With the emergence of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a possible presidential candidate, the mainstream media are demonizing him, in part because he didn’t cave to pressure from a big corporation: Disney.
DeSantis’ detractors are incensed that he refused to veto the legislature’s Parental Rights in Education Act (PREA).
Critics call it the ‘don’t say gay’ act. The law says no such thing. That is a a falsehood promulgated by opponents of parents having a say in what their children are taught in school. Read the actual law here.
Where in that law does it prohibit saying the word ‘gay’? Where does the word ‘gay’ even appear in the law? I’m waiting …..
When Disney came to Florida in the late 1960s, the legislature granted it a special tax status unlike any other Florida business; even any other theme park. A half-century later the legislature believes that tax break is fundamentally unfair, and that Disney bit the proverbial hand by attempting to intimidate DeSantis into vetoing the PREA they had passed.
Big mistake! DeSantis is a former Navy Seal JAG officer who isn’t intimidated by a cartoon mouse. DeSantis told Disney to go pound sand just a few months before the last election. His Democrat opponent sided with Disney.
DeSantis won re-election by the largest margin (19+%) in 40 years. Republicans also swept every statewide office and gained super-majorities in both houses of the legislature.
That election landslide reflects the legislature, and DeSantis, are doing exactly what the overwhelming majority of Floridians want. Isn’t that what elected officials are supposed to do — represent the will of the voters? Or should DeSantis ignore the electorate and kowtow to a rich corporation?
Why should we, here in Florida, give a damn what the management of a California-based corporation thinks?
More relevantly, local news here reported comments from Orlando Disney employees who supported the PREA.
Disney is a cancer in Central Florida – an area once dominated by orange groves. The fragrance of the blossoms filled the summer evening air. No more.
With the arrival of Disney came seemingly endless pavement to facilitate gridlock traffic; crowds of people, with a corresponding increase in crime; and overbuilding that is destroying our once beautiful environment. In the words of Joanie Mitchell, Disney “paved paradise, and put up a parking lot” – many very large parking lots.
Critics of DeSantis claim Disney is the largest employer in Florida. So what? Are we supposed to be so grateful for mostly low-paying service jobs that our Governor has to thwart the will of the people’s elected legislature?
Many of us Floridians refer to Disney by various other names – some unprintable in this forum. Here are a few I can share: ‘Dismal’ World; the ‘Tragic’ Kingdom; the rat that ate central Florida.
The recent election results proved that, here in the free state of Florida, the majority of us consider Governor DeSantis the hero in the legislature’s dispute with Disney.
Even though we’d vote for him if he ran for President, many of us prefer he not run. We don’t want to lose him as Governor!
Gary Beatty lives between Florida and Pagosa Springs. He retired after 30 years as a prosecutor for the State of Florida, has a doctorate in law, is Board Certified in Criminal Trial law by the Florida Supreme Court, and is now a law professor.