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DeSantis Conserves by Not Being Beholden to Conservative Idiocy
Governor DeSantis made a move that would have been blasphemy just five to ten years ago. He demanded that Florida remove the special exemptions Disney has to govern Disneyworld itself. In other words, he is forcing them to undergo more costs and more regulatory red tape. This is the opposite of what conservatives have been for decades.
In past years we would have heard cries of how you DO NOT go there. That action would harm workers. It would pass the costs to the consumer. You’re choking an artery of the Florida economy. You’re cutting off your own nose to spite your own face. We would have heard all the protestations that amount to do nothingness. Some would even claim that companies have inalienable rights to use the money of their shareholders to push what they want to push. Don’t do it! You’re infringing freedom!
This move is clear that that way of thinking has lost and is over. And the jubilation this move got from people on the right across the board (minus the typical cadre of sellouts and quislings such as Bill Kristol and Jonah Goldberg) was near-universal. This is the future. Conservatives need not be afraid of wielding government power against our enemies. Neither should we fear building new institutions, regulatory frameworks, and making cultural demands. There needs to be a heavy cost for corrupting our culture by attacking the minds of children and our way of life.
DeSantis gets it. This is a war. Children are more precious than protecting the Disney business. And any cost should be borne to stop this woke evil from penetrating into the fabric of everything we know and cherish. If Disney goes then so be it. Either they go or a peaceful childhood for every child in America goes. There is no middle ground or compromise to be had here. We are either a society that protects children or one that allows their slaughter at any stage inside the womb, and the mutilation and corruption of their bodies and minds if they survive the womb. Leftism has become completely hostile to the well-being of children. Any company that partners with this should be smashed to pieces if need be. What DeSantis has done will get us more from business than the decades of tax breaks and regulatory cuts the GOP has fought for.
Disney has had special exemptions for decades that the little guy in Florida hasn’t had the advantage of. And that doesn’t include the stupid tax breaks at the federal level that gives big corrupt business an advantage. DeSantis is on the verge of giving us our first real scalp in this culture war. Every other major corporation is taking note. They need to understand that it isn’t just the American way of life that gets to come under constant assault. They need to come under constant and endless assault for crossing a line that never should have been crossed. And they should be on their knees begging us to tell them what they need to do for the country and the culture to make us stop.
Next should be the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, and the American Bar Association. They should lose their status and ability to be the gatekeepers of standards and qualifications in our states. New alternatives should be supported and given the same ability to work in the states. The special privileges these organizations have operated under should be revoked due to a loss of confidence. When the American Medical Association is getting on board with all the trans nonsense, and claiming that gun ownership is a public health issue, I don’t think they’re qualified to be governing medical standards any longer. And we don’t need Marxist professors, universities, and their licensing bodies being the gatekeepers of laws in our states any longer. To quote one of Disney’s most popular shows, “This is the way.”
Published in General
Amen. Conservatives can no longer retreat from the public square.
You mean like this:
Sometimes I wonder if these folks, since they refuse to engage with alternative, conservative media or even acknowledge it, aren’t even aware of how the groomers have infested every institution.
There are alternatives to these already. They do need support. Unfortunately, the gatekeepers, having the political connections and deep pockets, are able to use the media to smear these alternatives as “alt-right” or worse.
Also unfortunately, it’s no longer enough to be neutral. Organizations must be blatantly and specifically right wing these days in order to yank the culture away from the left.
Government policies should create an environment that encourages all businesses, not just a favored few. The government that gives favors can demand compliance. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
I am of two minds on this. I actually agree with Ms Ellis and Mr. Cooke about a few points. I don’t want a government that pursues policies to punish its political enemies, whether it one dominated by the left or the right. Also I think the arrangement between Disney and Florida was mutually beneficial to both parties. That having been said. Real material losses have to be levied against corporations or the woke nonsense continues. This is a way of doing that, but it is one that also has long term costs to Florida as well. It is unfortunate that it has come to this point where we are in a war of all against all. I suspect this will all end in tears.
