Hi friends,
For those of you reading this missive who don't live in Wisconsin, we finally got enough snow over the last week to go out and play in it, which for many of us makes Wisconsin's winters tolerable.
For me, playing in the snow means cross country skiing, which after singing and surfing (usually very badly), is my 3rd most favorite past-time.
After skiing for the last two days, I woke up this morning both happy and sore, thinking “What should I write about today?”
I could update you on what we've been doing to make our lawsuit to rid Wisconsin of its parasitic private school voucher program more bullet proof before we re-file it in circuit court.
I could tell you about the preliminary injunction we are in the process of filing against Donald Trump and the Republican Party of Wisconsin as a supplement to our 14th amendment lawsuit we filed two weeks ago to remove him from Wisconsin's ballot.
I could show you the recent post-trial motions filed against me in this interminable defamation lawsuit which suggests an unhealthy fixation on every word I write from Gregg Walker, who is arguably Wisconsin's least reputable newspaper publisher, and his lawyer Matt Fernholz, who I swear wasn't loved enough as a child.
And finally, I could write about how excited I am to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel that will hopefully reveal a completed second tap room in Madison, Wisconsin.
But I'm not going to write about any of that, because I'm going to go cross country skiing one last time this morning in Minocqua's majestic Winter Park before heading back to Madison to pick a flooring tile design for the taproom and find a used commercial glass washer because new ones are ridiculously expensive.
That means you're not gonna get any pressure from me this week to help chip in to fund all of our important work.
Instead, I'll give you a poem.
The Last Horse Race
“Who will win?” we ask each week
Who said what to change some minds?
Did he fib? Did she slip? An embarrassing gaffe?
Did our horse just start to unwind?
This race will end not soon enough
A mere three days we have to wait
Our bets are running neck and neck
But our lives are what’s at stake.
What if we focused less on horses
And took a look around our state?
We’d realize all those ads are worthless
For all too many, it’s much too late.
Our teachers who lost 10 years ago,
Retired or moved away,
Professors were mocked, their work rejected
To greener pastures they left…why stay?
Those folks who labor lost out too
Abandoned by Walker with no redress
Tricked them when they weren’t looking
Now it’s “Right to Work” for less.
Our nurses who tried to save your lives,
You cursed them for doing their jobs,
They left their stations altogether
That light inside them robbed.
And those in homes, our old and feeble,
What happened to them, you ask?
They died from Covid in their beds
Because you refused to wear your mask.
Now look what’s happened to our young women
Those bright lights we wish would stay
You’ve stripped them of their right to choose
To sanctuary states they’ll move away.
And now you’ve cheated once again
Gerrymandered away all hope of change
Intent to secure that power forever
Democracy is almost out of range
To those who lied and stole our glory
You’ve put Wisconsin through such pain
So many of our good people left
BUT JUST ENOUGH OF US STILL REMAIN.
WE, Wisconsin’s last reasonable folk
The ones who usually mind our manners
Have had enough of your hatred and lies
WE HAVE ARISEN from the tatters.
The TRUTH we demand and nothing less
Your deflection and projection will not swim.
WE WILL MARCH TO THE POLLS ON NOVEMBER 8
ALL THE WHILE SINGING OUR BATTLE HYMN
Glory Glory Halleluja
Glory, Glory Halleluja
Glory, Glory Halleluja
The TRUTH is Marching On
Glory Glory Halleluja
Glory, Glory Halleluja
Glory, Glory Halleluja
And WE go Marching ON
I wrote "The Last Horse Race" in November 2022, a week before we elected Democratic Governor Tony Evers. That election was the first step towards shoring up Wisconsin's democracy before the 2024 presidential race, which will be yet another existential election for our country and one in which our state will once-again play an outsized role.
This poem was accompanied by a video that showed many of the 17 billboards we put up, with your help, along Highway 41 from Fond du Lac to Marinette. The slogan on those billboards was "Choose Reason Over Treason,” which we hoped would convince a few conservatives in Wisconsin who were sick and tired of MAGA chaos to vote for Evers. We have a feeling those words will once again come in handy about nine months from now.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for caring about our little progressive company "Up North."
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC
