Of Mice and Men

New bill would give Gov. DeSantis control over Disney’s special Florida district – ABC News

In the latest development in Florida’s conflict with Walt Disney World, a bill filed Monday during the state’s special legislative session would give Gov. Ron DeSantis the ability to appoint a board to run Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District — the small, autonomous region that encompasses the company’s theme parks outside Orlando.

Those selected by the governor for the oversight board would then go through confirmation by the Florida Senate.

Currently, Disney elects the members because it owns the district, essentially allowing the company to govern the region around its businesses.

[…]

The proposal follows a law passed by the state legislature last year to eliminate the current district, which has granted Disney expansive authority over the carved-out area around its parks.

Instead of eliminating the district, the new bill gives the governor authority over who runs it.

The changes all come after Disney publicly criticized a controversial DeSantis-backed law banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain K-12 classrooms.

The Parental Rights in Education Law has been dubbed by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” while its supporters say it ensures age-inappropriate topics are kept out of class.

Disney, citing concerns of discrimination, has said it “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”

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60 thoughts on “Of Mice and Men”

  1. Ron, don’t mess with Mickey.  you were warned last year when the 1st bill passed

    Who’s the real Mickey Mouse in DeSantis vs. Disney? | Editorial (tampabay.com)

    The Walt Disney Co. is learning what university professors, public schools and media organizations in Florida already know — cross Gov. Ron DeSantis at your own peril. Nothing else explains the governor’s crusade against Disney in the wake of Disney’s criticism of the so-called “don’t say gay” law that Florida Republicans made a priority this year. It’s not enough for DeSantis to win; the governor has to cudgel his opponents. It’s a terrible reflection on Florida government and the health of the state’s democracy.
    On Tuesday, just hours before the start of a special legislative session on redistricting, DeSantis announced he had expanded the agenda to consider repealing the law that allows the Walt Disney World Resort to operate as a self-governing body. The attack on Disney came after the company criticized the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics dub the “don’t say gay” law. The measure prohibits instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade (which wasn’t happening anyway) and requires that such conversations in later grades be “age-appropriate,” a vague description that could easily lead to unnecessary legal wrangling. Disney worked behind the scenes to weaken the measure. After it passed, Disney CEO Bob Chapek apologized to his employees for not acting more forcefully, and announced the company would pause its political donations in the state.
    […]
    The Walt Disney Co. is learning what university professors, public schools and media organizations in Florida already know — cross Gov. Ron DeSantis at your own peril. Nothing else explains the governor’s crusade against Disney in the wake of Disney’s criticism of the so-called “don’t say gay” law that Florida Republicans made a priority this year. It’s not enough for DeSantis to win; the governor has to cudgel his opponents. It’s a terrible reflection on Florida government and the health of the state’s democracy.
    On Tuesday, just hours before the start of a special legislative session on redistricting, DeSantis announced he had expanded the agenda to consider repealing the law that allows the Walt Disney World Resort to operate as a self-governing body. The attack on Disney came after the company criticized the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics dub the “don’t say gay” law. The measure prohibits instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade (which wasn’t happening anyway) and requires that such conversations in later grades be “age-appropriate,” a vague description that could easily lead to unnecessary legal wrangling. Disney worked behind the scenes to weaken the measure. After it passed, Disney CEO Bob Chapek apologized to his employees for not acting more forcefully, and announced the company would pause its political donations in the state.
    […]
    Repealing the designation raises pros and cons, all of which deserve serious, deliberate consideration. But that’s not what this week’s special session is about. Adding Disney at the last minute was a shot across the bow, and the governor’s way of warning other companies not to cross him — or else.
    Of course, this has become standard procedure for one-party rule with whiffs of autocracy….
    Florida Republicans are waging a phony war. They claim to be bastions against indoctrination and censorship, yet they are honing those dangers to a fine point themselves. Shaking up Fantasyland after a half-century is one thing. But is that the price of political dissent? What company, what industry, what institution is next? And where is Florida headed under this Republican leadership if more voices merely clam up and go away?

  5. BiD I think Sam Bee would have a real shot at the Daily Show host spot. She’s got the timing and talent to do it. Do you know when she’s scheduled to host?

  6. looks like good idea to buy a generator, acquire solar thingys and store up extra batteries as this won’t be the last attempt on our power grids.  more of these folks are out there then you think.  

    Kathleen Belew, author of “Bring the War Home,” talks with Rachel Maddow about why neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. believe they can trigger a race war by attacking infrastructure like electricity substations.

  7. State of Union 9pm tonight. Will MAGA nuts interrupt? Should consult comedian advice on handling hecklers, such as “Isn’t it sad when cousins marry”.

  8. I wonder if it shows up somewhere that I turn off the TV when they start yapping about “what’s he going to say?”

  9. Now THIS is funny.  

    When Nick Castro received a call about an insect problem at a California home, the pest control technician figured a dead animal was stuck inside a wall. When he cut a hole in the wall to find it, however, Castro witnessed something he’d never seen in more than 20 years in the business.

    Thousands of acorns spilled out of the wall, and more appeared whenever Castro stuck his hand into the hole. He soon discovered woodpeckers had stored tens of thousands of acorns, which he said weighed roughly 700 pounds, in a wall cavity.

    “I was just kind of shocked and just wondering when it was going to end,” Castro, who owns Nick’s Extreme Pest Control in Santa Rosa, Calif., said. “We really expected maybe a couple handfuls of it, at most, but nothing like that. There’s no way you can even account for that.”

