and growing list of bankrupt Dioceses kinda puts a big hole in all their bullshit...Monsignor.

[The Encogitationer]

Now I am against special cut-out in legislation for any business, including Disney and sports teams, but I have have not found this alleged in evidence, even among Disney-haters. Care to cite?

Here's what I've found:

FACT FOCUS: Posts maligning Disney lack evidence
https://www.tricityherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article260356710.html

[con_fuse9]

Just to be clear, these are "conservatives" these are "Trumplicans" very different.

[Jeff Mason]

Companies like Disney stick their noses into politics at their own peril. They are appeasing their woke employees rather than looking after the interests of their customers and, more importantly, their stockholders. Speech is free but there are also consequences. If you think it is okay for freakish teachers to grill a 5-years olds about sex and transgenderism then you shouldn’t be surprised when those who disagree react negatively. In this case, they are the majority of the electorate in Florida and their governor is going to push back. Florida wants to stop grooming and is willing to punish those who support groomers.

[uncommon wealth]

Punishing a corporate with state power because the corporate opposes "Don't say gay" law, which is fundamentally anti-free speech, and supports lgbtq communities is an authoritarian move. Any libertarian should be disgusted by this.

[Mother's Lament]

"Punishing"

Getting treated like everyone else for a change isn't "punishment" no matter how hard you cry about it.

""Don't say gay" law"

Which isn't what the law says at all. Take your dishonest horseshit back to Huffpo.

[Beezard]

Except the “don’t say gay law” is nothing of the sort. And State gov sure as hell has a say in publicly funded curriculums even by libertarian standards.

[MaxBlancke]

It seems sort of stupid. A bill is written, and democratic focus groups work out a catchy name for the bill, and come up with claims about the bill, that may be completely wrong about it's text and intent.

Then, the usual suspects start agitating against the bill. Not based on the text or intent of the actual bill, but against the version of it cooked up by the focus group. They are outraged by and fighting against something that does not even exist.

[Liberty Lover]

How is leveling the playing field for a business punishment? The ability of a business to have self governance is a privilege, not a right. Like your drivers license it can be revoked.
A punishment would be a tax for being "woke". Much like some states plans to tax the unvaccinated. Comply or we will punish you. Maybe Reason would like to do an article on taxing the vaccinated?

[raspberrydinners]

I'm sure all you fascists would absolutely hate a tax on the unvaxxed as it would be just punishment for not getting it.

But FL fucks Disney for not staying in line with their bullshit culture war and you're all cheering it on like the morons you are.

[Liberty Lover]

The last sentence should have been"
Maybe Reason would like to do an article on taxing the unvaccinated?

[Liberty Lover]

A bill introduced in the Rhode Island legislature would require every eligible person who resides, works, or pays taxes in the state to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

Anyone who refuses will be fined $50 per month, AND “shall owe twice the amount of personal income taxes as would otherwise be assessed.”

The state will DOUBLE your taxes if you don’t comply.
This also applies to parents who refuse to inject their kids.
Any medical exemption requires the signature of three different doctors, with each document notarized.
But even medical exemptions can be thrown out if a government bureaucrat decides those doctors are wrong.

That people i spu

[Sheldonius Rex]

Groomers gonna groom.

[Social Justice is neither]

And their apologists gonna write for Reason.

[raspberrydinners]

Reason doesn't disappoint- the fascists are all out in force to defend their dear leaders.

[docduracoat]

If a corporation punches the Governor, the Governor will punch back.
With the approval of the voters.
Why does Disney feel any need to take sides in the culture wars?
Literally half the customers are conservative.
Andthey are a family oriented company.
The great Majority of their customers would be against teaching anything sexual to 5 year olds in school.
So why would they get involved on the side of leftist pedophiles?

[DeAnnP]

Where the voters who live in Orange/Osceola County given a chance to approve DeSantis's punch? If those half of the customers that you say are conservative do not like Disney taking sides, how about they just not go there or buy Disney-related products? Was there a reason given why it doesn't take effect until June 2023? Are there any "outs" between now and then should Disney decide to yield under the Florida government's pressure to "tow the line"?

[JasonT20]

Was there a reason given why it doesn't take effect until June 2023? Are there any "outs" between now and then should Disney decide to yield under the Florida government's pressure to "tow the line"?

I don't know if there was a reason that the Florida GOP (that is, Ron DeSantis) gave for making June 2023 the effective date. But it is clear this gives Disney time to make nice with Ron by the end of next year's legislative session, where it could re-approve of the special district. One year is certainly no where near enough time to legally untangle the special district and have Orange and Osceola Counties take over those functions. That is especially true of the bonds it has issued over the years, backed by property taxes, to pay for various things. Bonds that don't mature for up to another 15 years that ratings agencies have said they might have to downgrade because of all of this. Of course, in the law that created the special district in the first place, from 1967, the Florida legislature promised bondholders that it wouldn't interfere with the district. Those are promises that are part of the agreement for every bond issued since, I believe. The Florida GOP is then breaking promises made to investors. Of course, the bill was rushed through so fast, with basically no legal or economic analysis to speak of, so that is not surprising.

[JasonT20]

If a corporation punches the Governor, the Governor will punch back.

Disney did not "punch" DeSantis. It criticized a law he had pushed for, as is the right of every person in this country to do. (And corporations have those rights, too. Even critics of Citizens United don't deny that corporations can speak on public matters, they just don't agree that corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money promoting their speech regarding candidates for public office. And, by the way, Disney had given something like $100k to the Friends of Ron DeSantis Super PAC between 2019 and 2021. DeSantis was fine with Disney, even carving out an exception for theme park operators from his social media law at their urging in 2021.)

DeSantis then has no right to "punch" Disney with government authority for having said things that he doesn't like.

This is the New Right authoritarian worldview in a nutshell. The strongmen that it loves, it loves them for "punching back" at the libs. The fact that libs are the targets is all the justification for the punching that is needed.

[DeAnnP]

"This is the New Right authoritarian worldview in a nutshell. The strongmen that it loves, it loves them for "punching back" at the libs. The fact that libs are the targets is all the justification for the punching that is needed."

Exactly. I am finding it hard to wrap my head around how people are framing the Twitter drama as a free speech issue but have no problem with the Disney drama.

Twitter owners have every right to ban/suspend whomever they want once one agrees to their TOS. Now that Musk is the owner, he is free to change the TOS to whatever he chooses. ZERO to do with the 1st amendment.

Disney criticized the government and now said government is heaving retribution on them. Arguments that "they aren't punishing them, they are just taking away their special treatment" hold no water, DeSantis and the rest of the "Freedom Loving" Floridian 1st amendment-haters would not be entertaining this move had Disney not dared to criticize.

[Quicktown Brix]

Ron "Donboy" DeSantis is trying so hard to be Trump. He's doing a pretty good job of strongman-posturing and loud-mouthery on culture war issues, but Trumps insults are way better.

[JohnZ]

When Disney made the conscious decision to jump, with both feet into the gender identity/trans political arena, they made the target for themselves.
The old saying about making your bed and now you have to sleep in it remains true.
Disney brought this on themselves and I have no sympathy for the lot. They could have avoided this mess if they had remained within the purview of being what Disney is. But no, they had to get themselves tarred with tansgender politics.
And, they are losing money. So go ahead and move to Denver. The Dems there should provide a warm welcome.