Ron's Gone Wrong, Con't

Florida GOP Sen. Ron DeSantis is continuing his war to destroy Disney, making public threats of retaliatory, punitive state action against the entertainment company for the crime of acknowledging LGBTQ+ people exist and are Disney customers.

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Monday that the Florida Legislature will soon reassert control over Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, promising to void development agreements and even floating the idea of building a state prison near the world-famous attraction.

Legislation also will be filed to take away Disney’s self-inspection of rides and monorails and allow the state to examine a ride if someone is seriously injured on it, DeSantis said at a news conference at Reedy Creek’s administrative building.

He then mused about potentially selling off the district’s utilities and developing district land that Disney doesn’t own.

“People are like, ‘Well, ... what should we do with this land?” said a smiling DeSantis. “... Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks? Someone even said, ‘Maybe you need another state prison?’ Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless.”

DeSantis’ hand-picked oversight board, which will meet on Wednesday, will also consider revoking the development agreement and other measures, he said, citing what he called a “plethora of legal infirmities.”

The governor said lawmakers could move on the bills as soon as next week.

Asked whether the state would take away the ride inspection exemption granted to all major theme parks in the state, including Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Legoland, DeSantis suggested only Disney would be affected

“I think it’s going to be this legislative question,” DeSantis said. “But I think what the Legislature is going to do is apply that to special districts.”

 

And again, don't get me wrong here. Disney is a massive conglomerate worth $180 billion or so, and that's after it has lost half of its stock value in the last two years because of its greed, with the mighty Marvel Studios, Lucasfilms and 20th Century Fox empires being bled dry, Disney Plus losing billions in the streaming wars, and the company bowing to Chinese censorship. I actually do want to see the company suffer.

But I want to see Ron DeSantis lose badly too. And you know what? The more they fight, the more they both cause harm to each other? I'm okay with that. What I'm not okay with are Disney employees and Florida residents paying the price for this war of attrition, and that's where we're headed.

 

Keep that in mind.