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DeSantis Signs Bill Dissolving Disney Special District in Vengeful Attack Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Opposition

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Few bills have ever become law in a shorter period of time but Friday afternoon Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis just signed legislation stripping Disney of its special status, created in 1967, that essentially mandates the California-based entertainment giant to provide the same services as local governments.

DeSantis demanded the legislation one week ago in a vengeful direct attack on Disney, which publicly opposed his anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” law after it had passed. It passed both chambers in a 24-hour period as GOP lawmakers bowed down to his will.

The move according to top Florida journalists and news outlets will raise taxes on Orlando residents by an estimated $2200 per family, force that county to take on hundreds of millions of dollars in debt annually, and absolve Disney of up to $2 billion in debt.

The Associated Press’s Zeke Miller and The New York Times first reported the news.

“Widely seen as retaliation, Mr. DeSantis’s move vividly illustrated just how drastically the G.O.P. has transformed from the days when its leaders mostly moved in lock step with the nation’s largest businesses,” The Times noted.

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FASCISM

House GOP Whip Denies ‘Knowing Anything About’ Republican Congressman Fundraising With Antisemitic White Nationalist

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4 years ago

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June 29, 2021

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House Republican Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) is denying any knowledge of U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), a white nationalist, fundraising with antisemitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who heads the America First PAC.

Former GOP Congressman Denver Riggleman posted a copy of the announcement to social media:

“I don’t know anything about that,” Scalise told reporters Tuesday when asked, The Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis reports.

“That’s the first time I’m hearing about it,” Scalise added, CNN’s Manu Raju notes. “As you heard me in the past be very vocal against any form of white supremacy, so I’ll have to look into that.”

Scalise actually has a history of brushes with white supremacism. In 2002 he gave a speech to a group headed by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. In 2014 he apologized, claiming he had no knowledge of the group’s white supremacism. At the time he allegedly described himself as being “like David Duke without the baggage.”

The Arizona Republic adds that in “a tweet Monday night, Gosar seemed to respond to his critics, saying, ‘Not sure why anyone is freaking out. I’ll say this: there are millions of Gen Z, Y and X conservatives. They believe in America First. They will not agree 100% on every issue. No group does. We will not let the left dictate our strategy, alliances and efforts. Ignore the left.'”

The Washington Post reports that “Gosar’s extremism, of course, is hardly limited to his ties to the America First PAC. He has lodged conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and claimed protester Ashli Babbitt was ‘executed‘ by police. He has done the same with Charlottesville, suggesting it was a false flag by the left. Gosar’s office even confirmed this week that the congressman was in regular contact with ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer Ali Alexander ahead of the Jan. 6 riot.”

 

 

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FASCISM

‘Just Shoot Them’: Trump Told Top US General to ‘Crack Skulls’ and ‘Beat the F’ Out of Civil Rights Protestors: New Book

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4 years ago

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June 24, 2021

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President Donald Trump told America’s highest-ranking general and top law enforcement officials to “shoot” civil rights protestors in Seattle and Portland, “crack their skulls,” and “beat the f–k” out of them, according to a new book by a Wall Street Journal reporter.

“The President would highlight videos that showed law enforcement getting physical with protesters and tell his administration he wanted to see more of that behavior,” CNN reports, citing excerpts from Michael Bender’s book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost.”

“That’s how you’re supposed to handle these people,” Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to Bender. “Crack their skulls!”

Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and “beat the f–k out” of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes.

“Just shoot them,” Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the excerpts.

But Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley (photo, right) refused, Bender reveals, with Milley and Attorney General Bill Barr often finding themselves the only ones willing to push back against the president.

General Milley, who made headlines Wednesday after delivering a stunning lecture on critical race theory and “wokeness” to U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was not pleased by it, also pushed back against Trump senior advisor, white supremacist Stephen Miller.

During one Oval Office debate, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller chimed in, equating the scenes unfolding on his television to those in a third-world country and claiming major American cities had been turned into war zones.

“These cities are burning,” Miller warned, according to the excerpts.

The comment infuriated Milley, who viewed Miller as not only wrong but out of his lane, Bender writes, noting the Army general who had commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan spun around in his seat and pointed a finger directly at Miller.

“Shut the f–k up, Stephen,” Milley snapped, according to the excerpts.

Read the entire report at CNN.

 

Image of President Trump and General Milley: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead via Flickr

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FASCISM

‘Gross Abuse of Power’: Legal Experts Blast Barr DOJ’s Use of Secret Grand Jury to Unmask Anti-Trump Twitter Account

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4 years ago

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May 17, 2021

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Attorney General Bill Barr‘s Dept. of Justice, in a possibly illegal move, used its full weight and power to try to determine the identity of the person behind a Twitter account parodying a top Trump-supporting congressman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).

On November 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice, via a secret grand jury, served Twitter, Inc. with not only a subpoena ordering the social media company to reveal the identity of Twitter user “@NunesAlt,” but also with a gag order requiring the company to not reveal the existence of the subpoena, The Daily Beast reports.

The Wall Street Journal’s Kevin Poulsen shows that Twitter recently tried to quash the subpoena:

It’s not that the Twitter account was posting state secrets or classified government intelligence. The account’s bio even reads: “Yes, it’s parody.”

So what does @NunesAlt, aka “Devin Nunes’ Alt-Mom,” tweet?

A random selection:

Legal experts are expressing outrage.

NBC News and MSNBC Legal Contributor:

Former federal prosecutor Ken White, now a criminal defense, white collar crime, and First Amendment litigation attorney:

First Amendment and defamation lawyer, and Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom, a tech policy think tank:

National security lawyer:

Former Federal Prosecutor:

Attorney:

Attorney:

 

 

This article has been updated to more accurately represent the description of attorney Ken White.

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