Courts Are the Cornerstone of Our Fight for Democracy

Over the last few months, I've written quite a bit about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - focused mostly on his efforts to punish Disney. To put that into some context, it was shortly after the governor signed the bill stripping Disney of it's special tax status that I learned more about the so-called "National Conservatives" who have been embracing fascism  (ala Viktor Orban) as a way to fight the culture wars. It was clear to me that DeSantis was doing more to advance that cause than any other Republican. Almost every day brings yet another revelation about his intentions.

DeSantis is moving to censor state university professors. That's what this is, an intimidation tactic to censor information DeSantis disagrees with solely because it acknowledges systemic inequalities. https://t.co/Vv9o2gnjN7

— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) January 5, 2023

Florida has used Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE Act” to block AP African American Studies from its schools

Florida’s Department of Education said the curriculum “is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” https://t.co/eemh1a8e0i

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 18, 2023

As I was writing the most recent piece about where things stand between DeSantis and Disney, it became clear that the whole fiasco might wind up being decided in the courts. Actually, that's where a lot of the governor's agenda has landed. 

According to the Miami Herald, DeSantis's stunts have resulted in 15 lawsuits that have cost Florida's taxpayers $17 million in legal fees to date. The Herald summed up the results with this: "In case after case, courts have scaled back, thrown out, or left in legal limbo rules and laws that impose restrictions on social media giants; limit voting; curb gender-related health care; influence speech in the workplace, college campuses and classrooms; and create new crimes for peaceful protests.” 

The good news is that the courts don't seem to be buying what the governor is selling. But here's the bad news: I doubt DeSantis cares. There are several reasons why.

First of all, DeSantis - like most Republicans these days - is into performative politics. He grabs headlines with these moves and the GOP base loves them. Months later, when the courts weigh in, no one notices. And if they do, the governor will simply undermine our judicial system by claiming it is proof that the courts are "too woke." 

Secondly, to the extent that National Conservatives continue to follow in the footsteps of Hungary's Viktor Orban, they will corrupt the court system. After documenting DeSantis's attacks on the First Amendment, Ian Millhiser provides this warning:

The greatest danger, if DeSantis continues to consolidate power, isn’t that he will sign more amateurish laws that are ultimately struck down. It’s that some of these laws may be upheld in precedent-setting decisions that could do considerable violence to the First Amendment...

The most troubling thing about DeSantis’s war on free expression, in other words, isn’t that he’s signed several unconstitutional laws that seek to suppress viewpoints he does not like — or even that he’s used his authority as governor to target institutions that dared to criticize him. It’s that, if DeSantis someday becomes president, he could fill the courts with more judges like Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.

Of course, that effort to corrupt the courts has been underway for years now by Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo. 

If all of that fails, at least one National Conservative has articulated the plan.

“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left,” he said. “And turn them against the left. We need like a de-Baathification program, a de-woke-ification program.”...

“And when the courts stop you,” he went on, “stand before the country, and say...the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.”

The man who said that is J.D. Vance - who is now a member of the U.S. Senate. 

Keep in mind that these are the same people who fomented an insurrection when a presidential election didn't go their way. Does anyone really think that, when push comes to shove, they'll abide by rulings of the courts?

I hate to be such a Debbie Downer, but those are the stakes at play these days. That's why, flying under the radar, Biden and Democrats in the Senate have done this: 

The effort continues. Just this week Biden announced his 29th round of judicial nominations - bringing the total to 154. While a lot of attention is focused on the Supreme Court (which hears about 80 cases a year), courts of appeals handle tens of thousands of cases annually — often making them the last word in cases that impact the lives of Americans.

As the GOP-controlled House works on blowing things up, Democrats in the Senate will work on healing our broken judiciary. Those efforts won't garner much attention, but they are the cornerstone of our fight for democracy. 

Disney to DeSantis and Rufo: FAFO

On February 27th, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that allowed him to appoint members to the supervisory board of the the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) - which governs the land surrounding DisneyWorld. At the time, DeSantis said: "Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There's a new sheriff in town." Here's how Disney responded:

Jeff Vahle, the president of Walt Disney World Resort, said the company was "ready to work within this new framework, and we will continue to innovate, inspire and bring joy to the millions of guests who come to Florida to visit Walt Disney World each year."

I was a bit disappointed. It's not because I have any love lost for a major corporation like Disney. Rather, I thought that kow-towing to a fascist like DeSantis set a terrible precedent. 

So I have to admit that I giggled a bit when it was announced that Disney was going to host the Out and Equal Workplace summit in Orlando for the next two years. Billed as "the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world," it felt like Disney was sticking it to DeSantis just a bit.

But then the really big news broke on Wednesday. I'll let Michael Hiltzik explain:

Did you really believe that Florida’s arrogant, petty, childish Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) would get the better of Walt Disney Co. in their fight over Disney’s supposed “wokeness”?

If so, you don’t know your Disney.

DeSantis handpicked a board of cronies to take over control of Reedy Creek Improvement District — the quasi-governmental entity that Disney and Florida established more than 55 years ago to control development and management of the land on which Walt Disney World, EPCOT and the company’s related enterprises are located.

DeSantis’ board has now revealed that, while they were snoozing, Disney executed an agreement with their predecessors that strips the new board of all its powers except the authority to “maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure,” according to one of the new board members.

Apparently at their meeting on February 8th (two days after the bill to replace them was introduced), the former members of the RCID supervisory board signed an agreement with Disney that basically neuters DeSantis's new board.

Of course, DeSantis's people are crying foul and have hired four law firms (yes, you read that right - 4 law firms) to challenge the agreement. 

Disney responded with a statement saying that "all agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine law." In other words, the RCID board considered and approved the agreement at a public meeting. The agreement was also recorded with the Orange County Comptroller on Feb 9 - the day before the Florida legislature passed the bill. 

One can only surmise that DeSantis didn't notice what Disney and the RCID board were up to because he was too busy running around the country proclaiming that "Florida is where woke goes to die!"

But DeSantis isn't the only one that got made to look like a fool. Last November Disney fired their CEO Bob Chapek and rehired the guy who preceded him in that position, Bob Iger. I suggested that didn't bode well for DeSantis. But Christopher Rufo saw things differently and took the opportunity to write a piece titled, "Disney Retreats."

