Happy Sunday Folks,
What a week it has been. There's news from Madison, Minocqua, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington DC this week, and most of it is good! It’s practically summer, and no matter how bad things are politically, it’s hard not to see the bright side of life when its warm and sunny out.
First, you probably read this in the news, but our friends at Law Forward did something to hold Wisconsin’s fraudulent electors accountable.
They sued them for $2.4M.
If you remember, the lawyers at Law Forward filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) soon after 10 fake electors turned in votes for Donald Trump in 2021. The WEC, a gridlocked organization designed by the Republican legislature to fail, unsurprisingly decided not to do anything after ignoring the complaint for over a year. So between this suit by Law Forward and our suit to remove Senator Ron Johnson and Representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald from the 2022 ballot for aiding the insurrection, Wisconsin is now doing what we can to ensure this conspiracy to subvert the presidential election of 2020 doesn’t happen again. We wish our state’s and nation’s Attorney Generals would take this issue as seriously as we have, but we’re no longer going to cry over spilled milk.
Straying from politics for a moment, I’d like to share how excited I am to finally open our new Minocqua Brewing Company Taproom/ Northern Wisconsin Progressive Mecca this summer. Pictured above are brothers John/Matt refurbishing a 1935 Texaco gas station that was scheduled to be torn down in Minocqua, but will now serve as our public-facing retail store. We will hopefully be ready to open by mid-June, and can’t wait to see some familiar faces after a 2-year Covid-imposed hiatus.
Now for some news from Chicago. We recently partnered with a Chicagoland distributor and decided to host a “Coming Out Party” for ourselves now that people can buy our suds in the Windy City. This party is going to be a fundraiser for Personal PAC, an important reproductive rights group in Chicago. These Chicago-based groups will become essential to helping Wisconsin women travel and get the reproductive healthcare they need across the border if Roe is overturned. Please join us on Monday, June 6th from 5:30-8pm at Tatas Tacos in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood for free #progressivebeer and #choicehardseltzer. All revenue from ticket sales goes directly to Personal PAC, and you can buy tickets to the event here.
Moving to Minneapolis, we get to do two plugs at once. Starting in June, the Up North Podcast, which is already being broadcast live every Wednesday on the Devil Radio 92.7 FM in Madison and WAUK 540 AM in Waukesha/Milwaukee, and was created to provide an alternative progressive political viewpoint in deep red northern Wisconsin, will be re-broadcast in Minneapolis on AM950 The Progressive Voice of Minnesota, where we are now selling our beer. Speaking of the Up North Podcast, check out this week’s episode where we talk to a policeman from Green Bay who reminds us how easy it would be to DO SOMETHING to curb gun violence in the wake of recent shootings in Milwaukee/Buffalo if Republicans would stop blocking common sense gun regulation, and how hypocritical it is to say you are “tough on crime” when you refuse to pass laws that take guns away from criminals.
And finally, for a little almost-summer fun, here’s a pic of us making our inaugural #progressivebeer and #choicehardseltzer delivery to Washington DC. We’re proud of this moment because it’s been very difficult to expand without the help of beer distributors, an industry we've found to be filled with mostly-conservative multi-generational statewide fiefdoms threatened by progressively-themed beer labels. You can now buy our suds at Schneider’s of Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, and Chevy Chase Wine and Spirits.
That’s all I’ve got this week.
Thanks for reading and sticking with us.
Together, with the help of Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C., we’re going to make Wisconsin Great Again, One Beer at a Time.
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC