Chicago Tribune Op-eds, The Streisand Effect, and Batman

Happy Sunday Everyone,

Lots of updates today, so here goes!

First, a huge thank you is in order.

Last week we had to air a bit of our dirty laundry and ask for help, because we’re getting sued for defamation from a right-wing newspaper publisher for, in part, calling him a “misogynist” and a “crook.”

This is a classic “(S)trategic (L)awsuit (A)gainst (P)ublic (P)articipation, which is defined as “a lawsuit alleging defamation that is in reality brought for the purpose of intimidating, burdening, punishing, or harassing the defendant for speaking out against the plaintiff on matters of public interest.”

Our legal bills have accumulated to over $50K, and with your help, since last Sunday we’ve raised $47,005 with 917 contributions averaging $51.25.

So now instead of being forced to sign an NDA promising to never criticize this alt-right rag that spews hate and misinformation ever again, we can fight back.

The funny thing about defamation lawsuits is that “truth” is a defense, meaning that the plaintiff now has to prove that he isn’t a “misogynist” nor a “crook” to win his case. This is surely bound to backfire because most any public newspaper publisher has used some off-color language or missed paying a bill over the course of a 20-year career.

I mean, just last week he published an op-ed calling progressives in our area, which of course includes progressives with two x chromosomes, “reptiles."

He should have consulted Barbara Streisand before entering into this devil’s bargain. Her legendary SLAPP suit to suppress a photograph showing her Malibu home causing coastal erosion resulted in that photograph being seen by EVERYBODY, which coined a new legal phrase--the Streisand Effect.

So thanks to you, we can now get back to the business of shoring up democracy in Wisconsin. Here’s the update on that front:

Last Tuesday, my lawyers and I published an Op-ed in the Chicago Tribune rebutting an under-researched piece of propaganda by Hans von Spakovsky of the far right Heritage Foundation that suggested our lawsuit to remove U.S. Senator Ron Johnson and Congressmen Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald from the 2022 ballot using the Disqualification Clause of the 14^th Amendment was “baseless.”

Additionally, we invited John Bonifaz, the guy behind the three “Disqualification Clause” suits against Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and 3 Arizona congressmen, onto our Up North Podcast to explain why he thinks these cases have a shot at winning in court.

Even though I sometimes think our little Super PAC from the hinterlands of Wisconsin is in over its head suing U.S. Senators, anti-masking school boards, and spending more than our average neighbor makes in a year defending ourselves against rich newspaper bullies, I am 100% sure that we’re on the side of truth, democracy, and accountability... and that’s what keeps me going.

And the ridiculousness of a tiny brewery doing all of this leads to a lot of tongue-in-cheek moments:) As many of you know, the Minocqua Brewing Company gets trolled relentlessly on Facebook by the Trump Cult.

In one particularly nasty exchange last week, after we used Super PAC dollars to endorse a slate of progressive county board candidates in far-off but still “Up North” St. Croix County, we were chastised for sticking our nose where it didn't belong.

“Where do you come from? You’re not even close to our county and are trying to sway our elections,” said a troll using grammar much less comprehensible than our paraphrase.

“We come from the shadows and rain justice down on those that dare subvert democracy,” we glibly replied.

So that got me thinking about dark money, dark shadows, and of course…Batman.

I immediately called my graphic designer and he came up with this t-shirt yesterday, complete with a pretty accurate rendering of our state capitol's skyline. It's so ridiculous and I LOVE IT. Hope you do too.