Iger is signaling that Disney is moderating its position in the culture war. As I have been saying for months, the conservative strategy was to damage Disney’s brand, make the company pay a political price, and force the company to declare neutrality.

So far, it appears that the strategy is working.

Rufo cherrypicked a few items from a town hall Iger held with Disney staff to make that claim. For example:

[I]n response to the suggestion that “many cast members had wished that Disney stayed out of politics,” Iger expressed regret. “Do I like the company being embroiled in controversy? Of course not,” he said. “It can be distracting, and it can have a negative impact on the company. And to the extent that I can work to kind of quiet things down, I’m going to do that.”

Here's the video of what Iger actually said: 

EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained video from returning Disney CEO Bob Iger's first town hall with employees, in which he signals that he will work to "quiet things down" politically and move toward neutrality in the culture war.https://t.co/ZBGdHhxFVS pic.twitter.com/ZbMCZN4MlG

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) November 29, 2022

Contrary to what Rufo claimed, Iger didn't talk about moving "toward neutrality in the culture war." Instead, he was making the point that some of the issues that have been considered controversial for Disney were branded "political," but he doesn't believe they are. As Iger told Chris Wallace last year, "I tweeted an opinion about the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida. To me, it wasn’t about politics. It is about what is right and what is wrong."

When it comes to Iger suggesting that he would "quiet things down," today's headline at CNN suggests he's doing just that. It reads (emphasis mine): "Disney quietly took power from DeSantis’ new board before state takeover."

As I said, I'm not one who usually celebrates victories won by major corporations. But a day that sees BOTH DeSantis and Rufo being made to look like fools is a good day. So thanks to Disney and Bob Iger. 

The other good thing to come out of all of this is that I learned what FAFO stands for (I'll let you figure it out by following the link). That - and a whole host of  other giggles at the expense of DeSantis - can be found by reading the reactions to this Twitter thread. For example, who doesn't love a good reference to The Wire?

If you come at the King, you’d best pay attention to the lawfully noticed public meeting agenda pic.twitter.com/cXbIMDIQhO

— Joan Allen (@Jallen_sf) March 30, 2023

The Election of Barack Obama Triggered Ron DeSantis

I have been hesitant to buy into the idea that the GOP's descent into madness and fascism was triggered by this country's election of our first African American president. I think it dates back farther than that - to the era that spawned the party's embrace of the so-called "Southern Strategy" on the heels of the Civil Rights movement. 

And yet it is hard to ignore the impact President Barack Obama had on conservatives. Ta-Nehisi Coates captured a lot of that in a piece titled "The First White President: The foundation of Donald Trump’s presidency is the negation of Barack Obama’s legacy."

For Trump, it almost seems that the fact of Obama, the fact of a black president, insulted him personally...Replacing Obama is not enough—Trump has made the negation of Obama’s legacy the foundation of his own. And this too is whiteness...Trump truly is something new—the first president whose entire political existence hinges on the fact of a black president.

Interestingly enough, the first black president also triggered Trump's chief rival for 2024 - Ron DeSantis. The year before he first ran for Congress in 2012, DeSantis published a book titled: "Dreams From Our Founding Fathers," whose title is a blatant ripoff of Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father." If that isn't bad enough, take a look at how DeSantis copied the cover:

From what I've read, the DeSantis book is hard to come by because it was printed by a "vanity press" - meaning that it was funded by the author with very few copies in print. But here's what Kimberly Leonard wrote about it:

Dreams from our Founding Fathers" doesn't just take heavily from Obama's autobiography. Throughout, DeSantis uses excerpts from Obama's campaign promises, speeches, and legislation. It shows DeSantis had carefully studied the president and his agenda...

DeSantis was also critical of Obama personally, calling him "first in his own mind" and saying, "he actually believed that he was a historically special figure." In one section of the book, DeSantis wrote that Obama lacked the humility of George Washington, the first US president.

He wrote that Obama had a "palpable cockiness" and "made outlandish claims about his own significance as an individual." He accused the Obama campaign of having a "messianic posture."

In other words, this white guy from Florida thought that the country's first African American president was "uppity." Eleven years after writing that, DeSantis released a video claiming to be uniquely chosen by God to be a "fighter." Go figure! 

The book also seems to have captured the roots of the governor's desire to whitewash (literally) history. Here's what David Waldstreicher wrote about that (emphasis mine):

[T]he most revealing and consequential element of his book is not so much his drawing of a straight line from the founding precedents to the Tea Party movement’s dissent over big government. It’s rather how his entire reading of American history is enveloped in both unquestioning fealty to the Founders and an insistence that the role of slavery, and race more broadly, in that history does not seriously change anything about how we should understand the birth and development of our country...

It becomes necessary for DeSantis to cleanse the Founders from any connection to slavery. In his first chapter, he tries to make quick work of those who stress the “personal flaws” of great Founding Fathers (i.e., their enslavement of other humans). First, an explicitly antislavery Constitution couldn’t possibly have been ratified, he writes—we should rather trust the good faith of the “strongly anti-slavery” Founders (Hamilton, Franklin) who supported it anyway. Slavery had been a “fact of life” throughout history...Moreover, “the philosophical foundations of the Constitution are incompatible with slavery.” This made slavery “doomed to fail” in the new republic. In the end, “the Constitution was created despite the existence of slavery, not because of slavery.” Most of its provisions had nothing to do with slavery anyway, according to DeSantis.

I happen to agree with the idea that "the philosophical foundations of the Constitution [all men are created equal] are incompatible with slavery." That is why it became necessary to dehumanize slaves and claim they were biologically inferior - leading to the development of "scientific racism."

Waldstreicher goes on to point out that "hereditary racial slavery was a new thing associated with the Americas," meaning that it had not actually been a "fact of life" throughout history. In suggesting that most of the Constitution's provisions had nothing to do with slavery, DeSantis ignored the fact that things like "the three-fifths clause, its highly calibrated brand of federalism, and the Electoral College, contributed mightily to slavery’s survival and even expansion in the United States."

All of this comes from the guy who now wants to tell teachers what they can/can't teach about Black history, while claiming that an AP Black studies course is "lacking in historical value."

It is not surprising that a racist like that would be triggered by the election of Barack Obama.
  

DeSantis Is "All Hat, No Cattle"

Ron DeSantis has garnered a few headlines lately. Just in case you had any doubts as to whether the Florida governor was part of the radical right, he's traveling with Turning Point Action to stump on behalf of candidates like Ohio Republican candidate for Senate JD Vance, Pennsylvania's GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Arizona Republican candidate for Senate Blake Masters and GOP nominee for governor Kari Lake. Other than Hershel Walker and Dr. Oz, that amounts to a "hall of shame" when it comes to Republican nut jobs that are running in the 2022 midterms.

The question of the day has become whether DeSantis is maneuvering to be the heir apparent to the MAGA crowd and challenge Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. Conservatives as disparate as Andrew Sullivan and Alex Jones are abandoning the former guy to become the standard-bearers for this country's next round of Republican authoritarianism. 

In this contest of Trump vs. DeSantis, the assumption has been that the latter is the more intelligent and competent choice - even if he is lacking in the personality department. The Florida governor is branding himself as the culture warrior who is capable of winning the fight against his domestic enemies. But does his record bear that out?

Other than denying science during a global pandemic, DeSantis is best known for punishing DisneyWorld by convincing Florida's Republican-controlled state legislature to overturn the Reedy Creek special district status the theme park has maintained since it's founding in the 70's. But the revocation of that status was delayed until next summer. In the meantime, Disney made sure the governor and his pals knew that the district has about $1 billion of municipal bonds outstanding. That debt would fall on Florida taxpayers if the special district was eliminated. So here's what is happening:

Florida’s head of bond finance said lawmakers will likely re-establish the embattled Walt Disney Co.’s special district after the state passed a law that would dissolve the governing body next year. 

Ben Watkins, director of the state’s division of bond finance, said legislators are likely to create a successor district, one that will assume many of the powers that Reedy Creek Improvement District, the agency that allows Disney to preform certain municipal functions at its resort properties...

“I’m confident that Reedy Creek will get addressed in a more meaningful way,” he said Thursday. Lawmakers will likely restore a limited version of the special district in the next legislative session, Watkins said. He added that Governor Ron DeSantis’s office has been “supportive” of the successor district approach.

So the whole "special district status" will be restored next year AFTER DeSantis runs for re-election. The only remaining question is whether the governor rushed into all of this in ignorance or if he planned the whole thing as a show that he knew would never actually amount to anything. 

But that isn't the only nothingburger in DeSantis's bag o' tricks. Back in February, he was successful in getting the Florida legislature to pass the "Stop WOKE Act," which bars public schools and businesses from making people feel “guilt” or “discomfort” about their race during lessons and trainings about discrimination. This week, a federal judge halted implementation of the part of the act that applies to businesses. But it was the way U.S. District Judge Mark Walker introduced his ruling that was the real story.

In the popular television series Stranger Things, the “upside down” describes a parallel dimension containing a distorted version of our world. Recently, Florida has seemed like a First Amendment upside down. Normally, the First Amendment bars the state from burdening speech, while private actors may burden speech freely. But in Florida, the First Amendment apparently bars private actors from burdening speech, while the state may burden speech freely. 

“Now, like the heroine in Stranger Things, this Court is once again asked to pull Florida back from the upside down,” Walker wrote.

It's also worth noting that DeSantis's abortion ban met the same fate. Texans have a saying that applies to men with records like that: "All hat and no cattle."

It remains to be seen whether or not DeSantis will be able to tear the MAGA crowd away from their cult leader. He doesn't seem to have the kind of personality that inflames their passions. But let there be no doubt about his intentions. Here's a taste from one of his fundraising emails.

Our country is currently facing a great threat. A new enemy has emerged from the shadows that seeks to destroy and intimidate their way to a transformed state, and country, that you and I would hardly recognize.

This enemy is the radical vigilante woke mob that will steamroll anything and anyone in their way. Their blatant attacks on the American way of life are clear and intensifying: stifling dissent, public shaming, rampant violence, and a perverted version of history...

I am choosing to counter this enemy with faith, with reason, and with freedom. As Governor of the Free State of Florida, I have chosen to lead with a vision that builds America up rather than tears it down.

Of course, it is people like DeSantis who are stifling dissent while peddling lies based on a perverted version of history. But projection has become the name of the game for Republicans these days. 

If you want to know where DeSantis stands, there you have it. He's fanning the flames of fear and hate in order to create chaos and gain power. Being competent has never been the point.

DeSantis Is Trying to Take Control of a Private Company

Recently Jonathan Chait captured why I've been keeping an eye on Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis. 

The threat of right-wing authoritarianism in the United States has lodged itself in the public mind in the model of January 6: A candidate for office refuses to accept defeat and then gins up phony legal complaints escalating into violence. But the more durable and successful model is the pattern used by strongmen like Viktor Orban, which does not require a violent assault on the state but instead employs a combination of legal methods...

The methods Chait identifies as those used by Orban include:

• stacking legislative districts, 
• using state power to bully corporations into support for the ruling party, 
• marginalizing independent media and exploiting state-controlled pseudo-journalistic alternatives, and 
• seizing control of the education system.

Chait goes on to point out that DeSantis is employing all of those methods. For a good run-down on how the governor is doing that, check out an article by Heather Digby Parton titled: "Ron DeSantis is tripling-down on the culture war — and running hard toward 2024." Parton provides us with an outline of how right wing authoritarianism is being rolled out in Florida in a way that is "more durable and successful" than the model used by Trump.

It is also important, however, to point out that several of the initiatives DeSantis has rolled out haven't been all that successful. That part of the story isn't getting told very often because clickbait media is geared toward soundbites, not how things develop over time. Such is the case with the governor's battle with Disney. To re-cap, here's a summary of what has happened so far:

1. Disney took a public stand against the governor's "don't say gay" bill.
2. In retaliation, DeSantis signed a bill to terminate all Florida special tax districts created prior to 1968 (including Disney's Reedy Creek District). It is set to go into effect on June 23, 2023.
3. Reedy Creek holds about $1 billion in bond debt that would be passed on to Florida taxpayers if the special district is terminated. 
4. Reports surfaced that the governor was working behind the scenes to come up with a plan that would make minor changes, but leave the special district in place.

The latest development is that last week a notice was posted on Osceola County's web site announcing that a bill will be introduced in the Florida legislature that will amend, reenact, and repeal portions of the legislation that created the Reedy Creek District. 

Under the original legislation, a board of supervisors governs the district. They must own land in the district and a majority must live in either Orange or Osceola County. The five members of the board are elected by landowners in the district. All of that is why Disney controls Reedy Creek - the district was drawn to contour the land owned or controlled by Disney.

According to spokespersons for DeSantis, a big part of his plan is to revise that so that the governor appoints the board of supervisors...and declare victory. 

The corporate kingdom has ended: https://t.co/MxW9M1F7gY pic.twitter.com/zUEZf1G3gb

— Taryn Fenske (@tarynfenske) January 6, 2023

Let's unpack some of that, shall we? The only thing that threatened Reedy Creek's responsibility for their outstanding debt was the governor's move to eliminate their status as a special district. When it comes to the district paying its fair share of taxes, here's what you need to know:

In addition to collecting and remitting sales taxes to the state (including the percentage that goes to each county) and Tourist Development Taxes from hotel guests, Disney pays property taxes to Orange and Osceola County at the same millage rate as all other county taxpayers (totaling nearly $300 million from 2015 to 2020). The Florida Constitution does not allow taxpayers within a county to be treated differently unless those taxpayers consent to the creation of a special taxing district to levy additional taxes on top of the regular county property taxes.

And that’s exactly what RCID has been doing for over 50 years. Disney pays additional taxes to RCID (at the highest millage rate in the state) to cover expenditures for government-type functions like building permitting, fire and emergency medical services, a power plant, water and waste treatment, trash and recycling, and construction and maintenance of roadways and waterways.

The annual budget for fiscal year 2022 is more than $160 million, and RCID uses those funds to maintain a higher standard for these various functions than any local, state, or federal government entity would be able to accomplish.

The only part of Frenske's statement that isn't total bullshit is the fact that DeSantis wants to impose a "state-controlled board." As state house representative Anna Eskamani put it, "the main goal is to give DeSantis control over a private company." 

Will the governor get away with doing that? Writing for Bloomberg Tax, attorney Jacob Schumer says "not likely."

If Florida attempts to place Reedy Creek under state control, Disney will have a much stronger court case than if the state simply dissolved the district...

Disney’s right to elect its representatives is much stronger than its right to have Reedy Creek exist at all. Disney, as property owner, was granted the statutory right to elect the district’s board of supervisors. If Florida tried to replace it with state political appointees...the state [would be] taking away a landowner’s right to vote for its local representatives—an action courts are much more accustomed to stepping in to prevent.

It is clear that DeSantis is a long way from solving this mess he created. Almost no one in the media is covering that part of the story. Reports tend to accept that the governor's attempt to dissolve Reedy Creek is a fait accompli. That is hardly the case.  

The Latest "Culture War" Battleground: DeSantis vs. Disney

It has been fascinating to watch Florida Governor DeSantis and Fox News take on DisneyWorld. To put this in some perspective, here are a few statistics to keep in mind:

• DisneyWorld employs 77,000 Floridians, making it the biggest single-site employer in the United States.
• Every year 20,000,000 people pay the exorbitant price of $116/day to visit the theme park.
• Disney owns 27, 258 acres (43 square miles) of land in Florida – about the same area as all of San Francisco and two times the size of Manhattan.
• Worldwide, Disney brings in over $67 billion in revenue every year.

Nevertheless, because Disney spoke out against Florida's "don't say gay bill," Republicans in the state are contemplating doing something pretty drastic.

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed on Thursday the suggestion of repealing a 55-year-old state law that allows Disney to effectively govern itself on the grounds of Walt Disney World, following the company’s public opposition to a controversial parental rights law in Florida.

"What I would say as a matter of first principle is I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful and they’ve been able to wield a lot of power," DeSantis said during a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday.

The 55 year-old law DeSantis referred to is the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act. 

In the early 1960s, Walt Disney wanted to build a second theme park on the east coast. He chose an area in central Florida, but kept his plans a secret. Multiple shell companies began buying up land at very low prices from unknowing landowners (the company now brags that they only paid $5 million for the entire acreage). 

Once the land was secured, Disney petitioned the state for the creation of a special taxing district that would give his company almost total autonomy within its borders. The district would provide government services such as land use regulation and planning, building codes, waste treatment, utilities, roads, bridges, fire protection, emergency medical services and environmental services. In other words, with the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, Disney was successful in avoiding all of the "red tape" that comes with adherence to local policies and became a government unto itself.

That is the law that DeSantis and Florida Republicans are now threatening to unravel. While I find the kind of deal-making Florida entered with Disney back in the 60s appalling, it is not hard to imagine the kind of havoc that would be unleashed on the state if they actually followed through with their threat. 

DeSantis is pretending that these moves against Disney are not simply retaliation for their stand on his "don't say gay bill." But Fox News propagandists like Laura Ingraham aren't even trying to be subtle.

"These businesses [Disney and Apple] should really learn this lesson now before it's too late: Stay in your lane," Ingraham said. "Because if your CEOs want to dive into contentious political issues, about which they know nothing apparently, expect to be treated like any lame political pundit, on, let's say, MSNBC."...

"When Republicans get back into power, Apple and Disney need to understand one thing: Everything will be on the table – your copyright and trademark protection, your special status within certain states, and even your corporate structure itself," Ingraham said.

What's fascinating about all of this is that the marriage between big business and the Republican Party has long been one of the strongest in American politics. Why would someone like Ron DeSantis stake his claim to be the GOP presidential nominee on being willing to go after one of the biggest corporations in the country?

The answer to that question goes back to the early 1970s when Republicans used the racism of the Southern Strategy to convince Dixiecrats to switch parties. A few years later, Paul Weyrich collaborated with white Christian evangelicals to bring their flocks into the fold. As a result, the GOP became the party of big business, racists, and Christian nationalists. 

While the mainstream media is addicted to the idea of Democrats in disarray, they've pretty much ignored the fact that so-called "establishment Republicans" - like Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell - are currently at war with the MAGA crowd. The former are the relics of a time when the GOP was the party of big business and the latter consist of the racists and Christian nationalists (lots of overlap) that currently make up the base of the party. 

At this point, the base is winning. It's not just DeSantis who is proving that point. A year ago, when Amazon workers were trying to organize a union in Mississippi, Marco Rubio (who has traditionally been a big business Republican) wrote an op-ed in support of the workers.

