July 4th.
What a strange day this will be.
It’s an understatement to say that most of us have to swallow REALLY hard to show patriotism to a country that just overturned Roe, and one in which an entire party is still parroting the “Big Lie” that has been repeatedly disproven for the last year and a half, but most recently by courageous Republican witnesses in the January 6 hearings.
How do we watch fireworks and listen to the “Stars and Stripes” when our country is so sick?
Well, like any good Midwesterner, I’d suggest channeling our innate passive aggression, putting on a happy face, pushing the dirt under the rug, and trying to have a good time--because gosh darn it, fireworks are fun.
But after the 4th, it’s time to fight.
After July 4th, the best way to show that we love our country is to indignantly and righteously refuse to lay down and accept America for what it has become. We must demand that it DO BETTER.
On Tuesday, July 5th, the 2022 election season begins in earnest, and it’s pretty obvious that unless Democrats gain large enough majorities in both houses to kill the filibuster, we won’t have a democracy in 2024 and abortion will eventually be outlawed throughout the country.
That must be hyperbole, right?
No, I don’t think so. SCOTUS just agreed to hear Moore vs. Harper, a case that could hypothetically allow Republican-majority legislatures to appoint slates of Republican presidential electors even if a majority of the people in those states voted for a Democratic presidential candidate--a scenario that would undoubtedly lead to a civil war.
Now I’m going to tell you about how the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC is going to do our part to avoid this nightmare scenario, but before I do, I have to say that we regular folks did what we had to do in 2020. We got rid of Trump and elected democratic majorities in both Congress and the Senate. That HUGE effort should have reaped more progress than it has thus far.
We did our part, but our Democratic Politicians and U.S. Justice Department have not yet done theirs. They MUST DO MORE. Here’s few ideas of what they should do from a Wisconsin brewer, but Democratic leaders must get WAY MORE creative and leave no stone unturned between now and November.
- The “Big Lie” has been disproven. Any news outlet repeating the “Big Lie,” like Fox and Newsmax, should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a “cold insurrection.” Sue them and get a temporary restraining order to shut them down until the suit is decided. Conspiring to overturn elections is not protected by the 1st Amendment, and news outlets who repeat these lies are part of that conspiracy.
- FDR threatened to pack the Supreme Court after they struck down a number of the New Deal programs he created to bring America out of the Great Depression. As a response, the court shifted its approach and started upholding New Deal laws. Biden and Congress should start applying that same pressure.
- Attorney General Merrick Garland needs to prosecute Senator Ron Johnson and all other congressmen that aided and abetted the insurrection BEFORE the election this November. The evidence against so many of them is crystal clear, and to continue to do nothing is a dereliction of duty.
Until our progressive leaders and law enforcement are willing to do what it takes to right this ship, we on the ground have to focus on ridding America of those politicians who want to burn it down, namely those who continue to advance the “Big Lie” in America.
So what are we gonna do?
We’re going to return to our roots, of course, and speak truth to power by putting up a bunch of billboards reminding everyone “Up North” that Ron Johnson and Tom Tiffany are lying to them.
The Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC has reserved the following 5 billboard spaces from August until the election in November with this message, but our resources are pretty low after funding the lawsuit that attempted to remove these guys from office.
5 of these billboards will cost $20K--we’ll put up fewer if we raise less, and more if we raise more.
These signs will hit voters every day in the heart of rural red Wisconsin, and our message will dovetail perfectly with the Jan. 6 hearings that many of these moderate rural Republicans up here are watching.
And all it will take to get rid of Ron Johnson and elect a Democrat willing to kill the filibuster is a few of those Up North Republicans to change their minds, and a few more progressives to show up.
Yep, Biden won Wisconsin by only 20K votes out of a population of over 5 million Wisconsinites.
And those votes might as well come from Northern Wisconsin, a region abandoned by too many other progressive groups.
And how do we raise the money to make Northern Wisconsin more progressive?
So far, it’s been $43.60 at a time, from 15,698 of you over the last year and a half, plus a percentage of the profits we make from every can of #progressivebeer you buy.
We don’t need millionaires to make a huge difference in our battleground state, we just need a BUNCH of you “thousandaires” to chip in what you can.
So guys, I haven’t asked you to break out your checkbooks for several weeks now, but it’s time to do it again. Here's the link to donate.
Thanks for sticking with us, and for joining in the fight for Wisconsin and America's heart and soul.
We start tomorrow and give 'er hell until November, one beer at a time.
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC