Disney on Thursday appealed a judge’s dismissal of its free speech lawsuit over what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliatory takeover of Walt Disney World’s governing district, as the Florida governor separately called any appeal “a mistake.”
“They were wrong and we were right,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville a day after the ruling. “They should move on.”
Disney filed a notice of appeal over Wednesday’s ruling by a federal judge in Tallahassee, saying that it would set a dangerous precedent if left unchallenged by giving states the green light to weaponize their powers to punish opposing viewpoints. A separate lawsuit over who controls the district also is still pending in state court in Orlando.
Disney had argued that legislation signed by DeSantis and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature transferring control of the Disney World governing district from Disney supporters to DeSantis appointees was in retaliation for the company publicly opposing the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The 2022 law banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and was championed by DeSantis, who had used Disney as a punching bag in speeches on the campaign trail until he recently suspended his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
I think that’s due to the inexplicable resilience of the Democrats belief that there is any shame or principle remaining in current Republican politics. They literally purged a Cheney (!) for not being sufficiently right wing.
It seems to finally be sinking in that precedent and tradition and compromise simply do not matter to the GOP.
There comes a point where ignorance, willful or not, is actually worse than the alternatives…