Just to be clear, what Disney said was they were going to mobilize against the law in the political space, which again, Republicans and the Republican right-wing judiciary, the ones who give us Citizens United, granting like the fully unfettered ability of private entities to do whatever the heck they want.īut in their eager rush to penalize Disney, DeSantis and the Republican legislators apparently did not notice a pretty big issue with their punishment. HAYES: So, this is why he did it, obviously. But that is not really that different from what they did to Disney. Obviously completely inimical to the spirit of American democracy. Let`s imagine if the Florida Legislature passed a law saying that anyone who publicly criticized the Don`t Say Gay Bill has to pay a special tax penalty or doesn`t qualify for certain tax benefits.
If free speech means anything, it means that. The state cannot treat a person or entity differently simply because they don`t like what they say. And there`s a name for that, it`s viewpoint discrimination, an establish concept in First Amendment jurisprudence. You criticized us, we`re taking away your tax status. Now, again, they didn`t even really pretend there was some other policy reason. Well, last week, Florida Republicans retaliated, revoking Disney World special tax status, a privileged Disney has held for 55 years, effectively allowing the company to self-govern its 25,000-acre Theme Park Complex. OK, so that`s just Disney saying we don`t like this law, right, free speech. It has attracted a lot of criticism, including from Florida`s largest private employer, Disney, which issued a statement filling to support efforts for the law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts. Now, opponents dubbed it The Don`t Say Gay Law. And that`s in Florida, where this is being made into policy, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed into a law a measure passed by the both Republicans in the house - in both houses banning teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in early elementary classrooms. We`re actually seeing this put into practice, not just the whining or ecstasies about Elon Musk, which frankly is like a little bit weird and parasocial, but in a way that is not just a violation of the First Amendment, but looks downright thuggish and authoritarian. Control over speech platforms, control over institutions the right use to think were on their side, and now believer on the other side. That`s what it`s about, right? This shows it`s all about control. A political purge but built on the basis of merit but also a political purge, but also if they sound off on Elon Musk, which is that they speak freely their views, ax them. VAL DEMINGS (D-FL): And that would be the case, why do we need to implement this secret force? To do what exactly at the polls? I don`t know about other voters. Russia stepped up its assault on Eastern Ukraine. The Biden administration says only 500,000 doses of COVID treatment Paxlovid have been administered far short of the 20 million doses the government has committed to purchase.
The right-wing still continues to undermine public health and use COVID remedies that are not effective. Vance is apparently moving the needle after getting former President Trump`s endorsement.
The January 6 Committee has been looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene`s discussions about invoking the insurrection act or declaring martial law. Kevin McCarthy and the Republican leadership is facing fallout from the newly leaked audio of them worried that other Republican members` social media comments on January 6 could incite further violence. Staff writers for the Atlantic, Adam Serwer and McKay Coppins, join Hayes to discuss how the right`s Free Speech protest is all about taking control.