For decades, companies like Amazon have been allies of the left in the culture war, but when their bottom line is threatened they turn to conservatives to save them. Republicans have rightly understood the dangers posed by the unchecked influence of labor unions...But the days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over.

Here’s my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy — I support the workers.

Are Republicans really determined to break ranks with big business to fan the flames of their so-called "culture war," or is this simply a matter of posturing. We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. But this is precisely why I've been talking about a major political realignment being underway in both parties. Here's what I wrote about that three years ago:

The forces that are at work in each [party] are very different and they won’t play out in one election—but will become more evident over time. In light of that, it is incumbent on all of us to let go of assumptions that have guided our prognostications in the past, which will eventually be obsolete, and remain open to the new dynamics that are in the process of emerging.

What if the media told the truth about DeSantis?

In a recent speech, Ron DeSantis laid out his case for the presidency based on his performance as Governor of Florida. He said that in "fighting the woke mind virus," what you've seen is "surgical precision execution day after day after day." What we've seen from the media is, at worst, confirmation of those claims and, at best, tacit agreement. 

What would we be hearing if they actually told the truth? 

First of all, we'd learn that the whole DeSantis vs Disney battle was an example of a politician rushing to make headlines before he had any idea what he was doing. For example, a little more than a month after Disney spoke out against DeSantis's "don't say gay" bill,  the governor signed a bill that would dissolve the company's special district status. Here's how the Florida Senate summarized SB 4-C (emphasis mine):

The bill provides for the dissolution of any independent special district established by a special act prior to...November 5, 1968...The bill provides that dissolution of the affected districts will occur on June 1, 2023.

Almost immediately, Disney let it be known that, if the special district was dissolved, Florida taxpayers would be on the hook for its $1 billion in bond debt. Run-roh! Time to scramble behind closed doors to fix that! Seven months later DeSantis had a solution. As governor, he would appoint the board of supervisors who oversee the district, but here's the final word on its status:

When it comes to the people DeSantis appointed to the board, the guy who said that homosexuality is the result of estrogen in our tap water sounds like a real winner. 

But this sums things up pretty well:

It’s unclear what, if any, effect that board will have on how Disney behaves...Even on the level of administration of municipal matters, so far experts estimate that the board takeover isn’t necessarily going to change how things are run in Disney World’s district. “In terms of the day-to-day operation of the district, it doesn’t look like much is going to change,” Aubrey Jewett, associate professor at the University of Central Florida, told NBC News.

Surgical precision execution? Not so much. 

What DeSantis has going for himself are Republican supermajorities in the state house and senate that are willing to pass any nonsense he proposes. So he goes on Fox News to tout his "so-called" accomplishments. What you don't hear much about is how many of those bills face serious court challenges - like his "Stop the Woke Act," which a judge compared to the "upside down" dimension in "Stranger Things." Here are some of the governor's other failures:

• The "free speech" law that was blocked for violating free speech.
• The "anti-riot" law that was deemed unconstitutional.
• The 15-week abortion ban that violates the Florida constitution.
• The myriad of civil cases being brought against the governor for his scheme to transport migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.

As of last December, the Miami Herald documented that DeSantis faced "more than 15 lawsuits costing Florida taxpayers nearly $17 million in legal fees to date."

In case after case, courts have scaled back, thrown out, or left in legal limbo rules and laws that impose restrictions on social media giants; limit voting; curb gender-related health care; influence speech in the workplace, college campuses and classrooms; and create new crimes for peaceful protests.

It's also worth noting that, in the process, DeSantis has not only aligned himself with people who think tap water creates homosexuality, he also pals around with liars and propagandists like Christopher Rufo and James O'Keefe. 

None of that bears any resemblance to surgical precision execution. What we have with DeSantis is a fascist governor (with a totally compliant legislature) who conjures up enemies to shoot first and aim later. 

Now run and tell that! 

The Fight for Democracy is Far From Over

No conservative has chronicled the implosion of the Republican Party more accurately than David Frum. He's at it again with a post-mortem following the 2022 midterms titled: "The Lesson Republicans Refuse to Learn."

The question after the 2022 midterms is: Can conservatives learn?

Through the Trump years, the Republican Party has organized itself as an anti-learning entity. Unwelcome information has been ignored or denied...

The historian Bernard Lewis once offered sage advice to any group that faces adverse circumstances: “The question, ‘Who did this to us?’ has led only to neurotic fantasies and conspiracy theories. The other question—‘What did we do wrong?’—has led naturally to a second question, ‘How do we put it right?’ In that question … lie[s] the best hope for the future.”

I was reminded that in 2012, after suffering heavy losses, the GOP did an autopsy and came to the conclusion that they needed to do more to reach out to Hispanics, women, and young voters. They then proceeded to do the exact opposite. 

Some things never change. As the 2022 results roll in, many of the loudest voices on the right are indulging in the "who [or what] did it to us" by attacking young people, women, and mail-in ballots. Questions like "what did we do wrong" and "how can we put it right" are impossible for them to answer because they only have three options on where to go from here.

1. Remain loyal to Trump. 

This one has been a losing proposition for the last three elections. Adding to that is that their cult leader is pretty old and about to face indictments for multiple crimes. 

2. Return to the failed policies of the Bush era.

This is what many of the NeverTrumpers are hoping for - including people like Liz Cheney. But there is a reason why the GOP stopped emphasizing their policies of the past: they failed miserably during the Bush/Cheney administration (Great Recession, two failed wars, Katrina, etc). 

3. Embrace the fascism of National Conservatives.

This is the group that I have been following pretty closely over the last few months. When it comes to politicians, it includes people like Ron DeSantis, Josh Hawley,  and J.D. Vance. Their loudest voice is, of course, Tucker Carlson. But behind the scenes are people like Rod Dreher, Peter Thiel, Sohrab Ahmari, and Curtis Yarvin. For a truly frightening look at that last one, I'd recommend reading a piece by Andrew Prokop titled "Curtis Yarvin wants American democracy toppled. He has some prominent Republican fans."

[Yarvin] stands out among right-wing commentators for being probably the single person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly, the US government could be toppled and replaced — “rebooted” or “reset,” as he likes to say — with a monarch, CEO, or dictator at the helm. Yarvin argues that a creative and visionary leader — a “startup guy,” like, he says, Napoleon or Lenin was — should seize absolute power, dismantle the old regime, and build something new in its place.

