DeSantis for the win

[Tsing Tao]

DeSantis wants to sue and lock up reporters who outline pesky facts he does not like. How Soviet of him. Guess DeSantis does not like the First Amendment. He's tired of all the "fake news" reporting the actual facts -- instead of his narrative.

DeSantis’ Office Pushed for a Bill to Weaken Media’s Protections Against Defamation Suits by Public Figures
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/d...s-against-defamation-suits-by-public-figures/

A top staffer for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) pushed for a bill that would have weakened a key legal argument media outlets have used to defend themselves against defamation lawsuits by public figures, according to a report by The Orlando Sentinel.

A public records request revealed DeSantis’ legislative affairs director, Stephanie Kopelousos, emailed staffers for several legislators, including State Sen. President Wilton Simpson (R) and State Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R), to promote a draft bill that would “challenge decades-old First Amendment protections for the news media and make it easier for high-profile people to win defamation lawsuits,” wrote the Sentinel’s Skyler Swisher.

No bill was ever actually filed, but the correspondence does shed light into both the mindset of the governor’s office and what agenda items he may support if he is elected to a second term in November.

The issue centers around a legal standard established in the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, in which the court ruled that a plaintiff who is a public figure must prove not only the standard elements of a defamation case (publication of a false defamatory statement to a third party) but also prove “that the statement was made with ‘actual malice’ – that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

The Sullivan “actual malice” standard was a key factor in a judge’s dismissal of former Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) lawsuit against the New York Times in February, with the judge noting “the law sets a very high standard” and Palin had failed to meet it in her complaint. (The jury was allowed to finish their deliberations and reached the same conclusion as the judge the very next day: the Times had not defamed Palin and was not liable.)

Kopelousos’ emails, which were sent just before the 2022 general session kicked off Jan. 11, included both a draft of proposed legislation and a briefing document that “declared that the goal was to end federal standards established in the Times ruling and make defamation purely a matter of state law.”

The draft bill would have attempted to make several notable changes to First Amendment law practice in Florida, mainly by changing how “actual malice” was determined, to instead view “a failure to validate or corroborate the alleged defamatory statement” as evidence of actual malice, a lower standard than the Supreme Court’s “reckless disregard” for the truth.

The bill also redefined “public figure” to more limited categories, and presumed any statements at issue in defamation cases that were made by anonymous sources to be false.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to the Sentinel’s request for comment.

Former President Donald Trump frequently railed against libel laws when he was in office, calling them a “sham and disgrace” and vowing to “take a strong look at that” and pass new laws that better represented “fairness.” DeSantis’ rhetoric hasn’t gone quite that far, but he has often slammed the media for criticizing him and his spokesperson Christina Pushaw has gone to even further extremes.

This bill was never submitted, but if it had been, it would have almost certainly set up a clash with existing Supreme Court precedent from Sullivan, but that isn’t the type of obstacle that would seem likely to slow down DeSantis or his GOP allies in the legislature.

Republican state lawmakers have repeatedly shown their enthusiasm for carrying the governor’s water during this past year. For example, Bradley sponsored the DeSantis-backed bill to repeal Disney’s Reedy Creek special taxing district and the GOP-controlled House and Senate passed a constitutionally-dubious congressional district map handed to them by the governor’s office with nary a peep of objection from Republicans after DeSantis vetoed the one the legislature had created. Both those bills passed in a less-than-a-week special session with no Republican dissent.

So no examples of Disney's activism?

And this is a great bill. Reporters should be open to defamation lawsuits if they don't have facts behind them and are only intent on slandering people. This is winning!

Perhaps someday they'll get back to actual news reporting - which is their job. Not political activism, which is what they think their job is.

 

[gwb-trading]

When was the last time Disney was active in the media, the public or anywhere where they are pushing against DeSantis, Florida or the legislation. Post just one example of activism from Disney that is recent. And I don't mean the employees.

Your claim that the Disney Corporation was never involved in political activism is laughable. The company has a lengthy history of producing films that are political in nature including Anti-Nazi WW2 propaganda films, and anti-communism films --- and Walt Disney was regularly in Washington testifying about getting rid of communists in the workforce. Walt Disney built his entire company on political activism. It lasts until this very day.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Your claim that the Disney Corporation was never involved in political activism is laughable. The company has a lengthy history of producing films that are political in nature including Anti-Nazi WW2 propaganda films, and anti-communism films --- and Walt Disney was regularly in Washington testifying about getting rid of communists in the workforce. Walt Disney built his entire company on political activism. It lasts until this very day.