    700 pounds of acorns, stored in the wall of the home by a woodpecker?   I better check my attic – we’ve got woodpeckers and oak trees in  the neighborhood.

  11. Pogo… woodpeckers have done a lot of damage on our woodshed and our house…  but it’s all on the outside.
    There were times when Rick worked from home and was on the phone with an account worth millions of dollars and a woodpecker would be banging on our house just below his window.  Sometimes it was so loud that he’d excuse himself for a minute to open the window and shoo the woodpecker away.
     
    OTOH…  I LOVE woodpeckers.  I attract them with a well stocked double sided suet feeder.  So I guess it’s my fault…

  12. State of the Union, finally.  I do not know why we bother after all the talking heads have come to the final, and complete, conclusion of everything President Biden, will say, should say, should not say, and will not bother covering.
     
    The night gives many of the CNN people, faux lite, a chance to tell us how bad President Biden is doing as a failure of a president.  What a change of a network.  From news to crap.

  13. I’m concerned about more than MAGAts interrupting.  The metal detectors have been removed, and I believe a few members say they carry. (What they need is a mental detector.)  Can you imagine a McSmirky administration.   Republican behavior is most concerning.

  14. https://www.cabletv.com/blog/daily-show-guest-host-lineup
    Pogo – Here’s the lineup of guest hosts for TDS.  Bee is not on (yet), but they mention…

    “Al Franken, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, and Marlon Wayans have all been name-dropped by Comedy Central as future Daily Show guest hosts, and former correspondents may also be invited behind the desk. TDS probably won’t get Stephen Colbert (he’s kinda busy with CBS’ The Late Show), but John Oliver and Samantha Bee are possibilities. How about O.G. hosts Jon Stewart and Craig Kilborn? Dare to dream.”

    Up next, Sarah Silverman.

    Jon Stewart already has a great show, The Problem With Jon Stewart. It’s the best show, IMO.

    Where did the original host, Craig Kilborn, go after he left his CBS late night show? I’d almost forgotten about him.

  15. Renee, we’ve got at least a couple of different woodpecker strains around here. The largest are the pileated guys. Got some smaller ones that aren’t as colorful too. 

  16. Any magat says a “peep” is politically doomed.    

    Thompson—-Fuck the doomed!
    –RM Nixon to Hunter Thompson while taking a leak.

  17. Pogo…   we probably get the same woodpeckers.  We have quite a few Pileated around with living in the woods.  There’s also the Hairy, the Downy, the Red Bellied, and the Northern Flicker.  It was always a Hairy that was banging on our house.

  21. So, Desantis is a monster, but corporations probably shouldn’t have their own private fiefdoms with their own pseudo-governmental powers, regardless of what they’re selling

  22. RR – I am constantly amazed at the brilliance of that woman.  I am embarrassed as a Coloradoan (sort of former) for the state and most of the population. 
     
    For those who do not read a lot of weird news from Europe, more than a couple of putties “advisors” have been pushing for russia to invade other countries, usually Estonia or Finland.  There is one name that keeps floating around that is probably more than a distraction, Poland. We do not have a bottom to how low puttie will go, so be ready for almost anything. 

  23. Well, Renee, you made me have to do a little surfing and looks like you’re right.  Came up with this:
    The 7 species of woodpeckers found in West Virginia are the Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and the Pileated Woodpecker. 
     
    I’ve got a friend who had a similar experience at his home as you and Rick at yours, but with them the little peckers focused mostly on their fascia boards, which were stained cedar. Did a lot of damage to them.  Not sure which species were interested in their home, but they were smaller birds that were not overly showy.

  25. My dad and several others in his assisted living place have COVID.  He says he just feels like it’s a bad cold.  He went to town yesterday, so here we go, again. 

  26. Looking like a few of the “we know what you don’t” agencies are having a bit of problem because they could not see a two hundred foot balloon floating around, anywhere.  I will also give another dig is that they should have seen something the size of three buses (they are not small), sending out electronic signals at sixty thousand feet.  No airplane goes there on purpose.  Yup. 
     
    Do we have a OH Sheets? 

  30. Kevin McCarthy hates diabetics and senior citizens.  He chooses to look like an uncaring asshat.

    He isn’t even happy about it saving money for the government.

  31. Well done!

    “I’ll see you at the groundbreaking,” Biden said to the Republicans who did not vote for the infrastructure law but are happy to take the money and build the projects

  40. is this mic’d differently than normal or is the vibe as raucous as it sounds?  Sounds like a school-board meeting

  41. Kevin McCarthy hates families. He should really check his face and body language.  Well, he’s playing to what’s left of the MAGAt base.

  52. I could be wrong but I think Joe’s knocking it out of the park and is making McCarthy and the Repukes who can’t bring themselves to be supportive of decency look like the despicable pricks they are.  It may be window dressing but it’s great window dressing. 

  54. So, the only thing Republicans are hanging onto is the border/folks who don’t sound like us and who are most likely not white.

  56. Fentanyl, medical bankruptcy, gun violence, etc.; ticked all the boxes, good policy agenda 👍

    …going with a semi-colon 🤷‍♂️ ✌️ 🇺🇸

  58. For POTUS Joe to speak for that long without a teleprompter, wow.    Nobody should be worried about competence due to his age.

  59. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/07/politics/sotu-santos-romney/index.html

    “Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told GOP Rep. George Santos of New York: “You don’t belong here,” according to a member who witnessed the tense exchange in the House of Representatives chamber Tuesday night.”

    “After the speech, Romney told CNN he criticized Santos for standing in the front aisle “trying to shake hands” with the president and senators “given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation.”

    “He should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room,”…

    Go, Willard, go!

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