The consternation over the Parental Rights in Education bill, passed by the legislature in Florida, continues apace. As RedState reported, the falsehoods being perpetrated about the bill are mind-numbing, including the idea that it bans saying the word “gay,” when that term is not even mentioned in the text.

Of course, because major corporations think being woke is profitable, Disney decided to jump into the fray, denouncing the legislation. Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by essentially telling them to go jump in a lake. Now, Disney Corp. has retaliated by pausing all political donations, of which about 80 percent in Florida supposedly went to Republicans.

Disney pledges to stop Florida campaign donations over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill https://t.co/9Ir27YkJhy via @politico

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) March 12, 2022

That the false “Don’t Say Gay” moniker continues to be used by the mainstream media as a factual label in regards to this bill is an astonishing breach of journalistic ethics, but I digress. Water is indeed wet.

As to Disney, I think they’ve severely miscalculated here. There was no widespread backlash regarding this bill among its employees. That was a completely manufactured narrative pushed mainly by CNN, which corroborated its claim of a supposed outcry by citing two social media posts. Further, the bill does not even do what its most vocal opponents claim. Disney could have easily remained neutral, pointed out what the bill actually says, and kept its relationship with Florida Republicans intact.

Instead, they wired up that bridge and blew it to smithereens. And for what? To make a woke mob that can never be appeased happy for a brief moment? Now, what happens the next time Disney wants another tax cut or legal carve-out from the state? All those friendly GOP faces aren’t going to be there, and DeSantis has made it clear he will not be brought to heel by private companies trying to throw their weight around.

Further, Disney now has to explain to normal parents, of which many of their customers are, why they are against a bill that simply stops teachers from sexually indoctrinating small children. Who was more likely to go to Disney World? A young, Florida couple with children they want to protect or your average, purple-haired woke warrior? In other words, from a financial standpoint, Disney’s move to go to war with DeSantis and the Parental Rights in Education bill was incredibly stupid.

We were planning to take our kids to Disney next year, and I can tell you that’s not going to happen now. Everyone has lines, and any corporation dumb enough to force their customers to choose sides deserves what they get.

Returning to the issue of Republicans, though, they should not forgive and forget here. Disney is going to eventually come crawling back, probably arm in arm with the Chamber of Commerce, asking for another handout. When they do, they should be told to pound sand. Republicans should welcome these battles with mega-corporations that seek to inject themselves into public policy, especially on cultural issues. There’s never been a better time to reject cronyism and embrace the freedom of doing what voters actually want, and anyone who has looked at DeSantis’ campaign war chest lately will see that doing so also happens to be a winning strategy.