I didn't say they were "never involved in political activism". Do you even read anything? Holy shit, you're bad at this.

What I said was

When was the last time Disney was active in the media, the public or anywhere where they are pushing against DeSantis, Florida or the legislation. Post just one example of activism from Disney that is recent. And I don't mean the employees.

When was the last time? If you are saying that my hypothesis (because I just state what I believe, because I don't claim to be omnipotent like you do) that Disney is not backing off, you should be able to show how they are maintaining political activism in the state of Florida, right? Especially with all the articles you spam every day - you should have at least one, right?

 

[gwb-trading]

I didn't say they were "never involved in political activism". Do you even read anything? Holy shit, you're bad at this.

What I said was



When was the last time? If you are saying that my hypothesis (because I just state what I believe, because I don't claim to be omnipotent like you do) that Disney is not backing off, you should be able to show how they are maintaining political activism in the state of Florida, right? Especially with all the articles you spam every day - you should have at least one, right?

Obvious your entire point and question is confused. Why don't you provide some clarity of what you are asking for.

The reality is that the Disney corporation has a lengthy history of political activism. Walt Disney especially did not endure bullies telling him what his corporation should do. A legacy that endures to this day.

DeSantis picked a fight with the mouse. A fight he cannot win.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Obvious your entire point and question is confused. Why don't you provide some clarity of what you are asking for.

The reality is that the Disney corporation has a lengthy history of political activism. Walt Disney especially did not endure bullies telling him what his corporation should do. A legacy that endures to this day.

DeSantis picked a fight with the mouse. A fight he cannot win.

I'll try to break this down for your level of comprehension (which appears to be waning with the passing days).

You said:

So now the talking points of the DeSantis administration have changed to "Disney is on probation" and nothing may be done with the RCID. Of course, when questioned about how Florida would pay the $1 Billion plus for taking over the RCID -- the answer is that there are still legislative sessions left before 2023 to figure that out. it appears the DeSantis farce is falling apart in a glowing manner and they are trying to walk it back while not appearing to be complete idiots.

Then I replied - as I've been saying all along - that DeSantis will probably reach an agreement with Disney if they choose to back off from political attacks and activism. I can show you multiple posts where I've said this over the last few weeks.

You found this funny and said

Disney backed off? LOL.

Provide an example of "Disney backing off".

They are about to host the largest gay month event in history at Disney World -- complete with protests against the "don't say gay" legislation.

I asked you for an example where Disney is politically active in the state of Florida, calling for an end to DeSantis, or the legislation they swore they would fight to eliminate. A recent example. Because if you can't find a recent example, then they are quite possibly backing off from attacking DeSantis and the legislation, which leads DeSantis to back off of them.

This is all very simple. Unless you're a shitposting whiner who is obsessed with Florida but doesn't live here. Like you.

 

[gwb-trading]

I'll try to break this down for your level of comprehension (which appears to be waning with the passing days).

You said:



Then I replied - as I've been saying all along - that DeSantis will probably reach an agreement with Disney if they choose to back off from political attacks and activism. I can show you multiple posts where I've said this over the last few weeks.

You found this funny and said



I asked you for an example where Disney is politically active in the state of Florida, calling for an end to DeSantis, or the legislation they swore they would fight to eliminate. A recent example. Because if you can't find a recent example, then they are quite possibly backing off from attacking DeSantis and the legislation, which leads DeSantis to back off of them.

This is all very simple. Unless you're a shitposting whiner who is obsessed with Florida but doesn't live here. Like you.

So if DeSantis opposes the "woke" Disney so much... Is he going to have the integrity to return all of their campaign contributions.

Disney has a lengthy his of political activism and political contributions in Florida and across the U.S. -- long before DeSantis arrived as governor which is just a very recent blip in history. Did DeSantis create other policies which undermined children in Florida which Disney should have opposed in his first term as governor? Keep in mind that Disney tends to advocate for children and for corporate perks for their company.

 

[Tsing Tao]

So if DeSantis opposes the "woke" Disney so much... Is he going to have the integrity to return all of their campaign contributions.

Disney has a lengthy his of political activism and political contributions in Florida and across the U.S. -- long before DeSantis arrived as governor which is just a very recent blip in history. Did DeSantis create other policies which undermined children in Florida which Disney should have opposed in his first term as governor? Keep in mind that Disney tends to advocate for children and for corporate perks for their company.

