Florida lawmakers to discuss takeover of Disney self-governing district

**tehdang** · 2023-05-20, 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by beanman12345

Why don't you agree on more stuff? You went from rooting for deeply unpopular failure Trump to an even bigger failure and an even more unpopular DeSantis. What exactly is it about extremely unpopular failures that draws so much support from you? Is that just some default thing?

Is this some kind of bit where you're posting as Trump? "The guys you're rooting for? Total failures. Deeply unpopular. Me? The people love me! Super popular."

If that's just an introductory joke or good-natured troll to break the ice, do you have something pertaining to Disney in the Disney thread?

**Dontrike** · 2023-05-20, 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by beanman12345

Why don't you agree on more stuff? You went from rooting for deeply unpopular failure Trump to an even bigger failure and an even more unpopular DeSantis. What exactly is it about extremely unpopular failures that draws so much support from you? Is that just some default thing?

Because she likes fascists, it's just that simple.

**gondrin** · 2023-05-20, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Kaleredar

Uhhhh no. Desantis isn't president-for-life. He's a governor. Disney isn't a Florida-based company. They're a multinational corporation. Florida needs Disney, or a bit more generously to Florida, needs the tourism industry. It props up their state, wholesale.

People like Disney more than they like Desantis, and all of the thorns he's prickled in their side (which they've plucked out with expediency) could be undone by the next governor to succeed Desantis.

Desantis keeps doubling down, but he has far fewer chips than Disney does. What on earth makes you think Disney is "scared" of a single fussy governor from the swamp state? They just casually canned a multi-million dollar development deal that would have paid dividends to Florida like it was nothing.

Biggest thing about how important Disney is to Florida is if you go to the park resort area and look between 5 - 10 miles outside of that in all directions, all those businesses and jobs are completely reliant on Disney tourism for business. If Disney were to ever leave(not seeing it happen outside of very bad things happening), nearly all those businesses and therefor jobs would more than likely disappear too. I just came back from there and right outside of it is one big strip mall of various businesses and some homes.

**Kaleredar** · 2023-05-20, 06:13 AM

Originally Posted by gondrin

Biggest thing about how important Disney is to Florida is if you go to the park resort area and look between 5 - 10 miles outside of that in all directions, all those businesses and jobs are completely reliant on Disney tourism for business. If Disney were to ever leave(not seeing it happen outside of very bad things happening), nearly all those businesses and therefor jobs would more than likely disappear too. I just came back from there and right outside of it is one big strip mall of various businesses and some homes.

Land at the Orlando Airport and it's wall-to-wall Disney advertisements. Hell there's a Disney Store in the airport.

Desantis and his appointed cronies seem to be the only ones that want this feud, and it's entirely self-serving to Desantis' interests, and not Florida's overall in any way. As I've said numerous times, when it comes down to a popularity concept between a petty Governor in America's most meme'd state, and everyone's favorite Cartoon Mouse... the cartoon mouse is going to win. Especially when the cartoon mouse is whooping said petty governor's ass.

And there are many legitimate concerns about Disney as a corporation (upending thousands of employees and sending them across an entire country for no reason other than the corporation making more money being a great one) Desantis isn't actually going after any of that. He and the GOP could give a rat's ass about things like working conditions, copyright laws, fair use, etc, etc. This is purely him waging a culture war against a private entity while using the powers of governance to try and stymie their free speech.

**gondrin** · 2023-05-20, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by Kaleredar

Land at the Orlando Airport and it's wall-to-wall Disney advertisements. Hell there's a Disney Store in the airport.

Desantis and his appointed cronies seem to be the only ones that want this feud, and it's entirely self-serving to Desantis' interests, and not Florida's overall in any way. As I've said numerous times, when it comes down to a popularity concept between a petty Governor in America's most meme'd state, and everyone's favorite Cartoon Mouse... the cartoon mouse is going to win. Especially when the cartoon mouse is whooping said petty governor's ass.

And there are many legitimate concerns about Disney as a corporation (upending thousands of employees and sending them across an entire country for no reason other than the corporation making more money being a great one) Desantis isn't actually going after any of that. He and the GOP could give a rat's ass about things like working conditions, copyright laws, fair use, etc, etc. This is purely him waging a culture war against a private entity while using the powers of governance to try and stymie their free speech.

Remember folks, before Disney came in, it was nothing but swamp and orange groves. Big tourism stuff there. Go see the oranges grow and the swamp people fight the alligators.

On a serious note, you are right that DeSantis could easily pick a better fight with Disney. Working conditions? Great. Massive abuse of copyright laws? Perfect.

Because they didn't like what was passed and spoke out like any person would? Dumbest thing that could be fought over.

**Breccia** · 2023-05-20, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by tehdang

Is this some--

You didn't answer his question.

Also, you still haven't addressed Trump being found liable for sexual assault. You're lucky anyone's asking you literally anything else, honestly.

If you're going to ask others questions and expect answers, the very minimum you could do is answer them yourself. You're not doing that. It's almost like you're not a genuine poster, or something.

**gondrin** · 2023-05-20, 07:41 PM

So, by taking a lesson from someone who he took cues from, DeSantis is asking for the Judge in the case to be disqualified from presiding over the case.

Bold move Cotton. Let's see how it goes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/de...3bc4d3ce7&ei=7

DeSantis asks that judge be disqualified from Disney's free speech lawsuit

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurist's prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the state's efforts to take over Disney World's governing body.

DeSantis ' attorney filed a motion in federal court in Tallahassee on Friday seeking to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker from overseeing the lawsuit filed by Disney last month. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his appointees violated the company's right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters after Disney opposed Florida legislation that critics have dubbed “Don't Say Gay.”

The Republican governor's motion was filed a day after Disney announced that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, amid an ongoing feud with DeSantis.

DeSantis' motion said Walker referenced the ongoing dispute between his administration and Disney during hearings in two unrelated lawsuits before him dealing with free speech issues and fear of retaliation for violating new laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. One of those was a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Florida professors that challenged a new law establishing a survey about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on state campuses.

Walker, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama and is now chief judge of the district, tossed out that lawsuit on the grounds that the professors didn't have standing to challenge the law championed by DeSantis and Florida lawmakers.

In the first case, Walker said, “What’s in the record, for example — is there anything in the record that says we are now going to take away Disney’s special status because they’re woke?"

In the second case, the judge said, “And then Disney is going to lose its status because—arguably, because they made a statement that run afoul—ran afoul of state policy of the controlling party,” according to the DeSantis motion.

Disney and DeSantis have been engaged in a tug-of-war for more than a year that has engulfed the GOP governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected presidential bid next week.

The feud started after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed the state concerning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades that critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”

As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney World’s self-governing district through legislation passed by lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors. Before the new board came in, the company signed agreements with the old board stripping the new supervisors of design and construction authority.

In response, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed legislation allowing the DeSantis-appointed board to repeal those agreements and made the theme park resort’s monorail system subject to state inspection, when it previously had been done in-house.

Disney filed the First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis and Disney-appointed board last month in federal court in Tallahassee, and it landed in Walker's court. The Disney-appointed board earlier this month sued Disney in state court in Orlando seeking to void the deals the company made with the previous board.

The creation of Disney’s self-governing district by the Florida Legislature was instrumental in the company’s decision in the 1960s to build near Orlando. Disney told the state at the time that it planned to build a futuristic city that would include a transit system and urban planning innovations, so the company needed autonomy. The futuristic city never materialized, however, and instead morphed into a second theme park that opened in 1982.

**Endus** · 2023-05-20, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by gondrin

So, by taking a lesson from someone who he took cues from, DeSantis is asking for the Judge in the case to be disqualified from presiding over the case.

Bold move Cotton. Let's see how it goes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/de...3bc4d3ce7&ei=7

So he wants the judge disqualified because . . . he's lost cases before this same judge because DeSantis' legal claims were specious bullshit and the Judge called him out on that in the ruling?

That's not cause for disqualification. That's cause for this judge to sanction the Florida government directly if this lawsuit's specious as well, because the Florida government would be misusing the courts to try and punish a private company for political opposition.

**Breccia** · 2023-05-22, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by gondrin

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurist's prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the state's efforts to take over Disney World's governing body.

Originally Posted by Endus

That's not cause for disqualification.

I mean, let's see that line of thought all the way through. Imagine if every single judge in the increasing number of state anti-abortion laws, was replaced, if that judge had said even once they were pro-life. Such a statement, even once, would have "raised questions about impartiality" and they'd have to immediately step down.

This has happened a grand total of never. DeSantis is free to ask nicely, but that's it. Just look at Trump's record, as a perfect example.

**Jaransan** · 2023-05-24, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by gondrin

Remember folks, before Disney came in, it was nothing but swamp and orange groves. Big tourism stuff there. Go see the oranges grow and the swamp people fight the alligators.

On a serious note, you are right that DeSantis could easily pick a better fight with Disney. Working conditions? Great. Massive abuse of copyright laws? Perfect.

Because they didn't like what was passed and spoke out like any person would? Dumbest thing that could be fought over.

Yeah but the problem with going after a company over working conditions or abusing laws to get what they want is... that's all shit they campaigned to make easier in the first place. It's kind of the Republican Parties entire shtick at this point. He can't really go after a company for something like that because it sets the precedent that well, you can go after companies for shit like that.

And the companies that pay the mans bills - I'm sorry, donate to his campaign - would probably take issue with getting backwash like that.

**Breccia** · 2023-05-27, 02:12 PM

I've been seeing more and more DeSaster, sorry I meant DeSadness, sorry I meant Desantis news recently -- probably due to the announcement. I wonder if this will become a megathread?

In the ongoing attempt to keep this on topic, DeSantis moved to have the judge in the Disney case removed and Diseny of course pointed out that he had no valid reason to do that.

It's a nineteen-page filing of things that, even if I do understand I shouldn't. So I'll quote like half the introduction.

Defendants’ motion to disqualify is premised on a misapprehension of the law and a
misstatement of the facts. Section 455(a) does not prescribe the hair-trigger disqualification
standard defendants suggest. Section 455(a) instead authorizes disqualification only when a
court’s comments about the issues or parties in a case would cause a reasonable, fully-informed
observer to have significant doubts that the court can approach the case with an open mind. As
this Court, others in the District, and the Eleventh Circuit have emphasized, that standard
establishes a high bar to disqualification—otherwise, parties could too easily use § 455(a) to
effectively veto judges whose decisions they do not like and shop for a judge more to their
liking.

Defendants instead base their motion on two year-old hypothetical questions during prior
judicial proceedings where the Court accurately referred to widely-publicized statements from
Florida legislators about their intent to change the governing structure of the Reedy Creek
Improvement District (“RCID”) specifically because Disney expressed a political viewpoint
disfavored by the legislators. The Court did not make any findings about those statements, but
simply invoked them during oral arguments as examples to test arguments being advanced by
counsel addressing different issues under different factual records.

Judges are not prohibited from referring accurately to widely-reported news events
during oral arguments, nor must they disqualify themselves if cases related to those events
happen to come before them months later. Disqualification is allowed only if the prior
comments expose an incapacity on the judge’s part to consider the new case on its own merits.
The comments here come nowhere close to that standard.

Finally, as the Eleventh Circuit has emphasized, a disqualification motion should be
viewed within the larger context of the court’s rulings. That context here conclusively refutes
any suggestion that this Court harbors bias against the Governor or the State. Not only has this
Court repeatedly dismissed claims and cases asserted against the Governor and other State
officers, but the Court recently ruled in favor of the relevant State defendants in the very cases
cited by defendants here as evidence of potential bias against them. Far from proving bias, the
cases confirm the Court’s impartiality. The motion to disqualify should be denied.

Okay, that was more than half. But the introduction alone was so full of "DeSantis objectively can't do that" that you'd think it was a Trump ruling. I did read the whole thing, but I think the above gets the general idea...not that I'm an expert.

And just in case this is to be a megathread, I'll add one more quick thing. Remember DeSantis' super PAC announcement ad/video?

Those weren't real jets. Those were Fake Jets.

**gondrin** · 2023-05-27, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by Breccia

I've been seeing more and more DeSaster, sorry I meant DeSadness, sorry I meant Desantis news recently -- probably due to the announcement. I wonder if this will become a megathread?

In the ongoing attempt to keep this on topic, DeSantis moved to have the judge in the Disney case removed and Diseny of course pointed out that he had no valid reason to do that.

It's a nineteen-page filing of things that, even if I do understand I shouldn't. So I'll quote like half the introduction.

Okay, that was more than half. But the introduction alone was so full of "DeSantis objectively can't do that" that you'd think it was a Trump ruling. I did read the whole thing, but I think the above gets the general idea...not that I'm an expert.

And just in case this is to be a megathread, I'll add one more quick thing. Remember DeSantis' super PAC announcement ad/video?

Those weren't real jets. Those were Fake Jets.

Those honestly look like out of focus pigeons. Maybe dropping a deuce right on him.

**Breccia** · 2023-05-28, 04:51 PM

Michael Sasso, DeSantis appointee, resigns from Disney oversight committee.

Sasso was one of five members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Board of Supervisors, the governor-appointed board at the center of DeSantis’ dispute with Disney.

Sasso has not publicly given a reason for his resignation. On Tuesday, DeSantis elevated his wife, Meredith Sasso, to the Florida Supreme Court. She was the chief judge of the Sixth District Circuit Court of Appeal.

One of two things has happened, because I do not believe this to be coincidence.

One, he resigned to avoid conflicts of interest.

Two, he took the seat thinking it would help his wife, and left as soon as her lifetime position was granted.

**diller** · 2023-05-28, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by Doctor Amadeus

Kind of like Russia and Communism were bad, until they entertained the idea it was Trump and someone with whom they approved of more than anything.

Except for the part where Russia was never communist or claimed to be.

**Doctor Amadeus** · 2023-05-29, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by diller

Except for the part where Russia was never communist or claimed to be.