# DeSantis's war on Disney **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 19, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073 "2022-04-19T18:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/21 "2022-04-19T21:08:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > OK, class. Please write a ten-page essay on what’s wrong with that sentence. I won’t and it’s illegal for you to give me an F for that. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/22 "2022-04-19T22:36:51Z")
You have it backwards. Disney’s prior political contributions, one source said $55 million over 30 years, those are what I’m saying was extortion. DeSantis’s war on Disney isn’t extortion, it’s political show. Disney has its own districts so that it can do its own roads, police, firefighting, utilities, etc. Walt Disney pushed hard for it so he could build EPCOT without answering to municipal and county authorities. Fold the district into say Orange County and suddenly the citizens of Orlando have to pay for all of that. Democratic state house Rep. Anna Eskamani (represents part of Orlando), [said](https://www.wmfe.org/rep-eskamani-calls-plan-to-disband-reedy-creek-improvement-district-bullying/197882), > “There really has not been an evidence-based analysis on the economic impact of Reedy Creek today. And what would happen if it was eliminated. I think there needs to be legitimate research done, versus just punitive performative politics because there are questions that have not been answered of what the economic impact would be with changing something that has been in statute since the 60s.” (Interesting fact: they even got permission to build a nuclear power plant because Mr. Disney thought the city of tomorrow might need one.) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/23 "2022-04-19T22:39:55Z")
An article I found today, talking about how the GOP is losing touch with the American mainstream. > **[Disney Didn’t Leave the GOP Behind — Culture Did](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/04/17/why-the-gop-turned-on-disney-00025639?fbclid=IwAR2I04KVbLHDC7ombKoaNy_5BBvpAO_Cm_Gg8s32EbxAwerOcuxmCbUcRJo)** > > Republicans’ high-profile feud with the Mouse is the next front in their ongoing feud with the American mainstream. I mean, really, the _Daily Caller_ is going to compete with Disney and the Muppets? What are they going to do? Make a TV series about an AR-15-toting Easter Bunny? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/24 "2022-04-19T22:52:23Z")
Oh, and Ted Cruz put an image in my head that I didn’t want, suggesting that Disney will soon have Mickey and _Pluto_ going at it. Which is not only gay sex, but _beastiality._ > **[Ted Cruz says Disney will have 'Mickey and Pluto going at it' in response to...](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ted%20cruz%20says%20disney%20will%20have%20%E2%80%98mickey%20and%20pluto%20going%20at%20it%E2%80%99%20in%20response%20to%20%E2%80%98don%E2%80%99t%20say%20gay%E2%80%99%20law/ar-AAWnzY5?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ec5ffdec63004cacbc85ac124b8f620b)** > > Ted Cruz was speaking on his podcast about Disney and decided to name drop two of its most innocent characters. What is it with Republicans sexualizing everything? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/25 "2022-04-19T23:07:58Z")
All I know is, Disney is not who I would want to have as an enemy. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/26 "2022-04-19T23:08:49Z")
Bestiality? Wait until he hears about _Brother Bear 2_. [![](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/2/7/0/666270.jpg) ](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/2/7/0/666270.jpg) Oh, and of course _Beauty and the Beast_. 🤦‍♂️ [![](https://media.sandiegoreader.com/img/photos/2017/03/16/beauty_and_the_beast_fucking_t670.jpg?b3f6a5d7692ccc373d56e40cf708e3fa67d9af9d) ](https://media.sandiegoreader.com/img/photos/2017/03/16/beauty_and_the_beast_fucking_t670.jpg?b3f6a5d7692ccc373d56e40cf708e3fa67d9af9d) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/27 "2022-04-20T00:08:49Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > An article I found today, talking about how the GOP is losing touch with the American mainstream. What _really_ galls the bigots is that Disney represents your basic middle-class sensibility. And it’s left them behind. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/28 "2022-04-20T00:20:31Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > (I thought the Republicans held the First Amendment very dearly). They do not. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/29 "2022-04-20T00:25:45Z")
What is the **Second** Amendment, Alex? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/30 "2022-04-20T00:33:18Z")
Florida politicians threatening to withdraw special relationships to gain favors isn’t unprecedented. Connie Mack used to be a Florida Senator. He was also a descendant of a former baseball team owner. His ability to threaten baseball’s “antitrust exemption” (it was ruled a game - not a business - back in the early 20th century to justify its monopoly over professional baseball) resulted in baseball’s expansion by 2 teams in the early 90s, including his home state’s Florida Marlins. In this case, I’m thinking some significant political contributions will eventually smooth things over. > [@Max\_S](#): > > What actually happened is, the legislature is drawing new districts due to census results. You make it sound so benign. The Republicans plan to eliminate two districts that reliably elect black people. > **[Florida Governor DeSantis wants to eliminate 2 proposed Black voting districts](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/20/1087766111/florida-governor-desantis-wants-to-eliminate-2-proposed-black-voting-districts)** > > Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants lawmakers to redraw two Congressional voting districts with majority Black populations. Observers say he is apparently courting a national audience. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/31 "2022-04-20T01:07:24Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > What is it with Republicans sexualizing everything? Well that is really the problem isn’t it. Probably the fundamental misunderstanding that conservatives have regarding homosexuality , that led to the don’t say gay bill, is that they entirely equate homosexual attraction with homosexual sex. They don’t make this mistake with regard to heterosexuality. When Belle falls for the beast, or robin hood frolics with maid Marion, its all perfectly age appropriate because its about love not about sex. However if you see a happy family with two dads holding hands, well you can’t really explain why they would do that without talking about sex in a way that would be inappropriate for 2nd graders. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/32 "2022-04-20T06:51:51Z")
