It’s hard to know whom to favor in this fight. Can they both lose? De Santis’s sleazy motives aside, what makes Disney entitled to a sweetheart tax regime all their own?

Count me as a vigorous dissenter from all the warm-and-fuzzy feel-good sentiment directed at Disney. Behind the smiling “Happiest Place on Earth” vibe lies a ruthless, sinister, many-tentacled octopus intent on swallowing or strangling any competition for the syrupy-sentimental kids-and-family entertainment market. Besides all the original Disney characters and the never-ending stream of increasingly woke-posturing new “princesses,” they also own the Muppets, Lucasfilm (Star Wars), all the Pixar properties, and Marvel Studios, to say nothing of the ABC television network, ESPN, FX, Hulu, amusement parks, resort hotels, cruise lines, and Lord knows what-all else. With joyless efficiency, they grind out Broadway musicals, ice shows, and other such pablum recycled from their movie properties, all couched in phony, manufactured wide-eyed wonder. No single economic entity should be allowed to dominate an industry so completely. I am not a fan.