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

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

Because it’s hard to “wish” science away, the number of cases of infection in Wisconsin has increased greatly over the last few days since Rob Swearingen and the Republican legislature, with the help of their Supreme Court cronies, made Wisconsin the most unsafe state in the union for the spread of this pandemic.

Now, we know what the talking points are: “If you don’t feel safe, stay home, but I am free to do whatever I want, and if I want to go out to a bar and get sick, then it’s my choice to do so.”

Now there’s a lot going on with statements like these, but I’m going to focus on what that means to the people having to work and serve those that think their freedom is more important than someone else’s health.

As many of you know, I own the Minocqua Brewing Company. We had an all-hands meeting yesterday to talk about how we are going to handle re-opening to the public. I had an employee break down in tears because she was currently taking care of her immunocompromised mother and was scared that a flood of potentially infected tourists could get her sick, which could potentially get her mother very sick.

I assured her that at least in my restaurant, we will not be opening inside until there is a reliable testing and tracing procedure in place for the Northwoods, so that if someone tested positive and was at the restaurant, all our employees and patrons at the restaurant at that time could be contacted and tested themselves. This would lower the risk that my employee would pass on the virus to her mother.

My decision to not reopen until these procedures are in place was rare. However, it followed the plan Governor Evers had in place. Currently, bars are open all over the Northwoods with virtually no enforceable restrictions, and bartenders like my employee will be exposed to many tourists this Memorial Day weekend.

Like Marie Antoinnette, with her famous line “let them eat cake,” which went down in history as one of the most tone deaf responses to learning that the peasants had no bread to eat, Rob Swearingen, because he had no plan on how to protect workers when we chaotically reopened , essentially said to the workers in the Northwoods: “Let them eat Covid.”

If you work in customer service, or know someone that does in the Northwoods, please share this with them, and tell them to vote against Rob Swearingen, the guy that put them in harm’s way, this coming November.

Written by Kirk Bangstad on 05/22/20