That provides some context for this tweet from the guy who cheered on the January 6 insurrectionists: 

The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 13, 2022

The hero for most of these guys (they're almost exclusively men) is Hungarian President Viktor Orban. That is important to keep in mind as the media begins to pay homage to DeSantis as the Republican who can defeat Trump. Here's what Zach Beauchamp wrote about the Florida governor last April:

DeSantis, who has built a profile as a pugilistic culture warrior with eyes on the presidency, has steadily put together a policy agenda with strong echoes of Orbán’s governing ethos — one in which an allegedly existential cultural threat from the left justifies aggressive uses of state power against the right’s enemies.

Most recently, there was DeSantis’s crackdown on Disney’s special tax exemption; using regulatory powers to punish opposing political speech is one of Orbán’s signature moves. On issues ranging from higher education to social media to gerrymandering, DeSantis has followed a trail blazed by Orbán, turning policy into a tool for targeting outgroups while entrenching his party’s hold on power... 

Orbán’s political model has frequently employed a demagogic two-step: Stand up a feared or marginalized group as an enemy then use the supposed need to combat this group’s influence to justify punitive policies that also happen to expand his regime’s power.

In other words, DeSantis envisions himself as the monarch/CEO/dictator Yarvin longs for. If you think I'm exaggerating, then you probably haven't seen the closing ad for the DeSantis campaign.   

I love you, Ron.

On behalf of millions of people, never stop fighting for freedom. pic.twitter.com/5wcopo041U

— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) November 4, 2022

Of course, there's some overlap between these three options. For example, Jeb Bush recently said that DeSantis has done a “great job” as governor, praising his COVID-19 response and education policies. Bush also said that the Florida governor has broad appeal outside of Florida because he has attacked cultural issues that are present in the Republican mindset.

Since I don't really have a dog in the fight between these three options, I'd suggest that the most important thing to keep in mind is that they all embrace two things: racism and sexism. Taking away a woman's right to chose has been part of the GOP platform for decades. The same thing is true for voter suppression. One of the basic tenants of the National Conservatives is that Republicans have been too soft on fighting the so-called "culture wars," so it is time to use government power to go after their "enemies."

This is the fight that is going to consume Republicans over the next two years. As I see it right now, the momentum is currently with the National Conservatives - especially following solid victories by DeSantis in Florida and Vance in Ohio. That's why the fight for democracy is far from over.

DeSantis Board Votes to Counter-Sue Disney Over Something...Anything

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's hand picked board overseeing the newly named Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District) voted on Monday to counter-sue Disney. Referring to the suit the Mouse House filed last Wednesday, Martin Garcia, chair of the board, said that "We have no choice now but to respond."

But as Kimberly Leonard noted, "It was not immediately clear from Monday's meeting what the basis of the lawsuit would be." In approving the suit, the board didn't discuss anything about it other than where it will be filed: in state court in central Florida. 

So five days after Disney filed their lawsuit, the board basically told their lawyers to file something - anything. Just make sure it goes to a state court. That's because even DeSantis knows he's going to lose the case Disney filed in federal court.

All of this sounds exactly like the kind of move DeSantis would make. As a reminder, Disney put out its statement against the "don't say gay bill" on March 28, 2022. The governor pointed out in his book that he started working on a bill to punish the company two days later. By April 22nd (23 days later), a bill to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District had passed both chambers of the state legislature and DeSantis signed it. 

But in his rush to punish Disney, DeSantis missed the fact that dissolving the district would dump $1 billion in bonds on Florida taxpayers. So it was back to the drawing board. Ten months later he signed a bill that kept the special district in place, but allowed him to appoint the members of the supervisory board. 

So now DeSantis's hand-picked board members are at it again...voting to counter-sue Disney before they have even identified a basis for the suit. It's as if they said, "let's shoot first and try to figure out our target later."

When I heard that DeSantis got an undergrad degree from Yale and a law degree from Harvard, I naturally assumed that he was intelligent. But as a trained therapist, I should have remembered that intelligence gets buried in a vengeful, arrogant bully. 

What DeSantis Couldn't Say in Response to Disney's Lawsuit

Now that we've covered the lawsuit Disney filed against Ron DeSantis, it's worth taking a look at how the governor responded.  

First of all, he claimed that Disney is "upset because they're going to have to live by the same rules as everybody else." He went on to say that "they don't want to have to pay the same taxes as everybody else."

But the truth is that, if Disney were to be forced to pay the same taxes as everybody else, they'd be getting a pretty big break.

The board sets the district’s tax rate, which is currently three times higher than that paid by residents of Orange and Osceola counties. Disney pays more than $1.1 billion in state and local taxes, including more than $160 million in property tax, which is used to maintain a higher level of services and infrastructure than the counties provide.

The same thing is true of the governor's other point about Disney wanting to avoid oversight.

The RCID building codes (the “Epcot Codes”) meet or exceed all state & federal requirements. Same with their environmental standards etc.

DeSantis ended by saying that the law suit was "political" (whatever that means in the context of a dispute over free speech), and then implied that the company was judge-shopping for filing the suit in Tallahassee. 

The governor needed to make that final point because the judge that has been assigned to this case is Mark Walker - someone who has a pretty stellar record on upholding First Amendment rights. But it gets even worse. Walker is the judge that said this in a ruling against DeSantis's Stop WOKE Act:

Walker said Florida had become a place where the First Amendment allowed, rather than prevented, the state to limit speech. Or as he put it, "in the popular television series Stranger Things, the 'upside down' describes a parallel dimension containing a distorted version of our world. Recently, Florida has seemed like a First Amendment upside down."

While it's clear that DeSantis isn't the brightest bulb, he's probably at least smart enough to know that he's going to lose this one at the District Court. So he's planting the seeds for blaming that on the "woke judge" chosen by Disney.

