Yesterday we noted the interesting and hilarious fact that Disney appears to have outmaneuvered and outwitted Ron DeSantis’s effort to strip the company of its quasi-governmental powers over the huge parcel of land that makes up Disney World as payback for the company’s support of gay rights. When we heard the story yesterday it may have sounded like the company just pulled off some last-minute switcheroo when for a minute the folks in Tallahassee took their eye off the ball. But that’s not quite right. It was an effort that took place in plain sight over almost a year.

I was scheduled to go on Ari Melber’s show yesterday afternoon to talk about the Dominion lawsuit. Had to bone up on the latest developments. Then about fifteen minutes before we were set to go on air the indictment story broke. So obviously the topic changed. I got to speak about a few things. But this is the thing (video after the jump) I was most interested in saying.

Special Breaking edition of the Josh Marshall Podcast coming out this evening. Not sure precisely when but this evening.

About to talk on MSNBC about the indictment. Just after 6pm.

You may remember that as one of Ron DeSantis’s culture war gambits he punished Disney’s position on gay rights in the state by abolishing the special government jurisdiction which essentially allowed Disney to run Disney World as its own town or governmental district. That was the Reedy Creek Improvement District. DeSantis had the state legislature replace Reedy Creek with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Now the political appointees DeSantis put on the Oversight District board to lord it over Disney are crying foul, saying Disney pulled a fast one on them and essentially cut them out of any effective power for decades into the future.

I hope you get a chance to read this article by Josh Kovensky. The same Ukrainian nationals, working for Russian intelligence, who were feeding the anti-Biden “dirt” to Rudy Giuliani in 2019/2020 were later (in 2021/2022) tasked with prepping the ground for Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

We’ve already discussed some of the broader issues involved in the ongoing Israeli political crisis. I wanted to expand on one of the more specific ones: precisely what the judicial “reform” package is about and why there’s such resistance to it.

Decades ago, American Democrats and liberals loved the U.S. Supreme Court. That love affair waned over many years before collapsing during the Trump presidency. So from an American context, it can seem a bit odd to Democrats to see Israelis making a big stand on behalf of the Israeli Supreme Court. What’s more, from an American perspective, how the Israeli Supreme Court functions and how its members are chosen can seem pretty weird.

The Israeli Supreme Court is partly a self-perpetuating creature of the judiciary and the legal profession. A board made up of members of the current Court, members of the current government, members of the Knesset (the parliament) and members of the bar association come up with selections which are then chosen by the largely ceremonial president.

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In response to the Waco Trump rally, TPM Reader MD, an Alabaman, wrote in to flag a note he’d sent in 18+ months ago. “I’m so glad to see your ed blog calling for more focus on the right-wing radicalism of the Trump campaign — not being desensitized to it. Last year I sent in the note below on the absolute shock I had — even for Trump — going into a tiny town with an outsized reputation for radical violence and intimidation. “

Here’s the email from August 3rd, 2021 …

From TPM Reader JO …

I appreciated your post yesterday about the increasingly close connection between the modern GOP and the growth of right wing radicalism and domestic terrorism over the decades since the Waco tragedies (and going back slightly earlier to the Ruby Ridge standoff — though I guess a campaign rally there would have been a bit too transparent even for Trump). The line from Waco to OKC to the Bundys to January 6 is clear and frightening — and your attention to it is why I’ve been following TPM from the start.