Thoughts, Updates, And More ...

We're so excited to finally reveal #kamalabeer to the world. Here it is:

",la. A Strong, Vice Presidential Stout"

It's time to stand up and be counted for the good of our country. Businesses in the Northwoods, it's time to do the right thing and help remove our failed Congressman from office.

Democracy will win, and after it does, I will dedicate myself and my brewery to removing these traitorous legislators from power.

On December 29th, this biweekly birdcage liner announced they were filing an open record complaint against Oneida County Public Health Director, Linda Conlon, for apparently taking too much time to fulfill their request to send them 23,000 emails from her government account.

I’m writing about what I saw yesterday on the news in Washington D.C., because it will be a day that will live in infamy in our student’s history books, and I want to make sure I remember it all.

We have to stick our necks out because we’re being screwed, along with the poor and middle class. Any restaurant or bar who didn’t get any help from the government in the last 9 months because Republicans refused to negotiate honestly to pass a stimulus bill need to speak up. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand. We have to engage in politics and be willing to risk pissing off some customers in the process. Losing a few customers in the short term may help us stay alive in the long term as we lean on our representatives to focus on us instead of large corporate donors.

Both of our Federal Representatives voted to let my brewpub and the rest of Wisconsin’s bars and restaurants twist in the wind, yet again.

In short, because Swearingen and his colleagues are owned by lobbyists, not even the smallest measures to protect our water and our health are able to see the light of day in this state.

The Minocqua Town Board and the Police Department did a poor job handling Covid-19 this summer, and thus hurt our tourist economy. Because of this, I'm going to run for a seat on the Town Board this Spring

Hopefully, on this most strange Thanksgiving holiday, you’re focusing on what to be thankful for as well—your community, your health, and your extended family who you can toast through a Zoom call tomorrow.

Apology and deconstruction of the word "dumb" as it relates to being misled through fake conservative news outlets

So it has been a few days since the WJFW debate, and I’ve reflected on what happened and wanted to share how I think it went.

Rob Swearingen played politics with Rhinelander's water and now you may be screwed as a result.

Small businesses and my neighbors have been unnecessarily hurt by politicians who don’t care about us, but only care about their own power and getting reelected. This rampant refusal to govern by Trump and Wisconsin’s Republicans has hurt me personally and made me more empathetic to those hurting around me.

Schools shouldn't open physically in Wisconsin, because data shows we're not testing enough to actually know how many Covid cases we have in our communities, and the guidelines from the Harvard Global Health Institute put the entire state of Wisconsin off limits for in-person schooling.

My wife Elizabeth lost her battle with cancer at the age of 47 on December 17th, 2018, 10:38 a.m. at the Howard Young Hospital in Minocqua. That moment when she passed is forever etched in my brain, and remembering it immediately draws tears.

My business is now losing money, and it feels unfair.

It feels unfair because many people in my community, and many visitors among us, care more about their individual freedom than the health of their neighbors.

Way to go Eagle River, instead of throwing a temper tantrum you intelligently explained the intent of Evers’ mask mandate—voluntary public mask wearing, because it will protect those vulnerable in our state.

I’m running for office to help bring Wisconsin back to the great state I remembered while singing that song. Funny how “Making Wisconsin Great Again” will only occur by taking off the MAGA hats and putting on our cheese-heads to be “Wisconsin nice” to each other, and caring about our neighbors even if they belong to a different party.

We have a lack of political leadership at the national and state level. To deny that is to deny reality, regardless of your politics. I’ll focus on the state at this point, because I’m running for state office.

So what’s the answer? Yes, take away some of the responsibilities that the police now shoulder, and “refund” public schools and mental health, among other public programs. But don’t defund police. Switch those cost savings towards police accreditation programs that already have the training and best practices which the “defund” movement is clamoring for.

I truly believe a great deal of our problems stem from the conspiracy theories that divides us, and think one of the ways we can get back to normal is to insist that there is only one set of facts that people are able to consume, and of course form their own opinions from.

For this Sunday, when I usually think about atoning for my sins or admitting to something I’ve done in the past that might come back to haunt me on the campaign trail, I thought I’d write a little bit about my more conservative views and how I came to hold them.

At a recent rally to raise money for the expansion of the local YMCA, the YMCA had a mask policy and everybody followed it, except for one person: Rob Swearingen. See the pics below.

According to a website RT.live, created by the founders of Instagram to help predict where Covid-19 is spreading the fastest, Wisconsin currently has the fastest Covid-19 spread in the country, overtaking Montana yesterday.

I’m empathetic to anyone who has addiction problems, as well as just plain empathetic. I’m no saint and don’t expect anyone else to be, and that empathy will hopefully guide me to shape public policy with grace instead of a hammer.

Although I love America, we are no longer a beacon on a hill for other countries to admire.

Rob, are you willing to disavow the Tavern League’s dishonest comment and admit that you were wrong in overturning governor Ever’s stay at home order making it virtually impossible to act quickly with a new onslaught of cases?

As the U.S. eclipses the rest of the world in new Covid-19 cases and deaths per capita, I am reminded why I entered the race for state assembly against Rob Swearingen.

My Republican friends, why do you think that although 80% of Republican legislators voted absentee last April in a pandemic, they now oppose making it easier to vote by mail in November?

So I’ve written about how Trump has divided our nation and how our state Republican legislative majority hasn’t had the spine to stand up to the new “Party of Trump” in their choices to reject pandemic science, fight to take away our social safety net during an economic catastrophe, and amplify the ugly rhetoric of racism.

We have to re-align our own internal Overton Windows to a time before Trump and Swearingen when Republicans and Democrats weren’t so far apart and worked together.