I’m in favor of it not just because I want to see Disney damaged, but because I don’t think Disney should get special privileges that other companies don’t. The left mocked “corporations are people, too,” but seem to have no problem with corporations becoming their own governments.
In fact, it’s been amazing to me watching the left become supporters of billionaires, corporations, and foreign wars. We are through the looking glass.
Although I agree with DeSantis wholeheartedly, I don’t like the idea of breaking a contract. I’ve been looking around the internet to see if there was a sunset or termination-for-cause clause in the original agreement, but I haven’t been able to find that information.
It’s going to be an interesting situation legally, I think. Splitting out the responsibilities for the roads, for example, and all of the other municipal services that the Reedy Creek District manages will take years to sort out.
I wonder if the state could create a state park in place of the Reedy Creek District.
It also makes me wonder if the state will have to pay an exorbitant “taking” penalty. In Massachusetts, when the state or cities or towns take over ownership of property, it always ends up in expensive lawsuits.
Disney was nuts to respond to the legislation the way they did. Nothing in the bill was a “threat” to the LGBTQ employees in any way. CEO Bob Chapek ought to be fired for allowing this to blow up the way it did.
But states and cities and towns do this routinely in times of local economic strife. They do it to attract businesses. When the economy is going well, the businesses pay the cities and states for the opportunity to locate their operations within that state’s or city’s boundaries. When the economy is going badly, the cities and states pay the businesses. :-)
It is an interesting arrangement that may make more sense for Disney than it being regulated by two probably corrupt and incompetent county governments. It was made in a time of serious people doing serious things. I think in this case I am with Chesterton leave the fence alone until you understand what its purpose is. I think this will probably be a boondoggle, but we shall see.
I think the left always was in favor of those things. They all tend to consolidate power which is what the left is really about. Rhetorically it was useful to the left to call those things out; however, they tend to support them in policy whenever they are in power.
It’s been years since I’ve read about this but apparently Disney is not a part of any surrounding county. It may not be inherently wrong to get special agreement with a state to avoid government control but it does give Disney World a unique status that no one else gets.
Disney very much is like a separate county. It’s largely independent. When I first read of this I thought it was wrong, that voting should only be by landowners but now I think I’m a little bit jealous.
I agree 100%. If this were merely revenge, I would be against it too. But Florida apparently changed the law right after Disney was granted this special status. I don’t agree that they should have it as other large corporations in Florida do not. So as far as I’m concerned, DeSantis and the Florida legislature are just revoking a special privilege, not punishing Disney.
The Usual Suspects™ on the GOP side have been offering up the argument that DeSantis “won” in his battle with Disney but won’t describe exactly what he’s supposedly “won.”
The most amusing part of this is the flipflop progressives are doing. Decades of railing against “corporate welfare” has given way to arguments about how THIS corporate welfare is a good thing, that Florida needs Disney more than Disney needs Florida, another argument that they scoffed at when corporations ditched American industrial towns for the cheap labor of China and Mexico.
I suppose it’s just like CHAZ, right? Washington State all but gave their blessing for that.
Exactly. Disney has no legal right to special privileges. So I don’t think any challenge will hold up in court. (Well, with an honest judge anyway.)
Actually, I am taking back my comment. I almost fell into the trap of considering this just from an economic and fairness point of view. I agree with the OP that this was a major move in the culture war, and wars have casualties and often unintended consequences. Some will come back to haunt us. But we won’t win the culture war just by saying: “See, we always play nice.” The left is after our children and they are not doing well by them. If they get their way, they will have no educational skills (have you looked at what they want to do to math), high rates of mental illness and fewer and fewer children. Tell me that this is a good thing and not worth fighting against?
One very good question is why other Republican governors aren’t doing the sort of things DeSantis is doing.
Here’s what else DeSantis did this week:
Oh, and also this:
Florida Tosses Math Textbooks over Critical Race Theory, Common Core Content
Disney needs to be governed by the same kind of government that they promote for all of us. If they don’t like it, they can change to promote fair, competent, small government for all.