On the question about Disney's contributions, its a good one. How much has he received from Disney? You must know, right? I mean, if you're going to call it out.

As for Disney advocating for children - so you think it was right for Disney to say they would do whatever they could to defeat the bill that prohibited teaching gender identification and other sexually inappropriate topics to PreK through 3rd grade? You support that, GWB?

Let's get an official answer. Like you said, we need to be clear about what we stand for, right?

 

[Tsing Tao]

On the insurance problem in Florida, which is absolutely a big problem. Ignore the Constitutional Carry discussion (which I also disagree with, by the way). The big stat that made me do a "holy shit" is highlighted below.

Florida Special Session Hopes to Induce ‘Thriving’ Insurance Market, Lawmaker Says Don’t Rule Out Constitutional Carry
By Lydia Nusbaum
May 19, 2022 Updated 9:48 A.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – The crumbling property insurance market in Florida has prompted state lawmakers to rush back to Tallahassee to address the problems in a special session next week.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called for the legislature to convene to address property insurance market issues last month.

“I want to see a thriving property insurance market where consumers have more choices and options for coverage,” said Republican State Senator Jeff Brandes. “This market needs major reconstructive surgery.”

Florida residents are facing skyrocketing home insurance rates. There is story after story of premiums jumping even though customers have not made claims.

Thousands of residents have been dropped by their current home insurance companies.

FedNat Insurance Co. is the most recent company to announce it will cancel 68,000 policies. Those residents are scrambling with 45 days left to find another insurer before hurricane season.

United Property and Casualty Insurance Co. also dropped 180,000 policyholders and St. Johns Insurance Co. left 160,000 policyholders in a bind.

Brandes said many of those people are going to rely on state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the insurer of last resort. He said Citizens is growing by 7,000 policies each week.

“And because consumers have less options, and they have, frankly, no options in many markets because homeowners companies just simply don’t want to write more business in Florida,” Brandes said.

The higher rates are due to fraudulent insurance claims. Lawsuits cost insurance companies a lot of money and lead them to jack up premiums or drive the company out of the state altogether.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday Florida has 8% of the property claims nationwide but 78% of the litigation nationwide.

“That is causing these premiums to escalate and so we have to address that it’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said.

“Some people have seen obnoxious rate increases. Part of the reason that that happens is because we don’t really have a competitive market, a lot of these companies, major companies have have left the state because of how hostile the underlying framework is,” the Governor explained.

Brandes believes litigation needs to be addressed in the special session in order for the insurance market to properly stabilize. As of Tuesday morning, he had not seen legislation.

“Citizens is getting sued 1,000 times a month,” Brandes said. “That volume is what’s driving the cost of these companies and what’s ultimately going to, frankly, force people to start paying more in property insurance than they are on their mortgage in Florida.”

Brandes said the state needs to “fundamentally realign incentives” so people stop seeing their property insurance as a home maintenance contract.

“My roof is 20 years old. I can file a claim in Florida and I can get a brand new roof for the price of my deductible,” Brandes said. “As long as that is what’s going on, the sky’s the limit as far as rates are gonna go.”

Florida lawmakers attempted to address the property insurance market during the latest regular session but the Florida House and the Senate could not come to an agreement. Brandes said he is 50/50 on whether the special session will ultimately provide people with more options.

“Failing, I think it’s just not an option,” DeSantis said. “But the good news is on property insurance, I think we’re gonna get really, really significant reforms.”

Republican State Rep. Spencer Roach said there have been “recent talks and speculation” on whether the call for a special session would be expanded to include constitutional carry legislation. Constitutional carry would allow Floridians who follow the gun laws to conceal a handgun without obtaining a concealed weapons permit.

“Don’t rule anything out until we gavel in,” Roach said.

Roach pointed to the most recent example where Governor DeSantis announced mere days prior to the redistricting special session that the legislature would also tackle legislation to strip Disney of its “special privileges.”

Florida lawmakers will meet the week of May 23rd for the special session.

 

[Mercor]

Is this a cause for dropping policies
Experts Predict “Above Average” 2022 Hurricane Season

 

[Tsing Tao]

Is this a cause for dropping policies
Experts Predict “Above Average” 2022 Hurricane Season

There have been other above average predictions and we didn't see policies dropped like this.

No, its because of the amount of litigation and fraud. Someone can get a $30k roof replacement because a roving company salesman stopped by and said "hey, I think I see some roof damage in the corner over here" and pushed them to file. The Insurance Co rejected the claim, and they were instructed to sue. Many times they win.