Hi Folks,
It is Sunday, February 20, 2022, exactly 1 year, 1 month, and 16 days after I created the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, whose mission was to remove Senator Ron Johnson and Congressman Tom Tiffany from office because they voted against the Covid Relief Bill which saved so many Wisconsin businesses in the hospitality industry.
Their vote against Wisconsin breweries, brewpubs, bars, and restaurants was a vote to kill my business, so I took it personally and decided to do something.
On January 6, 2021, 2 days after the Super PAC was created, insurrectionists stormed the U.S. capitol. They were radicalized by Johnson, Tiffany, and Wisconsin Congressman Scott Fitzgerald, who used their pulpits to preach the Big Lie that Trump won the election.
But don't take my word for it, here are the words of our state's largest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, written on January 7th: “Ron Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald, and Tom Tiffany should resign or be expelled for siding with Trump against our republic.”
Article 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1866, was written after the Civil War to ensure that the leaders of the confederacy couldn’t hold office again after breaking our country.
The U.S. hasn’t really thought about this amendment for 156 years because we haven’t had an insurrection since then…until last year.
So it’s high time we thought about this amendment again. Here is the actual language of Article 3:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
This is a lot of legal jargon, but it basically says you can’t run for office again if you were an asshole that tried to overthrow the U.S. Government.
I argue that more than a year after the insurrection of January 6, Wisconsinites still don’t know how involved Johnson, Tiffany, and Fitzgerald were in planning, aiding, and abetting the attempted coup.
And we also can’t forget about former Navy Seal and current Republican congressional candidate for Wisconsin’s 3rd District, Derrick Van Orden, who improperly used his own campaign funds to attend the insurrection.
How involved were these 4 men in the attempted coup against our country, and does that involvement meet the threshold of “engaging in insurrection,” or “giving aid and comfort to our enemies,” which would make it illegal for them to run for office again?
GREAT QUESTION, and one that should be answered before these guys get on a Republican primary ballot next August.
We are hearing that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is investigating all of the players involved in the Insurrection, but will his investigation include these 4 men? Can Wisconsinites be sure?
No we can’t, and that’s why we need our own state’s Attorney General and Democrat Josh Kaul to help get to the bottom of these questions. But after punting the issue of our fraudulent electors back to Garland, it doesn’t seem like Kaul has the appetite for it.
As William Gladstone said in 1868, “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.”
To determine the extent of their treachery, a judge must compel these men to reveal their texts, emails, and all other communications leading up to January 6.
The time to do that is NOW because these guys' names could very well be on Republican primary ballots by August.
We can’t wait for Merrick Garland.
“Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Our state needs to take matters in its own hands now.
Josh Kaul, where are you brother?
Don’t you think it’s pretty darn important to figure out if these 4 Wisconsin politicians aided and abetted an insurrection against our country before they are allowed to run for office again?
The time is now, Attorney General Kaul. The time is now.
If you agree, please contact his office today. If Wisconsin’s top law enforcement officer refuses to do his job when our very democracy is at stake, who else will be there to help us?
Wisconsinites, we can’t expect Merrick Garland to care more about our state than we do. We have to protect our own democracy wherever it is threatened:
- On school boards
- On county boards
- In district voting maps
- In voter suppression legislation
- By taking alleged insurrectionists to court!
Thanks for reading and thanks for buying our beer and t-shirts, where 5% of the proceeds are donated to our Super PAC that enables us to shine a light on sedition.
Together, we can “Make Wisconsin a Democracy Again, One Beer at a Time.”
Thanks,
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC