The Mouse that Roared

It looks like in the long running feud between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Walt Disney, that the mouse may have just pulled a fast one right out of the GOP's playbook. For those unfamiliar with the whole thing, the unpleasantness began when Disney had the temerity to publicly criticize DeSantis for his legislation that restricts discussion of mature subjects, like sex and sexual orientation among very young children in schools. FTR I strongly support it. There is no justification for discussing that kind of stuff with third graders or younger, which is what was in the bill. Disney, long a close ally of the Alphabet People, publicly criticized the bill. And that was enough to put the mouse in the crosshairs of Florida's notoriously thin-skinned governor who has a reputation for holding grudges and wielding the power of the state against those who dare to cross him. Personally, I think Disney is dead wrong here. But I tend to take that view of most liberals on most political issues. 

What disturbs me, and quite a few others, was the absolutely naked use of state power to retaliate against a business for daring to publicly disagree with him on a matter of public policy. DeSantis and his allies in the GOP dominated state legislature quickly rammed through a bill that stripped Disney, Florida's by far largest private sector employer, of special considerations it had long enjoyed including relative autonomy over its land and parks for the purposes of municipal governance. A special board that handled those things was to be dissolved and replaced by a new one, that would be composed of appointees of the governor with his allies crowing that this was going to be the end of Disney's ability to promote left of center practices in its parks, employment practices and corporate culture. 

During all of this Disney remained relatively quiet. But behind the scenes, they were plotting. 

Shortly before the old board's official date of expiration arrived, they formally ceded most of their powers and authority to Disney. The new board, hand picked by DeSantis, effectively has been stripped of any actual power over Disney, its land and parks. And boy are people ticked. The governor's allies in Tallahassee are questioning the legality of the move and vowing to overturn it. But FWIW sources at Disney, both on and off the record, are sounding pretty confident that they dotted all the legal eyes and crossed the tees. They even put in a special clause to prevent a court challenge on the basis of "perpetuity" issues. Technically, the cession of governing authority is not perpetual. In order to avoid that trap, Disney inserted a clause frequently used in British contracts by setting the expiration at "21 years following the death of the last currently living descendent of King Charles III." If any of Charles' grandchildren live into their 80s this could be in force for at least the next 100 years. 

Where did Disney come up with this idea? Oddly, the GOP has been doing it for years. In a number of states, North Carolina being a prominent example, when the Republicans have lost an election for statewide office that they cared about, but they currently still controlled the legislature and the governor's mansion, they would rush through bills in the lame duck sessions vastly curtailing the powers of the office that the Democrats were about to gain. Predictably this has almost always ended up in court battles with mixed results. 

My guess is that this too will end up in court. It's possible the GOP may try to pass a special bill nullifying the transfer of powers. But I don't see anything definitive happening soon. Even if it gets overturned, and that's a big "if," this fight could easily drag on for years. At least for the moment, Disney has thwarted DeSantis in a state that he virtually owns. And that is no small accomplishment.