Disney on Thursday appealed a judge’s dismissal of its free speech lawsuit over what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliatory takeover of Walt Disney World’s governing district, as the Florida governor separately called any appeal “a mistake.”
“They were wrong and we were right,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville a day after the ruling. “They should move on.”
Disney filed a notice of appeal over Wednesday’s ruling by a federal judge in Tallahassee, saying that it would set a dangerous precedent if left unchallenged by giving states the green light to weaponize their powers to punish opposing viewpoints. A separate lawsuit over who controls the district also is still pending in state court in Orlando.
Disney had argued that legislation signed by DeSantis and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature transferring control of the Disney World governing district from Disney supporters to DeSantis appointees was in retaliation for the company publicly opposing the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The 2022 law banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and was championed by DeSantis, who had used Disney as a punching bag in speeches on the campaign trail until he recently suspended his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Here’s hoping the appeals court isn’t full of slack-jawed Trump appointees.
Of the 12 judges currently on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals 1 was appointed by GW Bush, 1 by Clinton, 3 by Obama, 6 by Trump, and 1 by Biden. So only half filled with slack-jawed Trump appointees.
Jesus we’re going to be dealing with the fallout for an entire generation, aren’t we?
Yes. The Judiciary is quite compromised thanks to electing that idiot and will be for years. I take solace knowing that some people found Hillary unlikeable, because that was a rational basis to ignore her ample experience and demonstrated skill in governance.
/s because JFC this timeline
We should all blame Hillary for this shit, too. She ran a shitty campaign and made ridiculously short-sighted political moves. I voted for her, but I was mad about it because it was like watching a slow motion train wreck from inside the train.
There are very few candidates who could have lost against Trump but the Democratic Party sure ran one.
I’d have taken her gladly, over TFG, but you are abs not wrong. She was never going to be another Bill - a lot of his appeal in campaigning was that he felt approachable even on TV.
She never had that skill, and didn’t seem capable of developing it.
Can relate, lots of my work and face to face interactions are basically by rote - I’ve honed the scripts over the years to get a thin veneer of spontaneity and make it believable rather than robotic, but…. That works because I lean waaaay into it. Hillary feels scripted and robotic.
Don’t ask me how we rejected her, but our friends across the pond elected the May-Bot tho. While their politics are diametrically opposite, Hillary and Theresa are very similar personalities - or lack thereof.
FWIW, if anyone is aware of a book that meaningfully compares the two, I’d love to know about it. The handful of serious authors who approach UK political bios that I’m aware of don’t do so in a comparative way.
It wasn’t just electing Trump, let’s not forget McConnell and the other GOP goons obstructing Obama’s judge appointments and crippling the judiciary until they had “their guy” (whoever with an R) in office to fill the positions. Trump wouldn’t have the outsized appointments if not for that groundwork.
And yet all the Trump judges got appointed.
For those who don’t know, search “McConnell nuclear option” to learn the depravity these twisted twits sank to to pack the courts like this.
Its not just him, those judges were confirmed by the legislature. Putting the entire blame solely on his shoulders let’s them off the hook.
They are just as much to blame as him.
Absolutely.
It’s not just him, it is McConnell (and friends) who held all those seats open. They were held open for as long as it would take to get a Republican in office, at least not a black person, but really they were ready to cripple the whole branch of government for years if need be.
(Of course the Democrats basically went “yeah that’s fine we’re not going to do anything about it”.)
I think that’s due to the inexplicable resilience of the Democrats belief that there is any shame or principle remaining in current Republican politics. They literally purged a Cheney (!) for not being sufficiently right wing.
It seems to finally be sinking in that precedent and tradition and compromise simply do not matter to the GOP.
There comes a point where ignorance, willful or not, is actually worse than the alternatives…
Yes. As we’ve been screaming for eight years. The fuckededness is endemic and somewhat recursive.
At least, a generation is usually defined as either 20 or 25 years (4-5 generations per century) and many of his lifetime appointments still have at least 25 years left.
Generations that haven’t even been born yet will be feeling the ramifications of Trump well into their adulthood.
He was in office for 4 years and he’s set us back at least half a century.
now you’re catching on
But cases aren’t usually heard by the full appeals court, usually just a subsection of them.
Here hoping everyone involved wastes a shit ton of money…
There’s no “good guys” in this fight
thank you. people lose sight of the finish line over this dumb shit. there’s no fucking way i’m going to cheer on a corporation’s right to a feudal estate company town. fuck them all. nuke florida and move on.