I’m not seeing the outrage. The reason why Disney was given a separate political subdivision was because a rich guy wanted to build a happy fun park in the middle of a swamp and bring all kinds of economic development to the state. Along with that, they were building a gigantic infrastructure that was unique in that it wasn’t like a typical city but built only for the theme park. Now that this corporation has stopped only being a happy fun theme park but has used its quasi-government status to inject itself heavily into the political process, then the idea becomes that a private corporation should not be given a unique government platform from which to push its agenda. In a sense, it is government speech which is at odds with what the State of Florida is trying to do, and I don’t understand why Florida must continue a branch of government that is at odds with itself, especially when that branch of government is a purely private corporation not answerable to voters. Disestablishing this government that Disney has control of would not stifle its ability to speak at all. It has a special perk that is not available to other corporations who also speak on issues. Should the NRA have its own political subdivision? If a corporation is “punished” by not allowing it to self govern, then every corporation is being punished. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/33 "2022-04-20T07:12:34Z")
Well, you see, as the Supreme Court has told us, corporations are people with free speech rights. Therefore, by attempting to punish Disney for exercising its God-given Constitutional rights in a way that it disapproves of, Florida is violating the First Amendment, which I’m told is in some circles considered to be almost as important as the Second. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/34 "2022-04-20T08:05:23Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > the idea becomes that a private corporation should not be given a unique government platform from which to push its agenda “Unique”? AFAICT there are over fifty thousand special district governments within the US, and nearly two thousand in Florida alone. You act as though Disney’s situation is some kind of unheard-of privileged status. And the notion that it’s the existence of the special district that gives Disney a “platform from which to push its agenda” is completely risible. Disney has plenty of platform of its own making from which to air its views, thanks. Its municipal control of the Reedy Creek Special District is not significantly amplifying its voice in public affairs. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/35 "2022-04-20T09:05:28Z")
The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a (weird) municipality, i.e. a state government agency, and the state can abolish it at any time through whatever legislative process is provided by the state’s constitution and laws. Municipalities have **no** constitutional rights separate from those of their own states; in fact, they do not have standing to sue their own states in federal court for any reason whatsoever. I think Disney would have an uphill climb in establishing before the current federal courts that there’s any justiciable issue at all here. I don’t think there’s ever been a finding that a state’s ability to abolish a government agency is limited by the constitutional rights of the entities that elect the agency’s authorities. (Maybe it came up during desegregation? Like, I could see a state abolishing a majority-black city for blatantly racial reasons, and I could see that era’s courts looking very unfavorably on such an action.) Do any religious organizations have their own special districts? I think the current Supreme Court would be much more interested if a state retaliated against a church-owned special district for its religious views. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/36 "2022-04-20T09:43:07Z")
That’s an interesting idea. So if the mayor of Colorado Springs, for example, decided to trash Governor Polis, could he just get the legislature together and say “the Springs is no more” with no recourse? There are plenty of things that are legal for governments to do until it’s clearly retaliation for an action. Protected actions, like freedom of speech and association, make that doubly dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/37 "2022-04-20T09:45:40Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > That’s an interesting idea. So if the mayor of Colorado Springs, for example, decided to trash Governor Polis, could he just get the legislature together and say “the Springs is no more” with no recourse? Yes, so long as the relevant laws of Colorado say so. Many states have entrenched protections for local government specifically to prevent such an action, but absent such a provision, the state can give and take away completely arbitrarily. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/38 "2022-04-20T13:59:44Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I’m not seeing the outrage. That’s because there isn’t any outrage. Outrage is a GOP speciality - they’ve got a new one every Wednesday. What you _are_ seeing is complaints about DeSantis politically retaliating against a corporation that won’t support his bigotry and homophobia. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/39 "2022-04-20T14:03:08Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Now that this corporation has stopped only being a happy fun theme park but has used its quasi-government status to inject itself heavily into the political process How have they injected themselves “heavily” in the political process, really? Expressing what could best be described as milquetoast opposition to a single government bill? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/40 "2022-04-20T14:03:41Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > And the notion that it’s the existence of the special district that gives Disney a “platform from which to push its agenda” is completely risible. It’s also ridiculous to claim that Disney has never been political before. It literally fought to rewrite copyright worldwide, for example. No, clearly the issue is that DeSantis _et al_ **disagree** with their political position this time. And so the government is attempting to punish them for having a position they don’t like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073.md?page=3)