The most important part of these remarks by DeSantis are what he DIDN'T say. For example, he didn't repeat any of these past statements:

• “Disney and other woke corporations won’t get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer” and that he would “not allow a woke corporation based in California to run our state." 
• “For whatever reason, Disney got on that bandwagon. They demagogued the bill. They lied about it. ... We signed the bill. And then, and incredibly, they say, ‘We are going to work to repeal Parents’ Rights in Florida.’ And I’m just thinking to myself, ‘You’re a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you’re going to marshal your economic might to attack the parents of my state?’ We view that as a provocation and we are going to fight back against that.” 
• “We took action” after Disney made “the mistake” of opposing the legislation." 
• "Leaders must stand up and fight back when big corporations make the mistake, as Disney did, of using their economic might to advance a political agenda. We are making Florida the state where the economy flourishes because we are the state where woke goes to die.”

As a reminder, here's a summary of what Disney's lawsuit is all about:

A targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.

The statements above are all things the governor said about the events in question BEFORE Disney filed this lawsuit. As I said yesterday, "Nothing makes Disney's case better than the governor's own words." It's obvious DeSantis knows that, so he can't say the quiet parts out loud anymore. 

This case is probably going to take years to wind its way through the courts. By filling it, Disney has managed to muzzle DeSantis's ability to make claims about punishing woke corporations. That's a win right there.

The real showdown will come if this case makes its way to the Supreme Court. One the one hand, you have six extremist judges who have pretty much gone all-in on the war against woke. But it wasn't that long ago that the Court decided that corporations had free speech rights when it comes to political contributions. What will this group of justices have to say about actual speech rights for corporations? We'll have to wait and see.  

But if Disney finally claims victory in this case, it will be a step towards putting a nail in the coffin of the National Conservatives. One of their main goals is use the government to punish institutions that fight back against their "culture wars." If the courts rule that that is a violation of the institution's right to free speech, the movement could be dead in the water. That is why this case is such a BFD!

The Orbanization of the Republican Party

I was glad to see that Zack Beauchamp made the same connection between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Hungarian President Viktor Orban that I made a few days ago. This is a story that should be front and center in our political discussion today. 

DeSantis, who has built a profile as a pugilistic culture warrior with eyes on the presidency, has steadily put together a policy agenda with strong echoes of Orbán’s governing ethos — one in which an allegedly existential cultural threat from the left justifies aggressive uses of state power against the right’s enemies.

Most recently, there was DeSantis’s crackdown on Disney’s special tax exemption; using regulatory powers to punish opposing political speech is one of Orbán’s signature moves. On issues ranging from higher education to social media to gerrymandering, DeSantis has followed a trail blazed by Orbán, turning policy into a tool for targeting outgroups while entrenching his party’s hold on power...

Orbán’s political model has frequently employed a demagogic two-step: Stand up a feared or marginalized group as an enemy then use the supposed need to combat this group’s influence to justify punitive policies that also happen to expand his regime’s power.

Beauchamp does a good job of making a direct connection between the moves by DeSantis on LGBTQ issues, higher education, social media, and gerrymandering to policies implemented by Orban in Hungary. But he left out Orban's "procreation, not immigration" policies." 

Hungary’s “procreation, not immigration” policies have their roots in “replacement theory.” This doctrine holds that white women are not producing enough babies and Christian, western civilizations will be “replaced” through the twin forces of falling birth rates and increasing immigration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for example, has argued that “there are political forces in Europe who want a replacement of population” and has vowed to fight those who want “an exchange of populations, to replace the population of Europeans with others.”

In case you're wondering where that one is headed in this country, take a look at this Ohio state legislator talk about the "opportunity" presented by forcing a woman to give birth when the pregnancy is a result of rape. 

OH Rep. Schmidt (R) on her abortion ban bill: "Rape is a difficult issue... but if a baby is created, it's human life. Whether that mother ends that pregnancy... the scars won't go away. It's a shame it happens, but there's an opportunity for women no matter how young or old..." pic.twitter.com/PVOHWlFvPq

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) April 27, 2022

While Beauchamp does suggest that this "Orbanization" of American politics isn't limited to DeSantis, he doesn't really address the depth of the way it has been embraced on the right. However, almost a year ago Ben Rhodes outlined the steps Orban took in Hungary to consolidate his power. A lot of this is going to sound very familiar.

In his first term, [Orban] systematically worked to remold Hungary’s democratic institutions. Parliamentary districts were redrawn to benefit Fidesz [Orban's party]. Ethnic Hungarians outside the country were given the right to vote. The courts were methodically packed with right-wing judges. Fidesz’s cronies were enriched and, in turn, members of the business elite funded Orbán’s politics. The government constructed a massive propaganda machine, as independent media were bullied and bought out and right-wing media were transformed into quasi state-media. Whereas Fidesz once had a foreign policy formed in opposition to Russian dominance, Orbán embraced Vladimir Putin and courted Russian investment and the corruption that went along with it...

[T]o justify his efforts, Orbán has skillfully and relentlessly deployed a right-wing populism focused on the failings of liberal democracy and the allure of an older national story: Christian identity, national sovereignty, distrust of international institutions, opposition to immigration, and contempt for politically correct liberal elites. Smash the status quo. Make the masses feel powerful by responding to their grievances...

After his first reelection, Orbán’s focus on the persecution of his enemies intensified. Political opponents, civil society, and independent media have learned to live with various forms of harassment, including ceaseless disinformation and legal threats. Hungary completed a fence to keep migrants out. Conspiracy theories about Soros evolved into a campaign used to justify everything, including onerous restrictions on civil society and sham investigations. Corruption mushroomed and became a backdrop of Hungary’s government spending. Hungary’s historical sins—including complicity in the Holocaust—were whitewashed, as prominent statues and revised curricula rooted Hungary’s future in right-wing aspects of its past.

The structural changes to Hungary’s democracy enabled this: Orbán was elected to a third term in 2018 with less than half the popular vote, yet he presides over all of Hungary’s levers of power like a colossus.

While DeSantis might want to quietly implement Orbanism in Florida as a stepping stone to the White House, National Conservatives are openly touting it as a way to ramp up the so-called "culture wars." Nine months ago Tucker Carlson traveled to Hungary and paid homage to Orban. In less than a month CPAC - America’s most prominent conservative gathering - will hold a conference in Budapest with Orban as the keynote speaker. In other words, the Orbanization of the right is not a secret. It is precisely where the Republican Party in this country is headed. The threat could not be more clear.

Trump Is Just Upping the Ante on DeSantis's Big Lie

With the 2024 presidential election still more than a year and a half away, we're hearing a lot of commentary on the upcoming battle for the GOP nomination between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Frankly, I don't have a dog in that fight, and all the speculation about the "better" or "worse" possibility is boring. But there is something interesting that is developing. 