Rob Swearingen and 43 of his colleagues have called for rejecting funds passed by our U.S. Congress in the HEROES Act and stalled in the U.S. Senate to help public schools deal with all the problems that Covid-19 will present to schools this fall.

Democracy is the core value of America, and it is dying in front of our eyes.

We should be working to ensure all citizens have ready access to voting, including enough polling places at convenient locations so no one has to wait in long lines to exercise their right to vote. But Republicans are working instead to decrease polling places, especially in communities of color.

You may have read the Op Ed about me in the Lakeland Times and River News last Friday

We’re all sharing pictures of our fathers today, and although it’s tough for me, I want to tell the story of my father from my perspective, not the perspective that is easily google-able. It’s a story of mental brilliance and mental illness, but the brilliant part often gets left out.

So I discussed racial justice with some people of color last night at my house

We gotta leave the petty world of libel suits and newspaper publisher bullies and move back to the things that really matter to us in the Northwoods

So if our own Minocqua mini-Donald is gonna sue me for libel

So Gregg Walker of the Lakeland Times just threatened to sue me for libel

We’re gonna have some doozy posts next week, so don’t need to fight the power today, and since it’s Sunday and lots of people are confessing their sins, I’m going to address all the reasons why I shouldn’t be a candidate for State Assembly.

I fully support nonpartisan redistricting to strengthen democracy in Wisconsin

What do 89%, 85%, 81%, 80% have in common? These are the percentages of people who overwhelmingly voted to end gerrymandering in Rhinelander, Eagle River, Arbor Vitae, and Boulder Junction, respectively.

Gerrymandering is the corrupt practice of drawing electoral lines to make sure your party wins an election, kinda like giving yourself all the aces in a card game. Most other Northwoods towns represented by Rob Swearingen passed the measure buy over 70%.

It’s ok to be a Republican and reject Republicans that don’t share your values

So New Zealand just declared the pandemic officially over in their country

Murkowski, Will, Romney, Powell, Mattis... the list grows of Republicans who no longer recognize their party and fear that it has becomes dangerous to our democracy.

So yesterday, the River News in Rhinelander came out with a hit piece against Linda Conlon, our Oneida County Public Health Officer in charge with setting policy to keep us all safe during the pandemic.

The Republican Party that has evolved first under Scott Walker in Wisconsin then Trump in 2016 is no longer the party you grew up voting for, if you voted Republican. It no longer stands for family values nor fiscal responsibility. It now stands for tearing down democracy at all costs, abdicating leadership to direct blame, gaining power, and sowing division.

Hi Rob Swearingen, do you have buyer’s remorse?

I can’t add one single word to the many heartfelt thoughts expressed by the black community during this terribly traumatic week of death and riots

Awesome letter to the editor published by the Lakeland Times. Neighbors in the Northwoods, it’s time we start shaking things up! Please share widely, even to conservatives. This is more than partisan bickering, it’s about elected officials listening to their constituents. And I’m sure even conservatives can get on board with that.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SUPPORT

Please watch this video and channel your anger to change at the ballot box

Congrats Rhinelander, you successfully averted a disaster by getting over 8,000 signatures in two days to cancel the Hodag Country Fest.

However, please don’t forget the details about how this happened. The festival organizers, not the county officials who two days prior voted to allow the festival, were the ones who ultimately and correctly canceled the event.

Donate to Bangstad for Wisconsin 34th Assembly

The drumbeat of new cases in Oneida County and Wisconsin continues

I just read about the decision to NOT cancel Hodag Country Fest this July during a global pandemic

Scenes like these will lead this country into civil war

On this Memorial Day Weekend, The New York Times’ front page memorialized 1,000 people who died from Covid-19

Hi, my name is Kirk Bangstad and I’m running for assembly in the 34th district against Rob, “let-them-eat-Covid,” Swearingen

Hi all, I need your help before June 1, and so do other local Democrats running for office

Most new cases in a single day today. Rob Swearingen and the Republican Legislature gave us this. If you’re afraid for this state and for your family, remember who did this in November and vote them out of office.

Hi this is Kirk Bangstad and I’m running for state assembly in the 34th district against Rob, sacrificing-grandmas-to-sell-more-vodka, Swearingen

Insert Rob Swearingen and the Republican legislature in the title of this article below and the Journal Sentinel has it right

Interview with WAOW about the dangers of opening up restaurants and bars right now

FYI, Here’s my interview with Channel 12 WJFW yesterday

I'm Kirk Bangstad, running against Rob "pro-life-only-until-a global-pandemic-hits" Swearingen for Wisconsin's 34th assembly district

Well that was quite a decision handed down to us by the Wisconsin Supreme Court last night. Bars and restaurants were packed around the state, and all thoughts of recommended social distancing/masks that we’ve been reading about for months were discarded.

Just got this from the Tavern League of Wisconsin

As promised, because this is the foremost issue on everyone's mind, I'm going to try and regurgitate the science i'm finding behind when/how to re-open the Northwoods of Wisconsin in 4 parts.

1. What does the scientific community say about what the "curve" needs to look like in order to re-open, and why that goes against the the Republican-led state legislature's push to re-open right away in Wisconsin.

So here's the Introductory paragraph I wrote in the Minocqua Brewing Company May Newsletter

Hi everyone, many of you asked where you can donate to the campaign

Here’s the video of WJFW’s announcement of my candidacy

As a brewpub owner, I am by definition a tavern owner as well as a brewery owner, thus I got this mailing from the Tavern League today. How corrupt is this organization to automatically pick their candidate without asking a fellow tavern owner about his positions on their issues? This email alone says that Rob Swearingen takes his orders from a special interest group that donates to his campaign instead of serving his constituents.

The US has failed in its response to the coronavirus