Big Men Stand Up in Hard Times

to big threats.  Big real threats.  To other people's lives.  Not boogey-man threats.  We don't use guns or physical force to "convince" and subdue a "threat" either... We use brains.  Big brains.  Broaden 'em.  That's how you beat the bullies.  Usually, when they have to resort to force, you know you're smarter than they will ever be again... Cuz force is for losers.  Costly.

Iger also gave a sense of how he viewed the fight over Florida’s education bill. He said Disney didn’t need to weigh in on every social issue and there were even times “when I actually believe we shouldn’t.” But he pointed to companies that spoke out on social issues in the Civil Rights era and during World War II. “Those that stood in silence in some ways still carry the stain of indifference,” Iger said. ...

“Once Disney declared war on Florida’s families,” DeSantis wrote, “it was clear to me that the company’s executives in Burbank had not considered the lack of real leverage that Disney has over the State of Florida.”

At Hillsdale, he was asked to respond to complaints from Big Tech and Disney that he was using his political power to mess with them.

“Well, Disney is a joke …” DeSantis said, skipping right past Big Tech to zero in on the Magic Kingdom, launching into a nearly three-minute soliloquy retracing the past year’s clash with Disney.

He threatened to unravel the company’s plans for its Florida theme parks and pursue new hotel taxes and road tolls.

“They can keep trying to do things, but ultimately we’re going to win on every single issue involving Disney, I can tell you that,” he said, to applause.

Disney was listening. The threat of new taxes and tolls were alarming. Days later, DeSantis tossed out the idea of giving the state new powers over ride safety inspections at Disney World, including its monorail system. (State lawmakers in early May passed a bill creating new state monorail inspections — 52 years after Disney’s monorail opened.) DeSantis also raised the possibility of locating a new state prison near the theme park.

In late April, DeSantis’ tax district declared Disney’s development agreements void. And Disney went to court, alleging government interference in its contracts and retribution for expressing opinions that the governor’s team didn’t like.

“Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the complaint dryly notes.

“The mouse brought in the big guns,” said Dave Aronberg, a state attorney in Palm Beach County and former Democratic state senator. “The problem with DeSantis’ case is that he and his supporters never tried to hide their true intentions. You can’t do any of this in retaliation.”