Speaking at Hillsdale College, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vowed to take vengeance on the Disney Corporation for pulling a fast one. Disney is the biggest employer in the state. The feud began when Disney objected to DeSantis’s anti-gay legislation, at the urging of its employees. DeSantis then got the legislature to dissolve Disney’s special self-governing district, the Reedy Creek district, and place Disney World under the control of a board appointed by DeSantis. But before the legislation passed, Disney’s Reedy Creek board made a deal to extend its existence for decades to come. DeSantis’ board was left with no powers.
DeSantis is an authoritarian who never admits defeat. So he must fight the Disney Corporation.
This is a warning to corporate America: Watch out for this guy. He will try to control you or destroy you.
Escalating an already hot feud, Gov. Ron DeSantis says he plans to void the Reedy Creek deal with Disney that stripped the new board of its power and consider imposing new hotel taxes and tolls on Disney World.
“Come hell or high water, we’re going to make sure that policy of Florida carries the day,” DeSantis said in a speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan on Thursday night. “And so they can keep trying to do things. But ultimately we’re going to win on every single issue involving Disney, I can tell you that.”
In a question-and-answer session at the conservative Michigan college, DeSantis called the entertainment giant and largest single-site employer in the state a “joke.”
Disney is “acting like somehow that they that they pulled one over on the state,” DeSantis said.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Republican Party has become an anti-democracy, intolerant, organization willing to do whatever it has to do to gain and retain power including, lie, support crazy conspiracy theories, and pit Americans against one another. It has become a danger to the American experience.
Overheard outside gov’s office door, “I am going to keep crapping on them as long they keep bringing people, money and jobs into the state! We’ll show them how to play both sides of the street!”
This latest round of ‘arm wrestling’ with Disney reveals DeSantis’ basic nature. He is a petty, vindictive person with limited vision. Disney is literally the goose that laid the golden egg in the state. DeSantis would rather go to war with them in order to preserve his strong man image than gracefully bow out of the fray. Someone so insecure and fragile cannot and will not provide sound leadership. There is no ground for compromise with such a braggadocious authoritarian. He will always defend his image and ego over what is best for his constituents, state and nation.
Nailed it, RT. And I suspect that a lot of Republicans nationwide are becoming hip to this. Thus his flailing support. Not an attractive figure. The embodiment of pettiness and peevishness.
Dangerously Deranged Despot DeSantis left out a few words in this sentence. Here’s what he didn’t say that his audience read between the lines. A few words had to be moved, but I’m sure DDDD’s audience knew what he meant.
“Come hell or high water, my hunta is xxxx going to make sure that our god’s glorious policy xx xxxxxxx carries the day in our god’s Kingdom of Florida,” Dictator DeSantis said in a speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan on Thursday night.
I would have used Emperor instead of Dictator, but I don’t think Florida rates an Emperor. Also Dictator starts with the letter D and it fits better.
DDDDD got the first five words right because the god he follows lives in hell and that lesser god’s name, well one of the names, is Satin.
That’s the way Ron. You play the old communist Democratic Centralism card. Stalin would be proud of you boy.
Ron DeStalinist
Exactly
Maybe Desantis isn’t as smart as he and his wife think he is. The corporate heft of the participants in the Disney LGBTQ this fall is quite impressive. The declaration by the Disney CEO that they intend to grow in Florida and Desantis can’t do anything about it is a very significant thumb in the Governors eye. The significant irony here is that the Republican Party is owned by corporate America, this includes MAGA. Let’s see what happens to Desantis tune when these billion dollar entities stop funding Desantis’ politics.
Imposing hotel taxes and tolls would just diminish his tourist trade. And then Disney would move lock, stock, and barrel out of the state and I am sure there are states that would clamor for their business.
What is sad is that the state legislature is doing his bidding and not looking at the consequences. They had to fix their first mistake on disbanding the Reedy Creek because of knee jerking.
I see this as a win-win-win…. for Disney. They get to be good cop to DeSantis’s bad cop. Win for both. They continue to bring jobs and investment into Florida (they will never leave, too much invested and have a source of easy money when pandemics aren’t around). Win for both. They get to tout their liberal credentials (it’s all about targeted cachet to cash in) while getting tax breaks for corporate greed, allowing more “grassroots” investments in “both-sides” funding. Win for both. Even get liberals and hated constituencies to intentionally spend their money in Florida! Win for both. And they’ve been homogenizing American culture for about 90 years already, what’s little tweak we can add it over time so no one will notice? Big win for both.
Meanwhile, my daughter takes Disney to task for its cancellation of an animation, Owl House, that has characters that are of varying gender.
He’s an angry toddler with no moral compass.
“Come hell or high water, we’re going to make sure it’s my way or the highway,” DeSantis insisted in a speech at History-and-Philosophy-through-a-Middle-Class-Male-White-Supremacist-Lens College in Michigan on Thursday night, stamping his foot and waving his little hands in the air like Stewie on Family Guy.
When DeSantis goes into defensive, combative mode, which is a lot of the time, I feel like his head is about to explode.
LOL. IKR?
Listening to Desantis’ justification gymnastics makes my head explode!
Paul, I honestly don’t think that body is capable of any sort of gymnastics!
I really wonder, RT, whether he is EMOTIONALLY up to the rigors of a presidential campaign because he does not brook disagreement well. He does act as though his head is going to explode, and he says stupid, extreme things in reaction. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out.
Ron could seriously use some anger management therapy.
We’ve just been through four years with a president with little ability to moderate and control his emotions. We don’t need another rounds of this.
“The anti-democratic, racially based expulsion of two young Black representatives from the Tennessee House by the GOP has attracted worldwide condemnation. “
A truer word was never spoken. Traveling today, I
have experienced this personally, meeting a man in Mississippi who instantly responded oh, Tennessee to my telling him where I live.
Was reading German newspapers this morning and it’s quite a big story over there. Read on news analysis that basically said, “ready to take your rose-colored glasses about America off now?” Sort of in that spirit. As much as they like the stability Biden represents, I think most have given up on the U.S. as something to admire or aspire to anymore.
First, I think DeSantis is losing his mind. Second, if he wants to take on Disney, he is wasting his time. It is one of the most powerful corporations in the world. Don’t take my word for it: read “Team Rodent” by Carl Hiassen. Finally, doesn’t he have work to do in Florida? Besides brutalizing teachers and librarians? Sheesh.
He has in no way lost his mind. Please let that go now. This is deliberate and the culmination of a lifetime of bigotry and hate.
I suppose he figures that he can fight Disney because they can’t move. But the down side for him is that other corporations are watching and concluding that Florida is not a good place to do business under this guy.
Corporations becoming woke to Republican Ideologues —
Like Disney, corporations everywhere are beginning to realize that by pandering to the Republican ideologues, such as Desantis and many others, they have created Frankenstein’s Monsters whose rigid ideological brains will turn against corporations who don’t bow down to the ideology.