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.

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    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.

    • ____@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      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.