This is why they should have stayed out of politics altogether. I don’t think this move is long term good for anyone, but it does impose a real material cost on Disney. Hopefully they will learn a painful lesson in this. I am leery though of governments, even ones I approve of, using their political power to alter long standing agreements. It sets the precedent that governments I don’t approve of will be able to use their same powers against me at some point. I know they already do, but that doesn’t make it right.
That’s why it’s recommended to never get in bed with the government. If possible, never allow your private organization to accept any sort of government funding. Because once you let them in, they can start dictating terms.
More corporations need to be brought to heel. I hope this is the start of lots of reform. If corporations don’t like it, they can try to exist without government favors. Let the same rules apply to all.
I think I’m still kind of pissed off about how state and local governments shut down small businesses two years ago for a virus, but allowed large big-box stores to continue as normal.
Yup. It’s amazing how dumb these people are. They want to move nothing and do nothing.
I disagree very strongly with C.W.Cooke; Florida needs to not only salt the earth on which Disney stands, it should be made radioactive. Florida needs to stand firm on what will happen if you mess with our children. This just isn’t for Florida’s children; it’s for ALL the children the world over. There shouldn’t be just a ‘red line ‘, it needs to be a wall of fire, with a gator-filled moat and parents with sniper rifles.
Encourages all business to do what? I’d say corporate America is plenty encouraged. They need to be discouraged.
There is no heavier long term cost than destroying the lives of children all over this country. The US was the US before Disney existed. It can’t be the US with a generation of aborted and mentally/physically ill children.
It is worth fighting against and yet as with any war unintended damage will be done. In the end I suspect that this will be long term bad for Disney and Florida. If it helps win the culture war it may be worth it. I tend to doubt it will have that much impact but it does impose a cost on a woke corporation so that may be worth something around the margins.
Disney world is a unique place with a unique set of circumstances that benefited from a special arrangement that the legislature of the time agreed to. Now it is going to be put into two counties that probably can’t manage the situation very well. Most likely case is that Disney will need to spend a lot of money lobbying the counties to keep things the way they are. Inherently this is going to make both counties more corrupt than they are now and probably not have the desired effect of leading to smaller government.
I doubt very much if this will stop Disney from pushing woke content into their entertainment products. It will force them to become more active in state politics in Florida which may not be a long term benefit at all. It does impose a cost though on Disney which is to the good. It also signals to corporations that caving to the left and annoying the right is not a cost free exercise so that may be good as well.
In the end all I am saying is that this is likely to be very messy and not an unambiguous good.
I think where we disagree is the efficacy of this policy toward that long term aim.
Generally I more agree with this than disagree with this statement. I definitely agree that what was done during the pandemic response was unconscionable. There are situations on both sides where there needs to be good regulation and governance and also accommodation for special circumstances. We use to understand this and do things better. Now we are just foolish about how to do things. By we I mean our elites on both the left and the right.
I don’t think it’s a silver bullet. What I think is that it’s the first time a conservative has inflicted pain on their enemies. It needs to happen again and again until they stop.
Disney certainly does have a right to support whatever political ideologies it wishes.
Disney does not have a right to state legislation granting the corporation its own private municipality.
It’s literally the definition of the word “privilege”, which is actually a portmanteau of “private” and “legislation”, meaning “an ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual”.
True, but as far as I understand it, Disney is not the only entity in FL with that priviledge – it is just the only entity the legislature and the governor are addressing. Which could and would be pointed out by Disney as a salient fact showing they are in fact being punished.
I’m not opposed to the brush back pitch being thrown here. I generally like Charlie Cooke, and think there is a lot in his analysis that should be considered and at least contended with. On the other hand, I am more incined to agree that the position he adovcates is one that is no longer really tenable. The culture war, especially in how it relates to large, quasi- government-like entities and corporations, is where the fight is.
I don’t think this is unrecoverable for Florida. Disney isn’t the only resort park in central Florida and DeSantis has been working to diversify Florida’s economy (because that is better for our state’s residents to not be dependent on a minimum wage service economy).
If this frees up resources to attract other industries to our state, that’s not a terrible, long term outcome. It will hurt for a little bit, maybe.