Trump first announced his candidacy in mid-November. For a couple of months, he didn't really do much except rail on social media. But now he's started holding rallies and is pretending to put out an agenda by releasing short videos, like this one about an "education policy."

The former president called for cutting federal funding for any school or program that includes "critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial sexual, or political content onto our children." He also vowed to end teacher tenure and promised to “keep men out of women’s sports.” 

Does any of that sound familiar? It sure does if you've been paying any attention to what is happening in Florida.

A few days later Trump released another video.

Trump said he would push Congress to pass a law banning gender-affirming care for minors nationwide, order the Justice Department to investigate the pharmaceutical industry and hospitals to see whether they “deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich” and cut off doctors from Medicare and Medicaid — a potential career-ender for many doctors — if they treat trans youths with hormones or surgery.

In addition, he said he would make it easier for patients who later regret having received gender-affirming care as minors to sue their doctors, calling the procedures “unforgivable.”

Trump also said his policy changes would extend to education.

He has already vowed to create a “new credentialing body for teachers” regarding the teaching of race history, adding that the panel would “promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers and celebrating, rather than erasing, the things that make men and women different.”

As Steve Benen pointed out, all of that is interesting given that "in 2016, Trump had no real interest in targeting the LGBTQ community."

[T]he Republican, in apparent seriousness, said he would be a “better friend” of the “LBGT” [sic] community than Hillary Clinton. Just two days after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Trump added, “Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you.”

In preparation for 2024, the former guy has simply stolen the moves made by DeSantis in Florida and ramped them up. Perhaps that is because, as writer umair haque suggests, DeSantis's Big Lies have made Trump's seems almost quaint.

“The swamp” that “steals an election” is small fry compared to your kids being abused, sexually molested, perverted, corrupted, “indoctrinated.” Because, well, they’re your kids.

This Big Lie is a way to tell the paranoid persecution fantasies of “Great Replacement” and “white genocide” right out in the open. Who’s coming for your kids, after all? Well, everyone that’s impure of faith and untrue of blood. The LGBTQ, who are “grooming” them, liberals, teachers, professors, who are “indoctrinating” them, books, even words, which attack these poor innocent children, and hurt them, violate them, damage them, brainwash them. Every bad thing you can think of is happening to the kids of the pure and true, according to DeSantis...

This is the platform of the "National Conservatives" (sometimes referred to as the "New Right"). They stoke these "paranoid persecution fantasies" to justify wielding power over America's institutions - both public and private. That is the definition of fascism.

While Trump has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, he does have a unique ability to sense fear and exploit grievance. So he sees potential in the fascism being openly embraced by National Conservatives like DeSantis and is joining that bandwagon. 

As haque wrote, "this is the GOP’s entire strategy so far to win the next Presidential election. That’s it. That’s all they’ve got." 

But there is a problem with relying on a strategy of fear-mongering - it has diminishing returns, so you have to keep ramping up the lies (ie, "pink-haired communist teachers" in the video above). That's what the 2024 GOP presidential primary will be all about. If you think it's bad now, it's only going to get worse.  

DeSantis Stepped in a Pile of Manure. Will the Media Ever Catch On?

Tuesday evening, Trump announced that he will run for president again in 2024. After tagging his potential opponent as "Ron DeSanctimonious," the governor of Florida shot back with this: 

#BREAKING: DeSantis responds to Trump

“All that’s just noise. What really matters is, are you leading … are you delivering results … I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.” pic.twitter.com/vQ515uuj47

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 15, 2022

Frankly, I don't know what's going to happen to the Republican Party over the next two years. We all know that Donald Trump is just another disaster waiting to happen. But the line on DeSantis in much of the media is that he's the "normal" (ie, not crazy) alternative who actually knows how to govern and get results. 

Excuse me, but I don't think that someone who goes on a rant like this in a fundraising email qualifies as "normal."

Our country is currently facing a great threat. A new enemy has emerged from the shadows that seeks to destroy and intimidate their way to a transformed state, and country, that you and I would hardly recognize...

This enemy is the radical vigilante woke mob that will steamroll anything and anyone in their way. Their blatant attacks on the American way of life are clear and intensifying: stifling dissent, public shaming, rampant violence, and a perverted version of history.

When it comes to "delivering results," I'll just remind you of the fact that DeSantis is pretty much "all hat and no cattle." Over the coming months it will be interesting to watch whether the media catches on to that. 

As just one example, the Florida governor garnered a lot of attention for taking on Disney by supposedly stripping them of their special district status. What we didn't hear very often is that the bill passed by the state legislature punted the process down the road and it's not scheduled to take effect until next summer. In the meantime, we learned that if the special district is actually dissolved, taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties will be responsible for the $1 billion in bond debt Disney currently holds. 

What's going to happen is that sometime between next month (a December special session) and June 2023, DeSantis and the legislature have to figure out what to do about that. According to the Orlando Business Journal, they have three options:

1. Delay the dissolution date,

2. Retain the district and amend certain powers, or

3. Change/replace the district's charter.

In other words, there is NO scenario where Disney's special district status simply goes away.

The simplest solution would be #2. But that would mean that DeSantis winds up with a good deal of egg on his face. Some people are suggesting that #3 is the course the governor will take.

“The governor will establish a new district. That’s our latest word under the general-purpose government controlled by the governor, with appointments by the governor,” Florida State Sen. Linda Stewart (D) who represents parts of Orange County, said.

— Natasha Chen (@NatashaChenCNN) May 2, 2022

That sounds like exactly the kind of thing DeSantis would do, but here's the catch: it would still leave Florida taxpayers on the hook for the #1 billion. In addition, "it would require a 30-day public notice, discussions and approvals by delegations in the affected counties — Orange and Osceola counties — and other processes needed before a vote were allowed."

I'm sure DeSantis will try to muscle his way around all of these obstacles. But there's one thing he can't do: f*ck around with the municipal bond market. 

One thing we know about DeSantis is that he doesn't like being corrected, much less being proven wrong. But he stepped in a deep pile of cow manure on this one and is going to need to repurpose those white boots to wade through it. To twist the metaphor, it will be interesting to watch what the media does when the shit he flung starts to hit the fan.