“I believe, as a conservative, the job of government is, in the main, to stay out of the business of business,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He added, “I don’t think we should be heavily regulating business.” He offered these comments in criticism of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney. He is joined in this disapproval by former South Carolina Governor Nicki Haley, New Hamshire Governor Chris Sununu, and of course, former president Donald Trump.

How do we account for their support for Disney versus the Florida Governor?”I believe, as a conservative, the job of government is, in the main, to stay out of the business of business,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He added, “I don’t think we should be heavily regulating business.” He offered these comments in criticism of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney. He is joined in this disapproval by former South Carolina Governor Nicki Haley, New Hamshire Governor Chris Sununu, and of course, former president Donald Trump. How do we account for their support for Disney versus the Florida Governor?

The bout started when Disney opposed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act. The law prohibits “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

 Further, “…at least seven Florida counties that could remove parents from important conversations about their children’s gender identity. The law now makes these policies illegal.” Parents now must be notified of their child’s “transitioning. While labeled “the Don’t Say Gay Bil,” it, in fact, never uses the term “Gay.” 

In what world do “conservatives” support a company whose principal market is young children, campaigning for the sexualization of 3rd graders and younger? Do they concur parents shouldn’t be told of their children contemplating taking dangerous drugs and getting surgeries?

The ire of these contenders centers on Desantis returning fire by changing Disney’s special governing powers. Punishing the company for threatening the state democratically passing a law isn’t acceptable to them. 

Make no mistake, Disney was threatening Florida. We’ve seen this show before. A significant company comes out against some bills it doesn’t like even though it doesn’t directly affect its business and receives favorable press from the mainstream media. Soon it’s joined by others. The state loses business and significant events. The state is hurt.

We saw this happen over North Carolina’s “Bathroom Bill” restricting people to public bathrooms of one’s biological sex. Businesses boycotted the state, and the NCAA took away lucrative basketball and other championships. The state ultimately caved and repealed the bill.

Georgia suffered the same fate over election reform. One company objected, and more joined in dissing the state. The next thing you know, Major League Baseball moved its All-Star Game elsewhere. In this case, the state held firm. The next election saw record turnout and no problems. Still, Georgians were hurt.

DeSantis is well aware of this history and made it known to Disney and others there are consequences in interfering with duly elected officials doing their jobs. The state then ended Disney’s Sweetheart deal. 

Florida has yet to lose significant sporting events and continues its nation-leading economic growth. Unlike in North Carolina and Georgia, no other company joined Disney. Funny how being willing to fight back discourages bullies. 

Disney canceled a $2 billion Orlando campus due to business conditions, but it plans to invest $17 billion to expand its Disney World Resort over the next decade. Disney hasn’t fared well. A disconnect with parents could have something to do with it.

So what explains Desantis’ Republican detractors? Politicians and particular businesses getting cozy is never a good sign. Lately, we have seen more Republicans become “Crony Capitalists.” Twenty-four abandoned their party to pass the “Chips Bil’ subsidizing domestic chip production. 

It is essential to distinguish between supporting the capitalism that has brought the world to the most incredible abundance ever and “crony capitalism which is ant-capitalism. In my series, The” Long Journey to More,” I point out that our success depends on the disciplines and flexibility of capitalism to prevail over government-directed systems.

When you see Republican Presidential candidates advocating preserving a crony deal in Florida so Disney can support sexualizing young students and oppose parental rights, it can’t help but make you wonder what’s going on in the Republican party. 

Recently, we’ve seen tech companies joining with government entities to suppress specific ideas and positions. Big business has identified with progressive positions in recent years. As we’ve seen, this extends to attacking Republican legislation. 

This Big business alignment with the left has moved much of the Republican Party away. Once considered the party of big government, many Republicans have adopted a more adversarial attitude.  

All this begs why so many Republican presidential aspirants have taken Disney’s side. DeSantis and Florida appear to reflect Republican voters. Could it be money? Other than Trump, they have little chance in the race if they can’t access big business donations. 

With Trump, it may be another inconsistent position to attack DeSantis. Is Donald Trump really in favor of sexualizing very young children or keeping parents uninformed? He needs to explain.